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A review by inmydreams
One Man's Trash by Marie Sexton
5.0
Coming back with my thoughts on this after a few days. Definitely one of the best books I've read this year and a well deserved 5/5 stars.
The plot is about Taylor, sex worker and homeless, who's taken in by Warren, an ex-military, into his house. Taylor has been in this situation before. Guys pick him up for sex, become infactuated by him for some time and then they make him leave weeks later. Warren wonders the reason this happens, since Taylor has a high libido and is a good rommate, which is why he didn't mind the guy staying. Soon he'll realize there's more going on with Taylor, and both will find comfort from their own issues in each other the more time they spend together.
I admit I went into this book mostly blind. I barely knew about few elements, I'm the type to not check much about a book since I rather be surprised. I'm glad I didn't because the amount of character development and topics explored here weren't something I could see coming and it was a great surprise.
I must speak about the characters first. Warren was well built as an older man. Being an ex-military and now a bodyguard for sex workers, he has seen a lot of awfulnes. He feels like he carries the world on his shoulders, that he must be a savior. Here's where Taylor comes in, now one of my favorite MCs ever. He is such a complex and bruised soul, always putting a strong front and refusing to accept help where it hurts him the most. When both clash, it creates an interesting dynamic of one person needing care and another that wants to offer it, and the best thing is that this description applies for both of the main characters in one way or another.
The relationship had me invested since the beginning, going from lust to actual romantic feelings. Theirs could have been considered a sort of situationship during the first half if we were to classify it, none of them saying a word about it but expressing different types of intimacy. It felt organic how it evolved into care, protectiveness and love. I adored how they helped each other in fighting their own fears. For Taylor, it was realizing a hard truth from his past and accepting that he needed help to recover, while Warren needed someone to protect and to allow said person to stop him from commiting acts that would end up being a parallel to Taylor's self destruction attempts. It was great that the author also made it clear that they couldn't "cure" each other. The age gap was a great addition with the little details that exhibited this, such as Taylor not knowing some references Warren said, given that both lived in different eras. In conclusion, both complemented each other really well.
Going into the technical stuff, I really enjoyed the author's writting style, exactly what this type of story needed. Not overdramatic but delivering emotional punches, with good and well written explosive moments. The heavy topics explored range between, the first and last mentioned being the core of the character's conflicts. My heart broke many times for both main and side characters equally. This means the author succeded in telling their story and making the reader care about the cast + themes displayed in each situation. None of them are light matters, and I think this book does a good job at showing the different types of injustices in the world, so close to reality that it becomes infuriating.
There's one moment that still makes me have mixed feelings though, and it is that one sex scene during the second time one of them has a crisis. Part of me believes that it was necessary to move the characters forward, and the other feels really bad for those involved.
Despite everything, I consider the journey worth it and the conclusion was the right ending for this book after such rollercoaster. It had me going through every single emotion, something I appreciate a lot from a book, especially when it isn't long. It's admirable that this one managed to contain so much in few pages considering that it was wrapped up without loose ends. I wouldn't change a thing from it, I still think it's more memorable this way and it feels a hard-earned but satisfying closure.
Tags: (can miss some, heads up that I don't tag everything)
-POV: third person
-Content warnings:
-Elements:
-Kinks:
-Sexual act(s):
-Dynamic:
The plot is about Taylor, sex worker and homeless, who's taken in by Warren, an ex-military, into his house. Taylor has been in this situation before. Guys pick him up for sex, become infactuated by him for some time and then they make him leave weeks later. Warren wonders the reason this happens, since Taylor has a high libido and is a good rommate, which is why he didn't mind the guy staying. Soon he'll realize there's more going on with Taylor, and both will find comfort from their own issues in each other the more time they spend together.
I admit I went into this book mostly blind. I barely knew about few elements, I'm the type to not check much about a book since I rather be surprised. I'm glad I didn't because the amount of character development and topics explored here weren't something I could see coming and it was a great surprise.
I must speak about the characters first. Warren was well built as an older man. Being an ex-military and now a bodyguard for sex workers, he has seen a lot of awfulnes. He feels like he carries the world on his shoulders, that he must be a savior. Here's where Taylor comes in, now one of my favorite MCs ever. He is such a complex and bruised soul, always putting a strong front and refusing to accept help where it hurts him the most. When both clash, it creates an interesting dynamic of one person needing care and another that wants to offer it, and the best thing is that this description applies for both of the main characters in one way or another.
The relationship had me invested since the beginning, going from lust to actual romantic feelings. Theirs could have been considered a sort of situationship during the first half if we were to classify it, none of them saying a word about it but expressing different types of intimacy. It felt organic how it evolved into care, protectiveness and love. I adored how they helped each other in fighting their own fears. For Taylor, it was realizing a hard truth from his past and accepting that he needed help to recover, while Warren needed someone to protect and to allow said person to stop him from commiting acts that would end up being a parallel to Taylor's self destruction attempts. It was great that the author also made it clear that they couldn't "cure" each other. The age gap was a great addition with the little details that exhibited this, such as Taylor not knowing some references Warren said, given that both lived in different eras. In conclusion, both complemented each other really well.
Going into the technical stuff, I really enjoyed the author's writting style, exactly what this type of story needed. Not overdramatic but delivering emotional punches, with good and well written explosive moments. The heavy topics explored range between
Spoiler
domestic violence, femicide, the dangers sex workers experience, sexual assault and incestThere's one moment that still makes me have mixed feelings though, and it is that one sex scene during the second time one of them has a crisis. Part of me believes that it was necessary to move the characters forward, and the other feels really bad for those involved.
Despite everything, I consider the journey worth it and the conclusion was the right ending for this book after such rollercoaster. It had me going through every single emotion, something I appreciate a lot from a book, especially when it isn't long. It's admirable that this one managed to contain so much in few pages considering that it was wrapped up without loose ends. I wouldn't change a thing from it, I still think it's more memorable this way and it feels a hard-earned but satisfying closure.
Tags: (can miss some, heads up that I don't tag everything)
-POV: third person
-Content warnings:
Spoiler
past abuse (incest, done by a brother), self-harm, self destructive actions, consent issues during a scene (MC has a crisis and feels that only rough fucking with pain would make him feel better, ML cannot do it, instead he asks his friends from his past bdsm club to do it for him, many people fuck MC aggressively, ML does ask him multiple times about this, MC agrees but he's not in the best state of mind), death of side characters, domestic violence and abuse-Elements:
Spoiler
age gap, BDSM elements, size difference, codependency between couple, manhandling-Kinks:
Spoiler
chastity device, free use, consensual somnophilia, humiliation/degradation, masochist bottom, sharing partner (only one scene, both MCs decide it won't happen again), watersports-Sexual act(s):
Spoiler
barebacking, creampie, blowjobs, rough/aggressive sex, aftercare, fainting during sex, hair pulling, pushy about not wearing condoms, cockwarming, gangbang/sharing one bottom, fingering, riding, toys, marathon sex, rimming-Dynamic: