I did not enjoy this much. I really tried. But i just found the romantic chemistry to be awkward and nonexistent.
I had a hard time to care for the characters, sometimes i even forgot what age they were supposed to be at. I honestly rather want to watch paint dry.

Such a heartfelt read, this genre is my favourite and this author did a brilliant job with this book. Wonderfully written, with strong characters that were real and believeable.... with a great selection of secondary characters too. Loved it.

Depressing and a little strange, the dynamic between Randy and his wife was a little of putting. While this situation can be quite common in our current world, when a man is having trouble coming to terms with his sexuality but has a wife and child, the story becomes quite heavy. I’ve come to realize I’m more of a light romance type of person, but if people are interested in more real, gritty plots, this is a good book for them. Not a favorite, but not bad.

This was a very unique story. I liked all the pop culture that was mentioned! I just wish I knew what happened to the friends who got Randy and John together. They were crucial in getting them to meet on a more personal level, but were never mentioned again. I'm happy that everything worked out well in the end for everyone else though.

Rick R Reed’s novel Unravelling is an interesting and entertaining read that deals with late 1980’s Chicago and controversial topics during this time. It tells the story of three people with different perspectives while trying to sort out there personal lives to ensure happiness for all.

The characters are very well done as each chapter we get one of the three characters perspectives. John and Randy are fully fledge out but unfortunately Violet is kind of left dangling which is a shame. It would have been interesting to have her perspective and story better fleshed out so when her story arc takes a left, we could have been more on board with what she is feeling. We do get information from Randy about her but this is how he sees her and not how she sees herself.

Randy’s character is well fleshed out and he is well balanced. His feelings and depth are well presented and this is a fine delicate line that Reed really excels at. He is able to take someone with a multiple of life issues he is trying to sort out and creates empathy for the reader for this character. It would have been so easy to make him annoying but Reed refrains from that and makes him very three dimensional. John is interesting character and although he does tend to provide comic relief and pathos with his character, he is going through his own self examination and the two characters Randy and John do work well together especially when we get two different versions of the same situation.

The plot moves on a good pace and using snapshots in time works very well within the construct of the novel. The story holds the interest for the reader and at no time I felt bored or frustrated with how the story was progressing.

Overall, this is nice read that although I would have liked Violet to be more fully fledged out, I thoroughly enjoyed. It has depth and understanding and shows three people trying to figure out themselves and lives and has a nice payoff at the end. I recommend this to all people who like a dramatic novel that holds back on the dramatics.

Set in the 80s around 1986, this book is the story of Randy Kay, a married gay man with a wife and child, who is at the brink of despair because he's not able to be his true self, scared to even admit to himself that he's gay. And when he stands at the edge of the abyss, he's yanked back by his wife, who finds him before he can take that final step. Thankfully, his wife is for the most part supportive, realizing that if she doesn't set him free, not only will she lose him for good, but their son will lose his father. With her blessing, Randy begins to explore the world of gay men in the 80s, with all that time period entails.

The story takes place over the course of roughly a year, and we see the seasons change as Randy slowly but surely tries to be who he truly is. On one of his first excursions into Boystown, Randy meets John Walsh, a paramedic, out and proud. Shocked and scared by his immediate reaction to the handsome man, Randy flees.

They run into each other again over the course of the next year, but it takes Randy quite some time to be ready for a relationship with John and forging a new life for himself.

Randy and John are both very likable characters, and it was pretty easy to root for them. Randy's wife is not the villain here either, and I can only imagine her struggle to come to terms with her husband's true sexuality and the reality of having to give up her little family unit. She is for the most part a strong, supportive woman who's been dealt a bad hand, through no fault of her own.

This is not a romance as much as it is the story of a gay man trying to find out who he truly is, struggling with the feelings of same-sex attraction but ultimately finding the path he's meant to walk. Obviously, Randy journey to his true self is fraught with peril, some of it in the form of his soon-to-be ex-wife's parents, who try to keep him from his child.

Knowing what I know of the author, whom I've met IRL, and who's been fairly open about his own journey, Randy Kay's story seems similar to his own, though I would think that there are many such stories that happened to many families such as Randy's, and might still happen to this day, because full acceptance of same-sex relationships by our society has still not been achieved. And so there are still men and women who enter a straight relationship in the hopes that it will "suppress the gay" and who eventually end up in a spot similarly to Randy, at the edge of the abyss, because living a lie is not really living at all.

This is not an easy read, but I think it's definitely a worthy one. Give this a try.

