Galaxies and Oceans

Galaxies and Oceans (2018) N.R. Walker

TW: This story opens with one of the main characters recovering from having been beaten by his boyfriend–for not the first time.

Ethan Hosking walks out of his boyfriend’s second home and into the a chaos of a wildfire and comes out of the forest as Aubrey Hobbs, a man with no past–and no identification or proof that he exists.

I learned a lot from living with Anton for four years. Physical reactions always said more than words. I learned that Anton could tell me he loved me, tell me he was sorry, tell me he’d never hurt me again, but the coldness of his eyes or the set of his mouth told me otherwise.

Patrick Carney is a lighthouse keeper on a small, isolated island. He’s spent four years trying to get past the loss of his partner, but he hasn’t felt any connection to anyone–until a he comes across a man who seems as if his past tried very hard to break him.

I grabbed two bottles of water and held one out to him. It was only three long strides for him to take it, but it was as though he needed to make himself walk closer to me. He took the bottle and quickly took a step back. “Thanks.”

God, he was honestly scared, and I couldn’t even imagine what it took for him to even say yes to coming inside with me.

This was–for obvious reasons–a hard story to read. Aubrey cannot control his reactions to people, so it is very obvious he has been physically hurt in the past. None of the abuse happens on the page, but just reading about him flinching after someone else makes an innocent gesture is heart rending.

Patrick is also dealing with a lot of grief–which is also hard to read. But he has had time, and you really want him to be happy again.

I will say that I kept expecting the story to unfold in one way, and it kept surprising me and doing something completely different.

The hard parts were hard–no two ways about that–but the problems were all external, almost all due to Aubrey having to hide who he is.

All in all, an excellent story, even if it was emotionally exhausting.

Rating: 8.5/10

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