Growing Pains (Toronto Connections, #3)

by Cass Lennox

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

Growing Pains is very different than the previous two books in the series. This time we're following Gigi and Brock, whom we met in Finding Your Feet. We already know a little bit about their past and how they winded up together again. However, there's a lot more going on there and it's certainly not happy. Gigi is heading back to their hometown for his sister's wedding, but Brock is not with him. At least not at first, which means the book starts with a fight.

The tone of Growing Pains is very dark and heavy, which is not what I would have expected given Gigi's very bright personality. But he is clearly not happy with Brock's decision to initially stay behind without giving him a reason why. I was frustrated with Brock at first because he just refuses to talk to Gigi at all. But then I found myself frustrated with Gigi, because he is quite overbaring and doesn't even stop to think that Brock may have a very, very good reason for not wanting to return home. This did not read like a Romance Novel for the most part, which threw me off. But once I settled into what it was, I did enjoy it a lot.

Growing Pains deals a lot with abuse. Brock doesn't want to go home because he's not out to his parents. He's been lying to Gigi about that fact, which is not okay. But it was even more not okay for Gigi to pressure him into coming out. Brock's father is highly homophobic to the point of physical abuse. Brock also had used self harm as a way to deal with being in that household. It is absolutely understandable for him to not want to be back there with a boyfriend in tow. Of course, things do work out at the end. Not in a sunshine and rainbows kind of way, but Brock faces his demons and comes out alive. I was very nervous for him for awhile, since I wasn't sure how it would turn out since the book had not had typical Romance vibes.

Growing Pains was just a heavy read. I could see both Brock's and Gigi's sides as they were fighting, because there was such a lack of communication between the two that they couldn't possible know when they were in the right or in the wrong. This felt realistic, if it was frustrating. Although that just shows that I was very emotionally invested in their story.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.