1986 is the year this book took place. It is fabulous. It’s a sort of autobiography by this talented author. I was engrossed in this story and loved the ride it took me on.

I know that I tagged this book as a M/M Romance, but that’s the least of what it is. I’m not saying that there isn’t any romance, because there is, but Randy and John don’t even “officially” meet until the book is around the half-way point. Even then, it takes them a little while to get there. What Unraveling really is about is Randy and everyone around him coming to terms with the fact that he’s gay.

The opening chapter in Unraveling is the first turning point in Randy’s new life. His wife, Violet, made a decision that I admired her for. She made other decisions later that were less endearing, but this story wasn’t just about Randy’s life. It was also about the fall out. It was at times heart breaking and at times uplifting – mostly because the characters were “real”.

Although Randy was at the center of the story, John and several of the supporting characters helped drive it. There were those that I adored and more than a couple that I was less than impressed with. And at least one that I went back and forth with.

It’s probably worth mentioning that Unraveling is set in the mid 80s, a time when AIDS and HIV was even scarier than it is now. The time frame added to the tension, but the same stigma and prejudice exists today, which is more than a little depressing. It may not have been an easy story to read, but it’s one that I’m glad that I did.

Unraveling is a heart-wrenching, near-historical love story set in the late-1980s in Chicago’s near north side. It is contemporaneous with the AIDS crisis and institutionalized, deep-seated homophobia.

Randy Kay is nearly set to end his life, after finally coming to terms with the fact he’s gay, but his wife, Violet, steps in with a compromise: he begin to accept and love himself for who he is. It’s an earth-shattering moment for Randy, who has never had physical contact with a man, but knows that’s his truth. It was something Violet had a nagging suspicion about during their marriage, but wasn’t able to speak to, or accept, until she realized how toxic Randy felt his life had become.

Randy seeks help through therapy and meeting up with other gay men who can be a support. His tentative forays into gay culture of Boystown (North Halstead Street in Lakeview) are fraught with anxiety and feeling he’s an outsider looking in. On one of these trips, Randy encounters John, a paramedic from the Chicago Fire Department, but is too timid to engage. Over time, however, Randy is able to make some friends with other gay men. Men in committed and loving relationships, like his own marriage had been.

As Randy explores, he still lives in his two-bedroom apartment with Violet and his young son, Henry, though Randy now sleeps on the couch. It is through a blind set-up from his best gay friends that Randy meets John a second time. For John, his life has been a struggle to find a solid partner. He thought he’d maybe found someone, but it soon fizzled in spectacular fashion. The connection between Randy and John is instantaneous and it marks the end of Randy’s marriage. Violet can’t manage her grief any longer and turns to her conservative family for help. And, while Randy is finally living a true life with the most happiness that he’s experienced as an adult, his personal life is tossed into a whirlwind. The battle to continue to live true and free might cost Randy his relationships with John, Henry, and Violet.

This is a touching and tender book, with a believable plight and three extremely compelling characters in Randy, John and Violet, who take turns narrating. As Randy and Violet’s marriage is unraveling, there’s a lot of grief, uncertainty, and fits and starts as Randy learns to overcome his longstanding self-hatred. Randy and John face situations that could be physically and emotionally harrowing. Violet’s position was interesting, and I could see how she struggled under her own insecurities, as well as the weight of her parents’ expectations and bigoted directives. It seemed as if she wouldn’t do the right thing, but Randy’s not willing to miss out on Henry’s life and he pulls out all the stops to ensure his parental rights are secure. The rebuilding of his relationships with John and Violet is important, and necessary, and exhilarating.

I loved how much affection and support John gave when Randy truly needed it. I was fighting back tears in the final confrontation between Violet and Randy. The connection between Randy and his son was so strong, and I was so glad to see how it flourished and developed—especially in the face of the bigotry Henry experienced through his grandparents. The epilogue was far better than I could have imagined; it left me with all the amazing feels.

I found <b>Unraveling</b> okay but it didn't really grab me. It's a very familiar story in this genre and I never felt emotionally involved. Rick R. Reed is a skilled writer. I think the switching POV style (that it seems EVERY writer is doing now) doesn't work nearly as well with Reed's often detailed, descriptive storytelling.

There are a lot of subplots here. That's okay, except I found they brought a 'too much/not enough' element to the overall story. The most interesting is the relationship between Randy and Violet and Henry. With Reed's storytelling, I think I would have preferred a 600+ page story, over the 200+ story here.

There is a lot of Chicago's north side in this book with lots of location references. The story, set in 1986 takes place just before I moved to Chicago in 1988. I recognized the many location references but didn't feel it. Instead of nostalgia, it might have well been a foreign place.

