Firstly, thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was expecting a sexy, dark thriller. And it is, yet so much more. The story centers around Jonah, a twenty something year old trying to catch a break as he waits tables in New York City. An aspiring playwright, he dreams of meeting the legendary playwright Richard Shriver, who he believes would solve all his problems financially. He orchestrates a meeting with Richard and they both hit it off. Believing himself in love, Jonah accepts an invitation from Richard to stay at his home in the Hamptons. And that's when things start to go south.

I loved it and I don't want to give too much away, but I really think the author did a fantastic job covering the topics of #MeToo and religion. The story itself is one straight from the headlines. The best type of books are where fiction and reality blend together almost seamlessly and this is one of them. An important detail I want to point out is none of the events of the book would have happened if Jonah had felt love and acceptance from his family. He was still a lost little boy inside, literally, looking for love in all the wrong places. Really hit home. I'm giving it 4/5 stars because in some parts there were loose threads and events that weren't fully fleshed out. But rather than that I highly recommend it

Review will be posted on my Instagram. Username booknookcook04

YES, DADDY gripped me from the prologue. Jonah Keller is a young playwrite struggling to make it in New York City. He devises a plan to become the new lover of Richard Shriver, a well established playwrite who appears to have a penchant for younger men. With any thriller, I don’t want to give away too much plot since that’s part of the journey. This book is surprising, fun, emotional, and I couldn’t put it down.

I’ve read a few books lately with themes of family, money, and survival in the gay community. This novel deals with all of these ideas in an interesting and compelling way. I really liked how this novel establishes Jonah as a sympathetic but imperfect character. I really felt for him when learning about his religious upbringing with a father who was a pastor at a mega-church. The novel uses the second person (you) to great effect, inserting it at occasions where you think the narrator (Jonah) may be talking directly to the reader. This technique is chilling and arresting in a very twisty book. About two thirds of the way through the book, the tone changes. Without giving too much away, it diffuses some of the thriller aspects of the novel and becomes a story of dealing with trauma. This change was abrupt, and though it didn’t change how much I enjoyed the book, it was a big jarring. I enjoyed that this book wasn’t predictable and I like how it handled sensitive issues.

Is this the gay beach read of the summer? I guess we’ll have to wait to see how many men are reading it on Fire Island this summer. Based on the reviews of other friends, I have a feeling this will be a hit. If you’re looking for a gay, twisty novel that you can’t put down, I recommend it. Available May 18, 2021. Thank you to HoughtonMifflinHarcourt and Jonathan Parks-Ramage for the opportunity to read this advance copy.

This sounded like a book I'd love, but sadly I didn't. It wasn't an easy read in terms of intense subject matter and I lost interest in the story about half way through unfortunately.

This was a HEAVY book. Readers please mind the below trigger warnings before diving into this title. 'Yes, Daddy' is a powerful portrayal of the cycles of physical, psychological and sexual abuse that doesn't hold back.

Yes, Daddy follows the protagonist Jonah throughout his life starting as a young gay man grappling with his sexuality among the conservative grip of the evangelical church. The reader follows Jonah, slightly older living in NYC meeting a successful older man who at first seems perfect but perfect can be deceiving.

Parks-Ramage weaves a devastating story of true horrors inflicted upon the MC and the effects of this life proceeding. I was gutted reading as Jonah was victimized over and over throughout his life for his sexuality and what he did/didn't do. I was exhausted reading this story after it was over because I felt so strongly for this character. I wanted a happy ending for him so badly. This story was beautifully written in first person prose told mainly in letters and journaling (though you often forgot it was supposed to be a journal). I think this was an important story to tell and I highly recommend.

