Now That We're Grown by Duane Simolke

Synopsis:
Gavin Hernandez and Peter Montoya meet before high school. Gavin admires how Peter never complains about being gay or using a wheelchair. During their senior year, Gavin takes profile pictures of Peter in that chair, but the gesture of good will leads to online bullying and a painful final stretch of school. Best friends slowly drift apart.

After college, they reunite in Dallas as more than friends. Gavin now designs facilities for people with physical challenges. Peter looks for a job to match his business administration degree. The past might destroy their relationship, or their love might change their lives.

MM romance/gay romance. Contains bullying, threats, mild violence, and sexual references. 
(Synopsis from Goodreads).

My Thoughts:
Lately, I've been trying to read as many of my shorter books as possible. I really want to make progress on my Goodreads challenge, and get some of the books off of my TBR that have been there for a really long time. I read The Return of Innocence by Duane Simolke earlier last year, and really enjoyed it. I've been wanting to pick up more of his books. I recently decided to read Now That We're Grown. Unfortunately, I didn't like it at all.

It makes me sad that I didn't like Now That We're Grown. The premise sounded so intriguing to me. I love books about LGBTQ+ characters, and keep ranting to anyone that will listen that we need more disabled representation in the LGBTQ+ books that are being published. However, Now that We're Grown didn't make a lot of sense to me. The story line was way too short. It hopped around all over the place without really giving you much of an introduction to any of the characters. It almost seemed like the author expected the reader to know the characters from one of their previous stories, or something. Because of that, the plot was choppy, and hard to follow. I think if the book would have been a little longer, it could have easily been a three or four star book for me. If the author would have expanded by one hundred pages, or maybe even fifty pages, to flesh things out, I could have seen myself really understanding this story, and enjoying it a lot more.

I found Now That We're Grown to be really disappointing, which is unfortunate. I found the premise to be intriguing, but the short story just lacked so many things. I did love the author's previous book that I read, The Return of Innocence. Therefore, I'm not giving up on this author just yet. I might try another one of their longer books, and just not read their short stories.  

I give Now That We're Grown: 1.5/5.

Want to know more about the author?
Website: http://duanesimolke.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DuaneSimolke
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/73451.Duane_Simolke

I received this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.