What happened to Stephen and Rory? They make an important appearance in the plot line and then disappear. There were some time discrepancies with how/when they met that I hope were corrected before the final print. (Was it 7 years ago or back in high school?) I found them interesting, and I was disappointed that they were suddenly no longer in Randy and John's lives. Especially when they could have been a sounding board or offered advice to either or both men.

With so many issues (plot lines) introduced, I was glad Reed included the Epilogue to wrap things up.

I just felt like the journey was cut short. It felt incomplete to me.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆☆
This is a dark and gritty story that will probably feel autobiographical to far too many of the men who came of age in the 1980s. At the height of the AIDS epidemic, Randy is deeply closeted and married to a woman. Only his wife’s compassion and his love for his young son keeps him alive when he finally hits rock bottom.

This is the story of Reece’s first experiences as a gay man. And while it’s not an easy read, the story commemorates a difficult time in LGBT history. I responded to Randy’s struggles on an almost visceral level and it gave me important insights into the lives of my older gay friends. I love that the world has changed so much in the last few decades – and I’m thankful that the LGBT kids and young adults in my life who expect acceptance and demand respect will find Randy’s experiences alien.

This is marketed as a romance but it reads more like a biography. It is Randy’s life story and while there is an element of romance in the book, it isn’t the story’s focus. This is a moving book that feels real and very personal. I’m not sure I enjoyed it – but I’m very glad I read it.


Angie – ☆☆☆☆
I'll be honest, I was hesitant on reading this book because in the past I wasn't fond of the author’s writing style, it just didn't work for me. However, the blurb for this book had me thinking I should give this author another chance. This book was tough to read because I am sure there are many gay men in the past and even now that have gone through the same things that Randy has. My heart hurt for him, John, Violet, and Henry. So much has changed from the 80s when this book took place, but we still have a long way to go. I don't want to tell you what happens in this book, you need to read it and you need to feel it for yourself. I'm glad I took a chance and read this book. The epilogue was simply amazing.

Powerful, beautiful and moving. I felt so many things reading this book I had to stop now and then. To make the reading even better, we get to know the full picture of the story from three different points of view, which immerse you in this realistic story of love, hate, prejudice, AIDS and trauma.

Hmm que dire après une telle lecture ? Avant tout, je dirais que bien qu'il comporte des éléments de romance, Unraveling n'en est pour une, ou ... pas que. Enfin, pas dans le sens rose bonbon du terme. Unraveling c'est l'histoire d'un homme, Randy, de celui qu'il va aimer, John, celle d'une génération aussi, dans une moindre mesure. Si la narration alterne entre plusieurs POV, pour moi, c'est surtout la voix de Randy qui ressort, cet homme qui fait tomber le masque après de nombreuses années de déni.

""Why didn't I just keep the mask on ? Keep my c*ck-sucking mouth shut and just continue to pretend I was the straight hubby and daddy ? Everyone liked me better than anyway. I could even say they loved me better. But, in the end, who was it they truly loved ? Is it worth all I'll lose to fully realize myself ?"

D'un bout à l'autre du roman, Randy est hanté par l'acceptation de son identité sexuelle. En assumant son homosexualité, il a beaucoup à perdre, puisqu'il est marié et père d'un petit garçon. Il est terrifié à l'idée de franchir le cap, mais il ne peut plus prétendre, il ne peut plus faire semblant d'être un autre.

"Do the people who say they love me really love me ? Or do they love an ideal ? A ghost image of a person who doesn't really exist ? The pain of wondering if anyone really loves you for you is real and cuts deep."

Cette transition ne sera pas facile pour lui, il est complètement paumé, à cheval entre deux mondes, entre deux vies. Une qu'il ne peut plus vivre mais qui lui a apporté réconfort et une certaine forme de bonheur, et une autre qui ne demande qu'à être découverte, mais pour cela, il va falloir acquérir les codes de ce nouvel univers et oser franchir certaines étapes.

"I felt like I was standing with my nose pressed against the glass of a window, looking at a place I could never be confortable in."