Trigger Warnings: Explicit scenes of rape, sexual assaults, sex slavery, conversion therapy and emotional abuse

Gosh, this is such a hard book to review.
On the one hand, I was hooked the entire time I read this.
Jonah's story reminded me a lot of the phrase "young, scrappy and hungry" and I was entranced in his ambition and his belief that he could become a famous playwright by dating one who's decades older. The story was incredibly compelling and much of that is due to Parks-Ramage's incredible writing that felt reminiscent of Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby - this idea of the American Dream, of the corruption of the world and never really seeing beyond the curtains of greed, power and fame.
On the other hand, this book had a lot of flaws and also a lot of traumatic scenes that were...well, traumatizing. Major trigger warnings for multiple explicit rape scenes, abuse (both physical and verbal) and other cruelties. I heard that this book was optioned for film and I am curious to see how they're going to bring this story to the screen especially with all the horrible things Jonah goes through.
All in all, I think the concept of this story was great but I felt that the violent scenes were often gratuitious and more about shocking the reader than anything else.
While I don't recommend this to everyone (you need to be in a certain headspace to read it and if sexual abuse is something you're unfortunately personally familiar with, then this is not the book for you, I promise you this is triggering as hell) I still think that Parks-Ramage has incredible talent and I think that this book just shows his writing prowess. I really am intrigued to read other books by him in the future..just maybe with a bit more stomachable subject matter.

Jonah, an aspiring playwright struggling to make ends meet as a waiter in New York, hatches a plan to seduce the rich and famous playwright Richard Shriver. Soon, his idyllic relationship with a richer older man becomes the thing of nightmares as his boyfriend traps him in an abusive relationship where he is unable to leave. Yes, Daddy is written in a series of letters from Jonah that detail his memories and emotional responses spanning a decade of life.

I think I was disappointed in this book because I went into it with the expectation that it would be similar to other [gothic] horror books, and while there is a nod to Rebecca itself, the book felt less like a subtle uneasiness that builds into all-out horror and more of just a straight up horror book.

There's a few trigger warnings for this book, chiefly among them sexual assault, emotional/physical/verbal abuse, and evangelical conversion. For those who are survivors of sexual assault, you will intimately understand what Jonah & the others go through in the wake of their abusive relationships. This book serves as a gay #MeToo perspective that could easily happen in New York today, and raises the sometimes uncomfortable reality of how the media treats abusers & victims.

It also tackles how the evangelical movement treats gays, which was altogether far too true. I was a bit surprised at how Jonah's megachurch preacher father turned into a devoted ex-vangelical that wanted to reconnect with his son, which felt a little out of left field after everything that had happened and a bit unrealistic. Still, that could very well be my own bias showing through, as I cannot imagine any of the evangelicals I grew up with making such a dramatic shift in faith. Parks-Ramage's journey of his own faith shines through this, which is likely why it was added, and makes sense in that context.

Overall, I felt that this was less a horror classic and more of a solid book on the less-talked-about part of #MeToo and its impact on gay men. The critiques of how rich men use desperate young men that have no other options to act out their sick fantasies are on point, and the horrors that conversion therapy, the 'repressed memory' movement that was borne out of the satanic panic, & the dangerous impact that evangelical theology can have on queer youth is extremely real. But the book felt less like a building horror and more of a in your face, you know exactly what's happening when it's happening kind of novel. It was horrifying, yes, but not in the sense that typical horror books are. In some places I felt like the story and the realities of how bad it was were being spoon-fed to me, which cis, straight people may need for themselves. I went into this book really wanting to love it, but it just fell flat in too many places for me.

This story is about Jonah, who flees to NYC as an inspiring playwright. after family matters due to his sexuality. He seeks out love and acceptance from a well known, wealthy playwright who is older than him. What at first seems like a fairy tale of sorts, rapidly turns into a toxic and abusive relationship. Park-Ramage's descriptive writing had me cringing at parts, yet I could not stop reading. . Jonah will learn he is not alone in the abuse he experiences either. You will follow Jonah on his struggles to try overcome his past in this fascinating, debut novel. Thank you # Netgalley for advanced reader copy. . Can't wait to see what else is in store for this author.

