A tale that weaves the heartbreak of identity struggle, complicated family relationships, and an unjust world. Daniel Black does a great job at bringing the story full circle in such an authentic way. The audiobook ended up being a really good avenue to experience this story and would recommend this to anyone who is looking for an inspiring and enlightening read!

Isaac is a young man who has just lost his estranged father, several years after his mother’s death. Isaac’s Song tells the story of his new grief woven throughout his upbringing as seen through the lense of journals promoted by his therapist.

Isaac explores his tumultuous relationship with his father, largely caused by Isaac’s femininity and sexuality and how this conflicted with his father’s traditional views. This book does a PHENOMENAL job of really honing in on the experience of black, queer men, and I know it will hit very close to home for a lot of readers. The experience the author writes about is one many people will relate to, wholly or partially, especially older men who experienced the severe gay panic present during the AIDs crisis and Rodney King’s attack which create the backdrop for this story culturally. I really loved Isaac’s journey being non-linear, the reader gradually learns how he became comfortable and secure in his identity, until reliving his past with his father throws him back into the uncertainty he experienced as a boy.

The prose in Isaac’s Song is often breathtakingly beautiful. Towards the end especially, I found myself holding my breath and unable to do anything else while listening to this audiobook. The reading experience and conclusion is incredibly profound and will encourage introspection regardless of your connection to the story.

This gets a huge recommendation from me.

I wish this book had held my attention more, but I struggled to stay engaged while listening to the audiobook. The premise was interesting, and I appreciated the memoir-like style, especially the backstories from Isaac’s childhood that helped explain his relationships and emotional bond. However, I found it difficult to fully connect with the story overall.

I didn’t realize this was a companion novel, and I think I may have enjoyed it more—or at least followed it better—if I had read the related book first. That context might have helped me feel more invested in the characters and narrative.

I received this audiobook through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Don’t Cry for Me was a beautifully written book, full of raw emotion. A father’s plea for forgiveness of all his wrongs toward his son. I was just fine with how it left off, and not knowing if his son would ever forgive him. I wanted to leave the sons pov up to my interpretation.
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I ordered both books from BOTM, but I wasn’t planning to read I.S. I didn’t think it could live up to book one. But someone in a group said “Isaac’s Song hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves”, so I immediately started listening to it.
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This book stands apart — tender yet powerful, unlike anything I’ve read before. It bled truth and tenderness, heartache and healing. It touched on life lessons, deep connections to roots, and shared wisdom that really made me think.
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This is a story that anyone can learn and grow from. It is like a handbook for understanding how forgiveness frees us, how our past experiences shape our parenting. How our parenting can shape our future relationships with our children. How opening up and having compassion with each other can help deepen our empathy and give us a new perspective from how we were raised and what was passed down to us.
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Jacob had his flaws as a father, but I couldn’t help feeling for him—especially for the distance he created with his son and family. And Isaac… I just wanted to hold him close, to comfort him in his quest for healing and forgiveness.
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Not only did we get Isaac’s heartfelt story, we got the story he was working on in the the end that was stellar. I wanted more of that story on its own, but it helped give me insight into an author’s writing process.
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And the cherry on top? It’s narrated by Jacobi Diem, whose flawless tone and raw emotion elevate the story to another level. He delivers it with such depth, you’d swear it was his own. A truly outstanding performance!
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This was my last read of March, and is already top of my list for 2025. This is a MUST READ series. If you’ve ever wondered about any of my reviews, believe this one. ♾️ ⭐️

I loved this story about complex father-son relationships that examines toxic masculinity and homophobia in (Christian) black communities. The author does a fantastic job weaving in mental health and generational trauma into the narrative through his conversations with his therapist (can I have his therapist please 🥹) and the story he is writing.

The structure might not work for readers who prefer linear storytelling, but I really appreciate the multiple narrative layers that feel like a blend of fiction and memoir.