La détresse émotionnelle du personnage incarné par Randy est très bien rendue, et l'auteur ne tombe pas dans l’écueil - facile- du mélo. En plaçant cette histoire dans les années 80, Rick R. Reed ajoute une dimension supplémentaire au livre, puisque le livre se déroule en 1986, époque où l'épidémie de SIDA est en plein boom. Pour autant, le roman n'est à cet égard pas aussi sombre que je l'avais imaginé à la base. Randy pourra compter sur une belle rencontre amicale pour naviguer dans ces nouvelles eaux (mais je ne comprends pas pourquoi ces persos disparaissent ensuite de la circulation ...). La ville de Chicago est également un personnage du livre, c'est une ville que l'on découvre au fil des saisons, au gré des rencontres, et à travers les différents spots du quartier gay. Et cela m'a fait drôle de lire un roman gay de ce type se déroulant dans une autre ville que San Francisco ! D'ailleurs, en parlant de San Francisco, je pense qu'un mec comme Mouse, des romans d'Armisted Maupin, aurait pu faire du bien à Randy !

Les voix de John et Violet sont également intéressantes à suivre, car elles nous offrent ainsi un panorama complet de l'histoire. Pour Violet, les chapitres ne sont pas très nombreux, mais ils sont très éclairants ******spoiler******
et purée, j'ai presque applaudi quand elle a enfin eu le courage de dire m*rde à ses parents !!!
****** end of spoiler ******

John, le 'love interest' de Randy, est un homme tout à fait à l'aise avec son homosexualité, et, s'il est immédiatement fasciné par Randy, vivre une histoire avec ce dernier ne va pas forcément couler de source.

Oui, il y a de la romance dans ce livre, et un bel épilogue qui vient boucler la boucle et apaiser certaines douleurs du passé, mais c'est avant tout un chemin de vie, une renaissance pour Randy, qui se fait dans la douleur, mais qui lui est vitale.

Ce livre m'aura fait vivre de belles émotions, et je me dis que si notre société a quand même beaucoup évolué depuis les années 80, il reste encore des personnes aussi intolérantes et malintentionnées que les parents de Violet ... Je n'ai pas pu m'empêcher de penser aussi à cette génération d'hommes morts en masse à cause du SIDA (même si encore une fois, le roman ne se focalise pas sur ce point).
En tout cas, c'est sûr que ce livre ne m'aura pas laissée indifférente, et j'ai été très sensible à la plume de l'auteur, parfois très poétique, parfois poignante. Une très belle découverte ! ❤

What I love best about Rick R. Reed's stories is that his characters are real. They have real flaws that ordinary people can relate to. They don't have the perfect bodies, they sometimes make silly decisions that we all know in hindsight are mistakes, and they find themselves in situations that can be all too familiar.

The same goes for Unraveling.

Randy finds himself living a life that is far from authentic. His journey to this point has been paved with good intentions, the current social and political atmosphere, outsider expectations, and his own misguided attempts to fit in. While not everyone may be able to relate specifically to Randy's turmoil of being a gay man tangled in a straight marriage to a woman and with a son, most of us can relate to being in a situation at some point during our lives that we know, deep down, doesn't feel right. His inner turmoil comes through perfectly across the page, the reader can't help but ache for Randy to get to a better place.

His story starts off emotionally raw (TW for suicide) and continues with highs and lows. The few chapters from his wife Violet's point of view adds an extra layer to Randy's story. I appreciated getting a glimpse of her thoughts and her turmoil directly from her and not colored by Randy's perspective.

John is Randy's opposite.: he out and proud, hooking up and clubbing, but he just can't seem to find his true love. He wants to settle down, and while he does feel the mutual connection with Randy, he's hesitant about being used as a "baby gay" guide and then tossed to the side.

The romance between Randy and John isn't the main focus of the story. It's Randy's evolution from tortured, closeted gay man fighting for his son to a middle aged man in a committed relationship with another man and with a close, loving (if unconventional) family.

Genre: MM Romance
Steamy?: Mild
Cliffhanger?: No
Can be read as Standalone?: Yes
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

This was a quick, well-written read that was raw and heartbreaking but really gives all the feels (and a HEA). No words were wasted in the telling of this story and it successfully hit the major points it intended. Even though there were a couple minor silly questionable details when it came to the accuracy of the time period (I’m pretty sure emails and middle-of-the-night infomercials weren’t a common thing in the 80’s) I really, really enjoyed this book and I loved following the journey of the three main characters.

What an amazing story! Rick R Reed has an amazing ability to push so much emotions into his stories. This story is about two men looking....Randy is looking for self acceptance, being able to come to terms with being a gay man and John is looking for a loving relationship. The connection between these two is amazing. I also loved how compassionate Violet, Randy’s wife is. The epilogue was fantastic. I loved the jump in time and seeing these guys at a later point in time. Strongly recommend this book!!

