At the beginning of last week, I anticipated writing several posts for the read-along of this book. It was the most challenging - and in that sense rewarding - book of the whole series for me, and it covers all sorts of sensitive topics. There was a lot of unpacking to do, I thought. I've blogged about it in the past, but I spent all of last week struggling to put together a post. And I finally realized why. It's a tough book to read, yes, but I also think it's a book that says what it needs to. I don't know that blogging about it after the fact adds to its meaning or impact.
So I decided I'm not going to pick it apart and tease out every scene. But I will say two things about it.
One, it was important to me that Tango not be stoic throughout this story. This isn't a book about being a tough biker guy. Tango can't be stoic here - he's hurting in so, so many ways. He needs help. His heart's shattered. I wanted to show him in pieces; show him struggling, and emotional, and leaning on his friends - and I wanted to show those friends picking him up and showing him that he's loved, unconditionally. It's a story about hope and healing and recovery, and, not about forgetting the past, but learning to live with it. I wanted Kev to be vulnerable. Every single line in which he seems fragile was a deliberate choice.
And two, I wanted to pull back the curtain on Ian and show that this villain started as a victim. He isn't cruel for the sake of it. He isn't a cackling madman. At heart, he's a very damaged little boy doing the best he can - but where Tango has punished himself, Ian has punished others. His drug of choice has been flexing his power. I wanted to show the ways two people can go through the same thing, and walk away from it with completely different coping mechanisms for their trauma. Neither is right, neither is wrong. This is who they are; this is how they've healed, which is to say, badly. But, with loving support, they can start to soften some of those scars.
What's your favorite thing about Loverboy? Is it a book you can read over and over again? Or does it hurt too much?
I'm not sure I can say it's my favourite book in the series (even though Tango's absolutely my favourite Dog), because it is a tough one. The first time I read it, it tore my heart to pieces. That was a couple of years ago, and I've re-read every other books in the series several times since, but I only felt brave enough to pick up this one a second time this week. The secoond read-through was somewhat easier (ok, no, I cheated, and skipped some of the toughest parts from his past), but still heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteMy favourite parts: all the love and support of his family and club, Aidan's friendship, relationship with Whitney, seeing him heal and get better, be happy towards the end of the book.
I just love Tango, and would like to see more of him in any future books, 'cause somehow he never get much more than a passing mention :)