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. Wow. What an amazing book this was. It had it all and took me on an emotional rollercoaster. I was so invested in Jonah and his story. I have been recommending this one to everyone! I can’t wait to read more from this author in the future! Thanks again to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book

Wrenching and brutally funny, this novel takes aim at homophobic theology that primes gay youth for abusive relationships and self-harm. Jonah is a preacher's son whose family forces him into conversion therapy, with terrible results for everyone. As a waiter and aspiring writer in NYC, he latches onto a famous older playwright as the answer to his financial and emotional desperation.

The twists and turns of the first half of the novel are truly chilling as the older man maneuvers him into sexual slavery. Family rejection has left Jonah without the resources to escape, and lingering religious guilt makes him feel he deserves to be raped. This section was grotesque yet plausible, with moments of brilliant satire amid the horror. As we've seen from the past four years of American history, a buffoonish character can be just as dangerous as a mustache-twirling villain. Five-star material here.

For me, the second half of the book was not as original or as grounded in a physical place and community. Eight years later, Jonah is a self-hating, lonely journalist dealing with the aftermath of recanting his abuse story when another of the playwright's victims brought him to trial. I felt this section depended too much on summary instead of scene, keeping me at a remove from the other characters and winding up their stories too neatly. This is a novel of ideas, which I appreciate. However, the balance between argument and demonstration was not as smooth in the second part.

I admit I'm also biased against family reconciliation stories. Jonah's final self-reinvention seemed to me like an emotional regression, the "Yes, Daddy" of the title, stripped of its irony and sexual charge.

It's hard to outdo the author in (justified, IMHO) cynicism about the evangelical church, but here goes: I didn't believe that a church would immediately remove a popular pastor based on sexual assault memories recovered by his alleged victim. The patriarchy protects its own.

Parks-Ramage really knows his Christian subcultures. From Jonah's VeggieTales bedsheets to his education at Wheaton (the evangelicals' Harvard, or so they claim), to the NYC megachurch that serves up the same old love-bombing and doubletalk in a shiny new package, this is the world I remember with a weird mix of anger, nostalgia, and puzzlement. He also gets the New York rich gay asshole scene just right. If there isn't already a restaurant called Perdition, watch for it in a gentrified neighborhood near you.

Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. I am so sorry that I don't have a more positive take to offer.

This book sounded totally up my alley, and I fully expected to love it: a noir-ish gay(-er) Sunset Boulevard vibe? A queer #MeToo era story of a young playwright and his famous lover during a Hamptons getaway when things turn out to be far from what they seem? Sign me up!

But whoa, this was a nasty story, deeply and irredeemably unpleasant, full of violent rape (and more rape, and still more rape) and chased with loads of suicidal ideation -- truly no fun at all. Well, okay, a good book can be about unpleasant things, so how's the writing? Not good enough, unfortunately, to bear the weight of the subject matter.

Jonah, the protagonist, has a blinding ambition to be… well, it’s not really clear what. When we meet him, he’s unkind to everyone (his landlord who has the audacity to expect the rent, his poor mother whose money he is spending on designer clothes and then demanding more to pay said rent), he’s bizarrely fixated on starting a relationship with an older man he picked out of an event listing. He’s not very likable. Worse, he’s not very believable. He’s supposed to have just received an MFA in playwriting, having spent his grad school years writing experimental plays, but he’s so thinly drawn, so much less savvy, curious, or passionate than I’d expect a young experimental playwright to be. He's impossibly credulous and aimlessly ambitious in ways that don't really fit his (few) biographical particulars. Jonah doesn't respond to the events around him in a way that seems authentic or plausible, and this is one of the fundamentally frustrating things about this book: I couldn’t ever really even settle into disliking him as a character, because I just never bought him as a character.

