Clicking around online a few weeks ago, another blog mentioned A Note in the Margin and raved about it. A M/M genre book, it has been out since 2009 and after reading it, I absolutely had to write a review in case there are others out there who may have missed this wonderful book. This book deals with subjects that I don’t often see in the romance world : Mental Illness and Homelessness. As someone who has seen firsthand how mental illness can completely debilitate a loved one, I thought Isabelle Rowan did a phenomenal job with this story and the struggle of David, a homeless man who hangs out in a small bookstore every day. Please don’t let the subject matter scare you away!
Quick Rundown: John buys a small bookstore to try and get his health back on track. A bookstore is stress free right? On his first day in the bookstore, John encounters David, a bad smelling homeless man sits in the back of the store. Much to John’s dismay, David is a regular fixture in the store each day as the store’s previous owner and her son Jamie (who still works in the store) has given David a safe place to be for quite some time now. Jamie even shares his lunch each day with David.
First Impression: I was a little nervous at first thinking the author wasn’t going to grab me on this one – from an interesting encounter between new bookstore owner John and his employee Jamie – to John’s behavior towards David, I just didn’t think John was going to win me over. But I was wrong. Oh so very wrong.
The Hero: John McCann has so much to learn about living his life. It’s not just about making money and finding a way to not be stressed out. He has some maturing to do and what better way to come to grips with his life then falling in love with a man who clearly suffers from mental illness. John’s handling of David’s choice to be homeless and David’s mental illness was beautiful, brave, emotional, mature, and sometimes made me extremely nervous.
The Other Hero: David walked away from a career and family awhile ago. Living on the streets and being allowed to sit in the bookstore during the day reading second hand books or drawing in his sketchbooks, David has problems. Problems many of us as a reader may never truly understand. What happens with such an intelligent man’s brain that causes him to make the choices he does? That’s the thing with mental illness, some of us never know why.
What Worked: This book does not revolve around sex like so many in this genre can. This book is about love, romance, what you do for a loved one, trust, growth, understanding, and patience. Any time A Note in the Margin was focusing on one of these things this book just sang to me. So beautifully written. So emotional in some parts. Don’t worry, there’s still sex. It makes you as a reader be patient too. It all can’t be hunky dory. And I’m so glad the author didn’t just sweep David’s mental illness under the rug, and make him all better again.
What Didn’t Work: Sometimes the POV got a little odd and jumped around a bit in the middle of a paragraph. I got used to it after awhile, but in the beginning I had to re-read a few sentences. Although I absolutely loved this book, I feel like there’s still more to David’s back story about what happened to him. But once you get to know David it makes sense that we don’t know too much, because David isn’t really an “over-sharer”. David’s got layers and layers to him and by the end of this book some have definitely been peeled away, but it’s going to take John years to get to the center of what makes David tick. Good thing John’s in it for the long haul.
If M/M genre is your thing, please give this book a try. It’s so different from anything I’ve read in a long time. There’s also a short followup titled Twelve Days.
Favorite Quote:
It hurt that he couldn’t touch him, that he couldn’t hold him. Not for the first time John felt in over his head. He didn’t know how to deal with this. How do I tell him it’s all right when I don’t know what the fuck is wrong?
Rating: A
A Note in the Margin by Isabelle Rowan
March 16th 2009 by Dreamspinner Press
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Sounds like a great read – I’ve never read a M/M novel before, but this one has my really intrigued!
I am so looking forward to reading this one. The focus on relationships really appeals to me. Thank you so much for your review.
Oh wow – you know someone just rec’d me this yesterday! Now I’ll definitely get it. Looks amazing. Thanks for the review!
Thanks for the awesome review. I’ve had this on my tbr wish list for a while, but wasn’t really sure if it was something I could get into. You know how much I love the smex.
But as long as there is some, I think I can read it. Guess it’s time to move it up the list.
This book touched me deeply. I’d never ready anything like it before and I’m not sure I will again. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Kris – thank you for commenting on how much you loved this book! I hope others give it a try. It really touched me deeply too.