Blog Tour: The Scarecrow & George C by Mia Kerick (Review + Giveaway)

The Scarecrow & George C
Mia Kerick
Publication date: June 3rd 2019
Genres: Contemporary, LGBTQ+, New Adult, Romance

High school senior Van Liss is barely human. He thinks of himself as a scarecrow—ragged and unnerving, stuck, and destined to spend his life cold and alone. If he ever had feelings, they were stomped out long ago by his selfish mother and her lecherous boyfriend. All he’s been left with is bitter contempt, to which he clings.

With a rough exterior long used to keep the world at bay, Van spooks George Curaco, the handsome new frycook at the diner where he works. But George C senses there is more to the untouchable Van and refuses to stop staring, fascinated by his eccentricity. When Van learns that George C is even more cold, alone, and frightened than himself, Van welcomes him to his empty home. And ends up finding his heart.

Their road to trust is rocky and, at times, even dangerous. And looming evil threatens to keep them apart forever.

Fair warning: You may want to strap in. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

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*All proceeds of this book go to charity: True Colors United.
“True Colors United implements innovative solutions to youth homelessness that focus on the unique experiences of LGBTQ young people.”

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5* So glad I asked for this. I didn’t know what to expect and ended up delaying bedtime to read this.

This is one of those rare-ish tales that is more than the blurb. It’s also hard to review without spoiling it, but I’ll try.

We have Van, or as he thinks of himself, the Scarecrow. He is about 17yo/a student/a loner/a neglected child for more years than is comprehensible to me as a mother/ has several defense mechanisms, including his dress sense, the way he portrays himself, his make-up, his wit, his refusal to lie and to say it as it is, and his sharp tongue. But, he’s not a nasty person, not that you’d guess that, because most people don’t see beyond, or want to or care to, look beyond his facade.

And we have George C, who’s about a year older/possibly of vague Hispanic descent/someone who does actually want and cares to look beyond Van’s facade/also a loner, but because of his past that could endanger people he cares about/has a past that he hates, but which was kind of inevitable seeing what his parents did, and currently works as a cook at the diner where Van is a server after school.

George C, through patience and, I suspect, insight because of his own past, manages to see Van through his armour and slowly helps Van shed the fears, the monsters, the weights he’s been carrying since he was about 10yo, and they become friends and each other’s protector, the latter in different ways.

This is a very ‘almost incomprehensible to a Brit mother, but moving, sad and also uplifting’ tale, because once George breaks down Van’s barriers, Van discovers people that he’d been holding off because of his fears of… monsters. I can’t tell you what kind of monsters, but thankfully the monster didn’t cross one line. The monster crossed several, though, and someone who should have been there for Van, who should have believed him, didn’t believe him, but, as the tale ended, that someone was starting to make amends. I appreciated so much Van’s attitude to that person, that that person had to earn back Van’s trust and maybe could one day, a long way off, earn back his love, and I’m glad that the author kept it Van-real, rather than descending into shades of a Bollywood movie, as too often happens in tales where there’s a reunion.

As I said, it’s a tale that’s hard to review as it’s not mundane, despite my cannot-to-the-book-justice review, and it’s not a faux-angst YA book. This has real angst, different angst for Van and George, and it’s told from both their perspectives, in 5 parts. I am so glad that I read it. And, I’d like to revisit the guys to see how life pans out for them, as when I left them, they were in a realistic but good place. One where they had plans, were saving up and working towards those plans, and I could see them as a young, but forever-couple.

ARC courtesy of Ninestar Press and Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure.

 

Author Bio:

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—one in law school, another a professional dancer, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son, heading off to college. (Yes, the nest is finally empty.) She has published more than twenty books of LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing scholarship essays. Her husband of twenty-five years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it’s a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled people in complex relationships. She has a great affinity for the tortured hero in literature, and as a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of tortured heroes and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to her wonderful publishers for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.

Her books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine, and have won Rainbow Awards for Best Transgender Contemporary Romance and Best YA Lesbian Fiction, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, a Story Monsters Purple Dragonfly Award for Young Adult e-book Fiction, among other awards.

Mia Kerick is a social liberal and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology. Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com or visit at http://www.miakerickya.com to see what is going on in Mia’s world.

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