Let’s try out the premise that this is a book about the perils of ambition: (one of the characters unsubtly says as much about Jonah’s self-referential story-within-the-story that figures unsatisfyingly into the first half of the book). If so, it’s a really odd straw-man version of ambition. Nothing the characters do seems well-motivated -- what do they want so badly? Some nebulous idea of success? Jonah doesn’t really seem to want anything tangible, and he is frustratingly easy to dupe. Richard, Jonah’s lover, is similarly one-dimensional -- Richard doesn’t have much of an arc, to put it mildly.

On top of that, Jonah’s passivity -- oh my word, Jonah almost never makes a choice, almost never encounters a complication that enlarges our understanding of his world. He sets out on a course, he does what he plans. Someone tells him he cannot do something, he listens. Reality is in front of him, and we’re supposed to believe he doesn’t see it. Someone tells him he has to do something, he complies, sometimes feeling the barest whisper of an internal conflict, but then quickly talking himself out of even that small resistance. Buffeted along by the bad events of the story, his choices rarely have meaningful consequences, and he rarely makes choices at all. Passivity may be an understandable adaptation to the kind of abuse he suffers, but passivity is not usually a great dramatic choice for the main character of a thriller.

The second half of the book takes a weird turn toward religion, which is handled with all the subtlety of a Chick tract. The religious arc of the story seems like it may come from the author’s own interest in “ex-vangelical” ministry (based on the book's acknowledgments). I feel like I may be missing some evangelical cultural reference points that would make that part of the book more satisfying. It’s certainly possible that this storyline speaks to folks in that community more than it spoke to me. (If I’d have known that’s where this was headed, I probably wouldn’t have been interested, so consider this the heads up I wish I had gotten: evangelical religion is, eventually, a big topic of this book.)

One nice thing I can say about this book is that some sections were well-paced and absolutely propulsive. There’s a lot happening, and occasionally some real momentum, despite the shortcomings. And hey, a queer take on #MeToo, sex trafficking in the entertainment industry, the horrors of conversion therapy, these are all important and timely subjects; it’s a shame that, wading into those waters, this book didn’t have more serious and satisfying things to say about them.

Before I read this story, I thought the cover was beautiful. Now it's painful to look at after I know what the story entails. I'm not sure what I expected from reading this book. but wow it's one of the most fucked up books I've ever read. I read it in one sitting because I needed to know what led Jonah to what he did in the first chapter. The story discusses power and class dynamics as well as sexual and religious trauma. It's confusing, queer, and devasting. The ending is realistic and bittersweet. The writing is absolutely amazing, and it kept me from turning away and screaming at times because of the heart-wrenching themes. Queer stories and lives are emotionally exhausting and tragic to read. The world is an ugly place for marginalized groups, and for those who write about their experiences. The conversations surrounding trauma in this story are AMAZING, again the writing is so good. The whole novel felt like a cold truth and bitter reality served on a silver platter.

This novel had characters I could invest in (and root against!), a setting so well-described it was like I was there, and a plot that just wouldn't let go. In a word, it was bingeable.

"Yes, Daddy" tells the story of Jonah, a young queer man trying to make his place in the world. Trapped by economic realities, Jonah finds solace (or so he believes) in Richard, a well-regarded, well-established playwright who introduces Jonah to a wealthy, upper-crust lifestyle. Indeed, all it takes is one invitation from Richard for a weekend in the Hamptons to upend Jonah's life forever. With a riveting, unexpected plot, Parks-Ramage's work is marred only slightly by an odd ending that highlights the religious subtext of the entire novel.

Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage was an interesting story, I found it really interesting and uncomfortable at times considering the power dynamics but were intentional by the author. really good!

You'll be drawn in by the breezy, sexy cover of Yes, Daddy but stick around for the story!
It's safe to say that Jonathan Parks-Ramage does a phenomenal job of creating a novel where we are startled by how realistically someone can be drawn into a dark world.

Our protagonist, Jonah, is a recent graduate with his Masters Degree who dreams of writing a successful novel or play. Waiting tables in NYC places him in the heart of the action. You can imagine Jonah's delight when he catches the eye of a renowned mover and shaker in the movie industry. Let's just say that this isn't the "happily ever after" he dreamed of.