I especially love following Isaac’s journey of self-acceptance, self love, and finally forgiveness. The part where he reads his dad’s letters made me sob and made me wonder everything that a parent couldn’t say to their child, especially emotionally constipated dads 😭

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The audiobook was amazing—I loved it so much that I bought the hardback just to underline the passages that stood out.

Isaac’s Song is a beautiful and powerful story that left me rethinking my perspective on my parents, childhood, and so much more. It explores the complexities of growing up Black in America—then adds another layer: being gay in a Black household and in America. Navigating racism, family relationships, and love.

The struggle of putting yourself in boxes to make society and others comfortable while denying and hiding who you truly are.

The layers. The depth.

A must-read

Isaac's Song by Daniel Black is a profoundly moving exploration of forgiveness and reconciliation between a father and son. The novel follows Isaac, the son, on his journey of healing through journal entries that reflect on his childhood. As he writes, Isaac unravels the realization that things with his father weren’t as bad as he once believed. Through this process, he gains a deeper understanding of both his family and himself. This novel serves as a sequel to Don't Cry for Me, where Jacob, the father, writes letters to Isaac, confessing his faults and seeking forgiveness.

Isaac's Song is a beautifully crafted and heart-wrenching continuation of their story—a perfect follow-up to its predecessor.

I listened to the audiobook version, and the narrator did an exceptional job. His voice was a perfect match for Isaac, delivering the right emotional depth when needed. The narration flowed seamlessly, enhancing the overall experience.

Overall, I found this book to be deeply thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable. I highly recommend it to readers who appreciate historical fiction that delves into themes of family dynamics, race, sexual identity, and generational trauma. Thank you to Harlequin Audio for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I was so apprehensive about reading this follow-up to Don’t Cry for Me that I let it sit on my shelf for 2 months. The book I have googled about every few months consistently as not to miss any news of a release date. I loved Don’t Cry for Me and couldn’t bare the thought that I may not feel the same about this follow-up.
Although I love this installment of this family’s tale it pales in comparison to the original. It still gets five stars from me. It felt like it took forever to get to the letters but once we did the story steamed ahead at a break neck pace. A man talking about the shame associated with an affair blew me away and have me questioning whether Cis men ever think that way at all. The novel writhing the novel coming full circle was masterful! We got a mini masterclass on the writing process specifically pertaining to writing characters. Whereas the characters and the consciousness dictate the story and not the writer! I’ve heard other novelist allude to this but never quite so clearly. That will stay with me. I love how his father’s writing ultimately lead to him finally writing and connected him more to the father he couldn’t connect to in life. Isaac’s song is a love letter to men, to love, to men striving to get back to each other, to paternal love, to non sexual affection.

Wow. This book stirred my very soul. It took me on a deep journey alongside Daniel as he navigated processing his life story after the death of his father. The descriptions were so beautiful and vivid I felt immersed in his world. I don’t k ow if this was written as a memoir or if it’s truly fiction because it feels so absolutely real. I cannot imagine it being written by someone who hasn’t experienced that level of harm and heartbreak. The book was often sad and at times downright heartbreaking. But the times of joy and healing were that much sweeter when they came. I was moved to tears more than once which is quite a rarity for me. I sped through this book even with its very heavy themes because the humor and wit interjected was comic relief in all the right places. I can’t recommend this book enough. It should be required reading honestly as non Black and non LGBTQ++ individuals cannot fathom the obstacles faced by so many. The obstacles many of us cause in the first place. Please read this one.

It was such a pleasure to have been given this audiobook in exchange for my honest review by NetGalley and Harlequin Audio. Thank you for such a treasure and my apologies for the review taking longer than I hoped—I ended up hospitalized with an infection that delayed my reading.

