Rabi and Matthew by L.A. Witt: New Release Review

A queer retelling of Romeo & Juliet, except no one has to bury their gays.

A decades-old family rivalry is reaching a boiling point as the patriarchs vie for a seat in Congress. Democrat vs Republican, Muslim vs Christian, Hashmi vs Swain — the Midwestern town of Arbor Hills is one spark away from an explosion of violence. So when two men find themselves irresistibly drawn together at a party, only to discover they were born on opposite sides of a bloody battle line, Matthew Swain and Rabi Hashmi know they should leave well enough alone.

The pull between them is magnetic, though, and it’s too strong to ignore. Unable to resist, they meet again in secret. Generations of hatred can’t temper the passionate love growing between them, but two men falling for each other in the middle of a war zone can’t hold back the inevitable clash.

And when decades of political, religious, and personal strife finally come to a head, there will be blood.

Word count: 59,800; page count: 237

Amazon

Riptide Books

Wow. This book was brutal and heart breaking and still gave me hope.

How these 2 guys didn’t know who each other were already, I’ll never know. I am also going to let that slide because the rest of the book was just so good.

This book is filled with racism and homophobia and Islamaphobia. Just so you know. There are passages that are just vicious. Dialogue that is just so mean you can’t imagine people saying it. But they do, everyday.

This modern, gay retelling of Romeo and Juliet. Political adversaries, Rabi and Matthew’s fathers are running against east other for political office. And it is the bible thumping, super conservative white guy versus the Muslim, leftist liberal. The discord between the families goes back 1 or 2 generations. It’s ugly. It’s also very topical.

There was still a lot of focus on Rabi and Matthew and their blooming romance. It was so sweet. So romantic. It was a bit swoony. When they are found out though, it is really, really ugly. I don’t understand hate like that. Hate because someone is a different color, different religion, different sexuality. And it is so real. I think that is what gut punched me the most. Knowing that these people are out there with their vile hate.

I’m sure you all know how Romeo and Juliet ends. But no so with Rabi and Matthew. Because as the author says, too many gays have died. Time for them to live.