I don't want to offer spoilers but throw away any preconceived notions about this novel and the character development expectations. Just when I thought I'd figured it all out, I realized there was so much more to the story.
Trigger Warnings include: Rape; Sexual Assault; Physical Assault; Human Trafficking

As an aside, the subject matter is indeed dark at times but please know there's a redemptive side as well and beautiful character developments.

Parks-Ramage's novel has already been optioned by Amazon Studios and I, personally, can't wait to see it unfold on screen.
This is his first novel (!!!) and I can't wait to see what he publishes next.
Thank you NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy of Yes, Daddy and the opportunity to publish a candid review.

I don’t have a lot to say about this other than WOW. This is one of the most psychologically disturbing things I’ve ever read, yet I loved it so much. The writing was intricate and gorgeous, and I could not stop turning the pages, even as I was dreading what came next. Absolutely stunning. I have a feeling this one will stay with me for a long, long time. 5 stars. I’d give it more if I could.

Jonah moved to New York City after college, full of hopes and dreams. His career goal, to be a successful playwright. His reality, barely paying the rent from his job as a waiter. Soon though, he is following another dream. He decides that Richard Schriver, an older, wealthy, and well-known playwright is the answer. Jonah has the looks Richard favors, now all he has to do is meet him.
Jonah can't believe his luck when he and Richard meet and become lovers. When Richard suggests that he quit his job and focus on his writing, it seems that Jonah will have an idyllic summer in the Hamptons. Richard and some of his friends have a compound that screams wealth and privilege.
Jonah may have nothing in common with Richard's friends(and honestly, not much besides sex with Richard) and he soon feels lonely, ridiculed, and questions whether or not he belongs. All the staff is handsome young men, not unlike Jonah, and as his relationship with Richard starts to crumble, he will soon discover his true purpose for being there.
When I first looked at this cover, I thought beach read. Looking at it again, it has a much more ominous feel. Be prepared to encounter many trigger events, as this book goes to some very dark places. People who abuse their power and privilege, young men repeatedly sexually abused, and so much trauma. Jonah didn't strike me as the greatest person on earth, but as I got to know him, all I could feel was his pain. By the time Yes, Daddy ended, I only wished that the world we live in was a better place.
We have seen and heard so many stories of powerful men abusing young women, but young men are not immune to this type of abuse. There were many times that I just wanted to look away, but the story was too powerful to ignore. Amazingly, this is a debut and I am looking forward to what comes next for this author.

I cannot rate this book highly enough. A tense, devastating look at abuse and its aftereffects, a must read

There are three father figures at the center of YES, DADDY: Jonah’s boyfriend-turned-abuser, his estranged father, and… God. All three have hurt him, but he’s still searching for their approval, constantly cycling between the three in search of love, acceptance, and salvation.

This is a hard book to categorize, explain, or rate, and whatever you’re expecting it to be, it probably isn’t that. If you’ve read the blurb, you know it isn’t the beach read the cover suggests. It isn’t some kinky exploration the title might lead you to believe. And while the copy does reference abuse and subsequent revenge, it isn’t quite the thriller you might expect. There’s a lot going on in this relatively short novel.

Parks-Ramage effectively navigates heavy themes of abuse, trauma, and revenge, mirrored in each of the three father-figure arcs. Perhaps most powerful is his commentary on the intersection of trauma and complicity, shame and silence, and the lose-lose scenario victims face when confronted with the question of speaking out against their abusers.

For those concerned about the rape scenes: They are blunt, but less graphic than I expected. The most brutal scenes have the cadence of nightmares—less vivid than Jonah’s actual nightmares; they are mostly fractal, blurry images and recollections broken up by literal fades to “black” that, functionally, shield the reader from any extended or gratuitous or descriptions.

I wasn’t always convinced by the pacing, and a few plot points felt jarring.

Overall, Parks-Ramage has delivered an ambitious, daring, and provocative novel.