Oh, Daniel Black. Your way with words and wisdom are the true gems of this novel. I get that you titled this Isaac's Song, but I started to have better emotions and feelings for his father than I did in the first book. Isaac is able to see the error of his own ways and the way he often discredited his father for not realizing "who he wanted to be" when he was younger. It saddened me to know that Isaac had to suffer because of toxic masculinity, a misinformed society, bullies, and religious doctrines. Isaac definitely had the world against him in nearly every way he turned. Nonetheless, Black gives us a story we can chew and marinate on. By the end, like Isaac, the reader will determine if they find a place to forgive and let go of the pain or better yet maybe consider the family dynamics in their own lives.

I was able to read this on audio format and it was such a good read. Good narrators and voices to help make these characters. I'd definitely read anything else Black writes because he gets the historical fiction, Black boys, and Southern wisdom so very easily. I love his writing style.

A young queer black man finds his voice in 1980’s Chicago.

The perfect book to be reading at any time of year! We should always be supporting our black authors and LGBTQ+ community.

Isaac is going back through his childhood with his therapist and his therapist recommended he write a book about it. So this book was like a fictional memoir that will leave your heart aching. Going through his life as a gay black man who only wanted his dad to love him for him. To feel like he could be himself without worry or question

He figured out how to not only understand and accept his sexual orientation, but he grew to understand his culture and learning that white American society is not the standard

Stories within stories told by Isaac with the context being about slavery. The struggle of black men. A black male ballad. Giving a voice to those who have always been silenced. The story Isaac was writing within this book was even better than the book itself. This book is heartbreaking yet so powerful. It’s a must read!

TL;DR: This started out so promising, but quickly became repetitive. While the prose was beautiful and the story and themes were fascinating, the story as a whole felt like a lot of telling and very textbook - literally parts felt like I was reading a 'condensed history of X' textbook.

Woof. This started out so promising. SO promising. I loved the premise of healing from flawed parents who just did their best. I loved the idea of therapy as a premise for storytelling (although this particular therapy as a medium for storytelling was hit and miss for me), and I loved the themes of race, class, sexuality, and intersectionality. As someone who likes to write, and would love to be an author, I did enjoy the narratives and musing on writing, although <spoiler>I would have rather read the actual book about the two enslaved brothers, and not read about the book's premise</spoiler>.

The first half of this really worked for me, and I really enjoyed the dynamics between the parents and Isaac and the childhood realizations as an adult. Parts of it seemed wildly far-fetched, but I could roll with it because the identity exploration was delightful. Then, halfway through the book, it got super textbook-like. Let me be clear, I really enjoyed the plot points, but I felt like it was written in a 'condensed history' style. I did not enjoy that nearly as much - especially because the musings on historical and current (for the setting) events seemed at odds with Isaac's character?

Let me explain that further. Isaac doesn't really *have* much of a character. He felt more like a vehicle for ranting, and some of his thoughts didn't make sense to me in relation to the person Isaac was set up to me. And many of the things he talks about felt random and disjointed. I think the author really wanted to talk about them because they're important, but it felt random. In fact, one specific scene had me almost DNF this at about 70%: <spoiler>Trevor as Isaac's lover being explained so bluntly and quickly (a loooot of telling, no showing) and then ending with Trevor dying and Isaac being like 'I won't reminisce about how I felt about this'. Duuuuude.... please tell me. Like please. Put some plot in this book. Please. Please please please.</spoiler>.

The plot felt meandering and odd, and Isaac's wandering character did not seem super realistic to me. At times, it felt like his narrative was checking boxes. Again, the prose was beautiful and I am really looking forward to reading more that Daniel Black writes. I think he's an incredibly talented author (please write the story of Jesse and Matthew. Please. Like the whole story?), but this just did not work for me. It might work for you if you want an exploration story with a lot of history and intersectionality, or if you just want to dive into lovely metaphors and writing. But if you need plot and relevant scenes of actions that further the narrator's ideas? This might not be the right choice.

I got this as an audio arc on Netgalley and it has since come out. I loved this story and the calm narration of the author. It's a Black queer coming of age that breaks and heals hearts at the same time. I completely got lost in it.

