Book – A Welded Wave
Author – Z.A. Tanis
Star rating - ★★★★☆
No. of Pages – 108
Cover – Nice
POV – 3rd person, one character
Would I read it again – Maybe
Genre – LGBT, Contemporary, Trans


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **



Before we get started, I do feel a need to warn that this book has detailed scenes about the MC's apartment having a fire. I'm adding this, because at the time of writing, 24/6/17, this is a huge issue in UK news and it might be upsetting for anyone who had personal experience of a similar event. I wasn't personally affected, but it was difficult to read at times and very emotional.



This was a really cute contemporary romance that basically delivered what it said in the blurb. For me, there was something missing that I couldn't put my finger on, but it was an overall good story.

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way. There were no chapter headings, which is a pet hate of mine, especially for a book of 108 pages. There were info dumps every time we entered a new apartment/living space and at the Mayday Parade; a little too much info that wasn't really necessary and that didn't really help us orientate or feel more comfortable in the 'space' it was describing.

I would have liked to see a conclusion to the sculptor aspect, maybe with the big reveal of the finished product at the end, even if Enis didn't like it. I felt like that part of the story got pushed aside because of the romance.

I found the whole relationship and 'love' aspect a little hard to swallow, because it happened so suddenly. Now, it's not insta-love, because these guys have known each other for years, but that's part of the problem. There was no hint, until Mark brought it up at the restaurant, that either of these guys had ever thought of each other romantically or even sexually before that point. No hint, no suggestion, no harboured secret feelings that would have better explained how quickly it progressed between them. For constantly saying that they appreciated a person's mind more than their body, these two put a hell of a lot of focus on getting naked and sweaty with each other. Plus, add on that Enis had just gotten out of a long-term relationship and it just didn't feel right. Maybe if the break up had been a year or two ago and his ex was only now coming out with the accusations that hurt it, I could have believed it.

Saying that, Enis and Mark had nice chemistry and a great friendship. I believed them, as best friends. There were awkward about progressing their relationship forward, which is normal for moving a long term friendship into something more. I loved that they talked openly about their feelings, about Mark's plans for top surgery and that there was no cliché story arc of one of them having a huge secret reveal, storming off and then the other thinking it was over. They had arguments, as all couples and all friends do, but they were rational enough to talk about it and to accept that they needed space, while also feeling nervous about the outcome and if a relationship fight would ruin their entire friendship. That was the best part – they really didn't want to risk their friendship, but they were willing to put the effort in to become a couple. Which was great to see.

The trans issue was handled with respect and comfort; it's clear that the author is very happy writing about a trans male and knows all the stuff to make it both believeable and relatable, while having relevance to the story without constantly mentioning that he's trans. The subtle inclusion of the compression shirt mentions and how openly he and Enis talked about whether he'd be comfortable as a gay man moving into a relationship with a trans man was brilliant to read.

Overall, it was a super cute story and I enjoyed it.

~

Favourite Quote

“I don't know where you learned to do that, but I think you have to open up a school and start teaching other people how to do that. The world needs you.”

A lot of emotion here but not a lot of emotional maturity. Mark is a gay identified transguy. Enis is a longstanding gay friend. When Enis comes out of a long term relationship, it’s not long (literally only a few hours?) before Mark and Enis realize they’ve got the hots for each other.

The author, Z.A. Tanis, tries to set up some interesting conflict in the book but none of it really amounts to much. As a reader, I didn’t get any satisfaction of seeing the characters grow or mature. Mark spends some time worrying, understandably, whether (i) Enis is ready for a new relationship so close on the heels of the one he just got out of and (ii) Enis will remain physically attracted to him when the clothes come off. Turns out Enis has no issues with either so there was never any real conflict, just a lot of internal angst from Mark.

The conflict that is presented could be characterized as the normal misunderstanding and bickering between two people who really aren’t a great match but who insist on being together. The reader doesn’t learn much about Enis, the POV is from Mark. He’s that friend of yours who has the cool, artistic career, is great fun to hang out with, and is always an interesting conversationalist. But, as much as you like him, you know he just doesn’t have the ingredients for a grounded, drama-free long term relationship.

Also, what’s with all the crying in this story? This isn’t a gender thing – I’d say the same if these characters were women. I didn’t get why the waterworks were turned on every 25 pages or so.

In the end this was a well enough written story but not my cup of tea.

I'm afraid this novella didn't really do it for me. I thought the characters were very flat, and the conflict in the story was very, very odd - I felt like the author thought there needed to be some conflict in it (which is true) but then had no idea what to make Mark and Enis argue over, so they ended up arguing about salt, amongst other things. I also didn't really like the sex scenes very much; I didn't think they were all that well-written and the author committed the Cardinal Sin of writing out noises (you know, the whole "AHHH!" thing. I find that really awkward and kind of amateur-ish). The dialogue was also quite awkward and forced at times.

I will say that the one good point about this novella is the trans representation, I thought it was handled really well, probably because the author isn't cis either. So that was nice.

Unfortunately, "A Welded Wave" suffers from juvenile prose styling, stilted dialog, and wooden characterization. I really wanted to care about Mark and Enis' relationship, but Z.A. Tanis' writing tends toward telling and not showing, e.g. "God! The chocolate was good!" and "Oh! How he loved holding Enis' hand while watching a movie." This, coupled with incredibly detailed descriptions of meals and Mark's Kindle library, made for a jarring read: I knew a lot more about what people ate for dinner than I did about how they actually interacted.

I will not add this title to my library's collection, and will steer readers to Cass Lennox's "Finding Your Feet" for a more nuanced take on trans and LGBT romance.