GIFTS BETWEEN US Book Review

Gifts Between Us¹ by C.C. Adams, eBook, 92 pages

Synopsis from Goodreads: Elderly Londoner Augustus has lived a long, miserable life. Having driven his few remaining loved ones away years ago, he now whiles away his time drinking rum and hoping for the end. One night his death wish is nearly granted by a mugger, but a local youth called Michael intervenes. Much to the old man’s horror (and fascination) Michael promptly begins to devour the mugger’s body.

Slowly, Augustus and his mysterious savior form an unlikely friendship, one built on sharing the gifts of trust, camaraderie, and acceptance. And one last a secret. It is the cause of Michael’s cannibalistic nature. And, perhaps, a reason for Augustus to go on living…

BOOK REVIEW: I have always wondered if my face gives it away when I'm reading a spicy scene in a book. Like does my neck and face flush? Am I fanning myself more than usual (like I could tell with all the hot flashes)? For the most part I think I'm pretty good at controlling my face when I'm reading anything. When I tell you that I was making faces during a couple of middle chapters while sitting at the DMV with my husband...I'm not even kidding. The scenes were so gross that I had to turn my Kindle off and give it a break for a few minutes. It was awesome!

I can't say what my favorite part was because this book is such a short read that it would totally give it away but it was the chapter that was making me make faces. The way the author wrote these scenes...I love it! I need to read more of his writing!

This is a 4.75 star (rounded up) for me. The slight knock down is that there is some internal dialogue with Augustus that most of the time was confusing the hell out of me. Could that 100% be a me thing? Absolutely. Luckily with this being a novella, I wasn't left wondering what the meaning was and if I was missing out on something because it was so short. The author does a great job with his scenes and characters and holy hell the descriptions that left me making the faces at the DMV...my goodness! It really is the confusion around the inner monologue is the reason I knocked it down a little.

4.75/5 Stars

2026 Reading Challenge: 21/55 complete

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