Randy Kay is living, what some may call, a charmed life. He has a beautiful wife, a son he adores ... but he's also on the verge of ending his own life when the novel begins. He doesn't follow through with such a final action because his wife finds him. She finds him because she loves him and she knows him... and this is how the novel begins.

Randy has been living a lie. He's gay and it's not until he's confronted by his wife - in a remarkably loving way - that he's able to even process what's going on. Randy and his wife come to an understanding... and he finds himself out in the world for the first time as a gay man.

I'm simplifying this introduction in the book. It's really well written and the emotions are palpable. Reed has done a remarkable job of capturing the confusion, relief, excitement, and fear that is bombarding Randy.

This book is about a few things. It's about coming out, sure, but it's coming out when you've already established a completely different life. What happens to your spouse? What happens to your child? How do you come out as an adult? Where do you begin? Reed manages to give answers to a lot of these questions in his book. It's one perspective, and from what I've read ... this novel is semi-autobiographical. I greatly appreciate Reed putting his story out into the world. Stories like this are still very important. Not everyone is lucky enough to realize who they are at a young age. By the time some people realize they have been living under false pretenses they have already established their lives, their families, their significant friendships.

This book is wonderful. It's well-crafted, authentic, touching and relevant. This should be on a lot of people's 2020 reading lists.

In reading "Unraveling," I couldn't stop thinking of William Dameron's exceptional memoir "The Lie: A Memoir of Two Marriages, Catfishing & Coming Out" about his 20-year marriage and decision to finally come out as a gay man. It is equal parts heartbreaking and life-affirming and gives perspective on how devastating it is to live the lie.

Reed notes that his latest novel is "somewhat autobiographical." Set in 1986,&nbsp; Randy is in his early 30's with a wife, Violet, and 6-year-old son, Henry. Feeling that "Everyone who loves me doesn’t even know me. They love a façade, a projection, a mirage made of wishes, impossible hopes, and self-hatred," Randy decides the only answer is suicide.&nbsp; But Violet stops Randy's attempt and although it breaks her heart, encourages Randy to meet other gay men and explore his sexuality. As Violet says:

"I want you to be yourself [...] And whoever that self is, Randy, it's still YOU. And I'll always love you."

During Randy's first terrified foray to a gay bar (where the floor was "covered with enough DNA to populate a small country"), he briefly meets EMT John, who has "kissed a lot of frogs and turned over a lot of stones in my search, but never seem to be able to capture what might pass for the fireworks of true love."

Having Randy, John and Violet's POV throughout gives the story a richness and depth of emotion. And engaging secondary characters provides a range of life experiences - soul mates Stephen and Rory who met in high school, Allan and his much-loved pets, Dean who contracts AIDS at a time when there were no antivirals, and even Violet's homophobic mother.

There is no on-page sex (but some instances of what "was simply par for the course for the backroom of a sleazy in Chicago") and yes, there is a HEA here, but it's hard-won and all the sweeter because of adversity. "Unraveling" is a beautifully written very personal story and I highly recommend it. 5 stars.

After finally addmiting to himself that he is, in fact, gay Randy starts a journey of self discover and explores the gay community and starts to form relationships and learn more aobur himself all while fighting to keep a good relathionship with his now ex-wfie and child.

I went into this book expecting something else, then what was delievered. It was still a good read, but much more slowburn then I expected. And thought you know by reading the synopsis that this also deals with family and self discovery much more time is spent on that subject then the romance you;re teased about in the summary.

However, it's very touching. seeing the families relationship process through the newly found discovery that Randy is gay. His relationship with his wife after this fluxuates back and forth as they try to adjust and move forward to find a new normal.

Arc provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

4.5*

Set in the 80s we follow two gay men living in Chicago.

Unraveled is a semi-autobiography novel about being gay in the eighties; coming to terms with your sexuality, finding love and dealing with the hardships that life can offer.

Randy Kay is married with a child and is struggling to come to terms with the fact that he is gay.

John Walsh is an out gay man whose looking for love but always finds himself with the wrong man and an eventual break up.

We also get a few chapters from Violets perspective. We are how compassionate she is when she comforts Randy and encourages him to be his true self. We also get to see the pain it causes her as her marriage breaks.

The epilogue is perfect. It really wraps up the book nicely.

Unraveled is a very emotional read that deals with hard topics that need to be discussed. It discusses coming out when in a straight marriage and the prejudice gay people were and still are labelled with. It touches on the AIDS crisis and the blanket of fear, sadness and death it caused. Ultimately, Unraveled has a message of hope that love perseveres, with Violet standing up to her parents so Randy can be in Henry’s live and the love that Randy and John find in one another.