This was as an absolute wonderful read for the beginning of the year. I will say that you should read Don't Cry For Me, first it will help with the flow of Issac's Song. These two books have some powerful words of wisdom. In the first story we learn that sometimes parents are just doing the best they can, with what they know. Jacob is dying and in his last attempt to make things right wit his son he writes him letters to explain who he was and why he did the things he did when it came to Isaac. There were a lot of times there were missed opportunities for the two of them to connect, but because of fear an one personal perspective they bot miss out. Isaacs Song we pick up after Jacob has passed. Isaac has to work pass his hurt in order to find peace and forgiveness. You will need tissues for both stories. Daniel Black is a fantastic writer. His details to the story pull you in and hold you until the very end.

Beautifully done! The audiobook will keep you engaged. I listened a read the physical copy! I picked up his beautifully written chronicle that takes hold from the very start and NEVER lets go! From the first pages where his therapist put me in my place, to the thoughtful way Isaac heard his song and his parents’ too. It was a reckoning for realizing one’s agency, ancestry, power and the ability to forgive. She spat and I sat down: “Everyone has agency, whether they use it or not”.
When she refused to let Isaac blame his father for the baggage he carries: “Everyone has baggage…Nothing had ever happened to you that is greater than your power to heal it…Blaming others is only an excuse…How smart is it to get mad at a mountain?…Either climb it or go around it but don’t spend a lifetime waiting for it to move.” Blink, Blink. I listened to the audio and also read the words and I just had to put it down and examine some things. When I did pick it back up and finished the story, I felt entertained but also like I had been in therapy too. I felt sorrow for every little black LGBTQ boy and girl who have ever been shackled by others’ ability to truly see and love them. Isaac’s level of understanding by the end was an unraveling of the unknown to find forgiveness, truth and self. Masterful.

Chef’s Kiss! I loved this incredible story! I expected nothing less of Dr. Black! He spoke to me through Isaac’s journey and I’m grateful. In December when I’m thinking of my fave reads, this one will be there, I’m positive! You must read! And if Dr. Black comes to your city, GO!

Isaac's Song was such a great read! It was the perfect follow up after Don't Cry For Me. It's about a young queer Black man finding himself in the 80's. It will pull at your heartstrings while he learns new things about himself while also healing a life long wounded relationship with his deceased father. I recommend this book to literally everyone!

I was first introduced to Daniel Black's writing with Perfect Peace, so I was happy to see another book from him. I was fortunate enough to receive the audio version and got to hear young Isaac's story and the relationship he had or rather lack thereof with his dad. He wasn't allowed to express his desires for more artistic things as that didn't seem to be "manly enough".
Through therapy, he begins to do some journaling, and in the process also lives through Rodney King's attack as well as other social issues during the late 80s. Daniel's writing doesn't disappoint, and I am thankful to #netgalley for this #arc.

This story took my breath away.

The story starts when Isaac’s father dies and Isaac cries to his surprise. Weeks later, he visits a therapist because he loses weight and hardly sleeps. Isaac’s meetings with his therapist are the bones of this book and with her he goes back to his childhood and how he perceived his parents, his Blackness, and his sexuality.

Issac's song is written in the same universe and focuses on the same characters as Don't Cry for Me. I loved Don't Cry for Me when I read it around this time last year so I was excited to dive into this. I was worried at first that the stories would be too similar and it would just feel like a reread but they blended together beautifully to create one full picture. I think I would recommend waiting a little between the two books however as reading them back to back would be too much of a good thing. Getting to revisit these characters a year later from a new viewpoint made the story even better.
I've lived in KC my whole life and getting to see my city represented in writing is always lovely and this book did I right. It truly felt like KC, the good and the bad.
The audio for this book was well done, I would recommend listening to the book as in my opinion it allows you to absorb the story better.
Thank you to Net Galley the publisher and the author for this arc copy!

Honestly, I didn't really feel this one. I liked the concept of healing from an abusive parent with the help of a therapist. Though, if my therapist ever talked to me the way this one did, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be back for a third session.

On the positive side, the prose itself is really beautiful.