Book – Foundations Weak and Strong
Author – Rachel White
Star rating - ★★★★★
Cover – Very nice!
POV – 3rd person, dual character
Would I read it again – Yes!
Genre – LGBT, Contemporary, Holiday


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


Ugh. Beware of this one; it will toy with your emotions in the worst way.

The story is about Justin and Nick, who have suffered a recent “break” in their relationship. Or, rather, as Nick would put it –
“Justin had dumped him – asked for a break, to be exact, but everybody in the world knew what that meant – in late September, which meant that it had been three months since. It was long past time for Nick to be over this sh*t, but nine years was hard to get over.”

Because they have a foster kid together, that they'd been planning to adopt, there is the constant, emotional, inevitability of having to see each other for kid-related activities and visits, school events and PTA meetings. I love that this aspect was added, because there is a lot of emotional stress caused with the addition of a foster kid into a family, as it is, but when there's a break up after that, the kid – in this case a 14 year old, Washington – is going to be affected. The fact that both these issues were raised in perfectly balanced detail – the fact that Nick couldn't escape seeing Justin and that Washington was hurt and felt responsible over the break – was a brilliant piece of plotting for such a short book.

For me, the genius was in the emotional connection we, the readers, were able to make with the characters. Even someone like Washington who didn't get his own POV was crystal clear to me, thanks to Nick's observations. I loved that they were all equally explored, all equally affected by the break and all as invested in the resolution of the break as each other. It was really beautiful to see that Nick wanted to put Washington first, constantly defending Justin and bolstering the fact that he still missed and loved Washington, despite his pain.

Overall, a beautiful story about a couple finding out who they are through a 'break' in their relationship. Thanks to one party, the constant exposure to each other and the help of some clued in friends and Washington, Nick and Justin were able to figure out whether they had strong or weak foundations.

~

Favourite Quote

“This was a f*cking intervention, and now Justin was supposed to pour his heart and soul out to everybody and they'd all awww and give him hugs and cry healing tears together at the knowledge that the love of Justin's life had refused to take him back.”