"Yes, Daddy," by Jonathan Parks-Ramage
LGBTQIA+ Literary Fiction / Suspense / Thriller
1 Smooch ~ Cozy
2 Smooches ~ Warm
3 Smooches ~ Simmering
4 Smooches ~ Red-Hot
5 Smooches ~ Scalding
Book Blurb
Jonah Keller moved to New York City with dreams of becoming a successful playwright, but, for the time being, lives in a rundown sublet in Bushwick, working extra hours at a restaurant only to barely make rent. When he stumbles upon a photo of Richard Shriver—the glamorous Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright and quite possibly the stepping stone to the fame he craves—Jonah orchestrates their meeting. The two begin a hungry, passionate affair.
When summer arrives, Richard invites his young lover for a spell at his sprawling estate in the Hamptons. A tall iron fence surrounds the idyllic compound where Richard and a few of his close artist friends entertain, have lavish dinners, and—Jonah can’t help but notice—employ a waitstaff of young, attractive gay men, many of whom sport ugly bruises. Soon, Jonah is cast out of Richard’s good graces and a sinister underlay begins to emerge. As a series of transgressions lead inexorably to a violent climax, Jonah hurtles toward a decisive revenge that will shape the rest of his life.
Riveting, unpredictable, and compulsively readable, Yes, Daddy is an exploration of class, power dynamics, and the nuances of victimhood and complicity. It burns with weight and clarity—and offers hope that stories may hold the key to our healing.
My Review
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an advanced copy of this book. I am providing a voluntary review. All thoughts and views are my own.
I’m so torn on this one. There’s a very real part of me that wants to give it a 5-star, must-read rating and spend the next few months ranting and raving about how amazing it is. However, there’s another part of me that feels a bit… ahhh… let-down, perhaps?
Let’s see if I can explain what I mean.
I’m going to start with why I loved this book because I truly do believe it deserves mad props. It’s raw, real, and heartbreakingly deep. It tackles challenging topics and doesn’t shy away from the emotional impact of difficult, life-altering circumstances and experiences. It isn’t a light read, and it doesn’t pull any punches. I also had a hard time putting it down. I never knew what to expect next, and so the very idea of putting my Kindle away and doing anything else was absurd. I read this in one sitting and devoured each word like a reader starved.
Parks-Ramage is an excellent writer. I’m not typically one to enjoy first-person, let alone second-person. I tend to be a primarily third-person past or bust kinda reader, but the well-executed mish-mash of first/second POV present-tense works really well for this author. Or, it certainly worked well for this story, if nothing else. I absolutely adored the unique way it was told and, again, never knew what to expect. So the quasi-twist at the end hit all my feels and shocked-surprise buttons.
I also loved the characters in this book, even the ones I hated. Which, okay, that sounds a little weird, but it’s the truth. Some of the characters in this story are so evil you want to do some very, very bad things to them. And yet, Parks-Ramage wrote them in such a way that they still held some relatable traits. They weren’t that comedic level of evil where they don’t even feel real. They had flaws, they made mistakes, and you could tell there were at least a few conflicting emotions going on during various scenes. Perhaps not the ones you wanted to see them in the most, but either way, these baddies felt like real people. Which, in the end, made them all the more terrifying.
Now… clearly, I loved this book. I loved the writing. The storytelling was masterful, and the characters felt alive and real. If that’s all true, how could I possibly have any issue with this book? Well, my lovelies, let me see if I can explain without getting too spoiler-y.
Before I delve into this, I’m going to be one-hundred percent upfront by telling you that I’m an atheist. However, I respect others and their unique religious beliefs, so the fact that religion played such a large part in this book is not the issue. Not at all. My problem was the literal whiplash I felt surrounding the protagonist’s religious experiences and beliefs. Religion is a very difficult topic for many of us in the LGBTQIA+ community, so it breaks my heart when it isn’t treated carefully in LGBTQIA+ literature. I can’t really say much beyond that without giving away spoilers, which I don’t do in my reviews. Let’s just say… I wish the author had either considered removing his second-largest church-related plot point near the end of the book or considered having its conclusion be less tied to the other unsavory parts of the book’s primary plot.
Either way, I believe this is a solid 4-star read and will be very interested to see what Amazon does with it on the television screen.
Jonathan Parks-Ramage
He/Him
Jonathan Parks-Ramage is a Los Angeles-based novelist, screenwriter, and journalist. His debut novel, YES, DADDY, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in June 2021. Amazon Studios is currently adapting the book for television.
His writing has been widely published in such outlets as VICE, Slate, OUT Magazine, W Magazine, Atlas Obscura, Elle, and Medium. He has lectured on journalism and creative non-fiction at Fordham University. He is also an alumnus of the 2018 and 2019 Bread Loaf Writers' Conferences.
Jonathan and his screenwriting partner Marla Mindelle recently sold their musical feature film screenplay, The Big Gay Jamboree, to Paramount Pictures. The film is executive produced by Academy-Award nominated actress Margot Robbie under her LuckyChap production banner. The duo has also sold television pilots to ABC and Pop TV.
Connect with Jonathan below!
So, what are you waiting for? Yes, Daddy will be available for your reading pleasure on or after its release date of May 18th, 2021! Get your copy today!! 📖