What a sad and dark story! I came into this story thinking this was going to be this crazy thriller, but it was sooo much more.

This story will definitely make you feel things. While reading I felt: uncomfortable, disgusted, sad, angry, and hopeful. There are lots of TRIGGER WARNINGS: abuse, pedophilia, rape, sexual assault, graphic scenes of rape and sexual abuse, and conversion therapy.

This is a dark coming of age story about Jonah who is struggling from years of trauma from abuse. We see how he grows up and how much his experiences during his early years affected him. We see how his family dealt with Jonah’s sexual identity and how conversion therapy warped his mind into creating a lie that affected his family.

We see him struggling to love himself and find someone to love him without an alternative. We see him struggling with guilt. We also see how social media can hurt a victim and also how it can empower. I think that’s such an important message. We see how people who have such power abuse it to hurt others.

Jonah meets a man whom he thinks can save him and love him. The man already gives off red flags in the beginning with his mood swings and the play he wrote based off his mother. I can’t really say too much here without giving away spoilers... but as I was reading this, I was questioning why he continued to see this man.

Then one weekend changes everything and he is thrust into a nightmare with others in a similar position. The life stories from the other boys were so hard to read and I especially felt for Mace’s story especially, as we’ve seen his story before in the media.

Religion plays a huge part in this book drawing lots of metaphors.

I felt like this was such a realistic portrayal. Heartbreaking. The sending gave me hope and I loved how long it took Jonah to get peace considering he only really started dealing with it towards the end.

Not really sure how to rate this because it’s not something that I would normally read because I thought it was a thriller, but I’m glad I did.

Personal Rating- 9/10

I received an eARC from NetGalley and HMH books in exchange for an honest review

MAJOR Trigger Warnings for- Sexual Assault, Rape, Drug Abuse, conversion therapy, Homophobia, Self-harm, and Suicide

Tbh I have no idea how to review such a sensitive book. Although some of the triggers really hit home and I feel it is presented well, I'm not experienced enough to say so for ALL the triggers. This is an Own Voices book, so I choose to hold back any comment on how the author portrays these in his story. But please heed the warnings, some scenes and descriptions are very graphic.

With that out of the way, I really liked the writing of this author, not the style- necessarily, but the choices in the writing tools used. Some of the chapters are written in 2nd person POV as emails and diary entries or letters. These are referred to another character in the book, Mace. This worked really well for me because it added an extra layer of immersion where you have no choice but want to listen to what Jonah has to say. Even the prologue uses this 2nd person narrative, and it was so raw and emotional that it got me hooked from the beginning.

Another thing I want to appreciate about this book is the nuance and depth of the characters,

Minor spoilers and gushing (vibes, and character motivations)

Jonah is portrayed to be very unlikeable, materialistic, and self-centered. As far as I can tell, this is very much intentional. He has to create a fake persona- to fit in with Richard- to gain his attention. He creates a shallow understanding of reality and himself; for himself. Because that is the only way Life has any meaning after he meets Richard. That is his way of making sense of this whole ordeal.

Sometimes the story feels as though it's stuck in a limbo, it doesn't feel like it's going anywhere.. to me, however, this represents the lack of control Jonah has over his own life, the characters are basically pushing him around, but that is not his own fault. He is an active protagonist in the beginning but was forced to be passive- by his abusers.

Minor spoiler section over.

Although I had a lot of good things to say about the nuance and depth of this book, I do have a small qualm with it.. I really wish the side characters had more depth. Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about Richard's friends.. the lack of their depth actually adds to the feeling of estrangement that Jonah feels, but- I am talking about the other waitstaff in the compound (if yk then yk). I wish they were given depth through something like a newspaper article- I don't know. But I wish we spent a bit more than a few lines on their aftermath. This is a really small part of the book, which is why, I'm giving it a 5 star, but not a 10/10.

Thank you very much if you have read this far, I'd recommend checking this book out if you're interested, and again- please heed the trigger warnings. Happy reading!