4,5 starsIt started liked that, just the simple beginning of a friendshipBreaking Faith features two characters who are teens/young adults for the most part of the book but it definitely will call out to you as an adult. My civil status says I am one and I swallowed lumps in my throat repeatedly, sniffled, cooed (discretely and too rarely), had incredible fits of rage and mulled over endless questions. The story opens on casual facts of life : Brett is 19 years old, preparing med school, cherished by his parents and safe in his life, angsting about his sexuality. Tommy is 20, working for the time being in a store, trapped between an abusive father and a mother who relies on him to help her to hold the whole family together and safe. They meet on the common ground of youth and attraction and the casual writing of the very beginning increases in evocative power while they steal moments from their parallel lives. Friendship turns into love, bringing comfort, purpose, questions and complications, Brett and Tommy reveal themselves as both fiercely loyal and stubborn.The power moves up a notch while everything goes downhill at the 50% mark and they’re more ”something to focus on, something to hold on to” than lovers, yet still in love.Breaking Faith is a love story that doesn’t happen in a bubble. It is an intricate story about young men, families and realities of life, very well served by a strong, yet sensitive writing that doesn’t sugar things nor overdo them.It is harsh, honest, emotional and beautiful.
