Signs, Anna Martin
Rating: 5 Stars
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Genre: Gay Romance
Tags: Contemporary, Coming of Age, New Adult, Romance
Reviewer: Trisha
Purchase At: Dreamspinner Press, amazon.com
Blurb –
After spending most of his life in special schools, Caleb Stone now faces public high school in his senior year, a prospect that both excites him and threatens to overwhelm his social anxiety. As a deaf teenager, he’s closed himself off to the world. He speaks a shorthand with his parents and even finds it hard to use American Sign Language with people in his local deaf community. But Caleb finds comfort in his love of photography. Everything he can’t express in real life, he posts on his Tumblr.
Struggling to reconcile his resentment for his father’s cruelty with the grief of losing a parent, Luc Le Bautillier scrolls through Tumblr searching for someone who might understand his goth look and effeminate nature. When Luc reblogs a photo by Caleb, sparking a conversation, they both find it easier to make friends online than in person.
Luc and Caleb confront their fears about the opinions of the outside world to meet in New York City. Despite Caleb’s increasing confidence, his parents worry he’s not ready for the trials ahead. But communication comes in many forms—when you learn the signs.
Review –
Perfect Trisha book!
Sometimes I fall in love with books that I wouldn’t typically fall in love with. Other times the books I fall in love with are more my thing. But it isn’t often I stumble across a Trisha book. They are hard to come by for me and what I normally find is someone has to recommend them to me before I decide to read them, just like with Signs.
The MC’s, Caleb and Luc, meet on Tumblr after Luc reblogs one of Caleb’s photographs. What starts out as friendship, turns into more in a very realistic way. I like that they were friends first. It made the connection stronger to me.
The relationship between Caleb and Luc is beautiful. They both have issues to deal with. Caleb with his hearing, or lack thereof, and his social anxiety and his feelings of not fitting in with the deaf community. And then you have Luc. Luc, who has family problems and has to struggle with an alcoholic mother and a deceased father who never really cared for him.
I love that Luc wanted to learn ASL. And I love that he didn’t just rely on Caleb to teach him. He went out and he learned with the help of the internet and some other people. He did that because he wanted to communicate with Caleb better and I thought that was very sweet and it definitely made me feel the love he had for Caleb.
These boys support each other and are there for each other, through the good and the bad. Things take time and they grow in their relationship. Everything remains solid between them, though, even when something knocks one of them back. The love and respect between them was beautiful. It’s amazing the way they adore each other and everything feels mutual. Not once did I feel like one loved more than the other or that something really bad was going to happen between them. They were solid. They communicated. They went at their own pace and it was perfect!
Some of the secondary characters I loved. Others not so much. But all played a part of the story in one way or another. I’m glad they had support.
This could be seen as NA or YA. I’m kind of in the middle. I loved it either way. I loved that the boys were each other’s first. I loved those intimate moments between them. They were very sweet and very powerful. It felt right for this story and these boys.
A very easy 5 stars from me. I absolutely loved this story. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.
A copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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Glad you loved the book Trisha. It sounds very sweet and definitely like a “Trisha” book 🙂 That cover is beautiful and it’s going on our blog’s Beautiful Book Covers Pinterest board.
Thank you, Kazza! I’m so glad to add another Trisha book to my list! 😀 The cover is beautiful. I love it and it definitely reminds me of the story. 😀
I’m in agreement with Kazza on that cover. Absolutely stunning.
I can tell you really loved this one, Trisha. 🙂
Thanks, Cindi! 😀
Yes, the cover is beautiful. I love it! <3