The Official Description: Tad bounces around in time and watches mankind grow and change. He loves humanity and helping when he can. However, his job isn’t conducive to helping people—he’s an Angel of Death.
Doug is a fun-loving drama queen. He’s an amazing drag queen and hairstylist with big dreams, but despite his witty exterior, he has a dark history and is prone to self-destruction.
When Tad pushes the boundaries of his duties too far, his wings are stripped away from him, and he is sent to New York City to live as a human. Lost and alone he ends up meeting Doug, and they start a friendship that shapes them both and may last a lifetime. But nothing is simple when you’re dealing with a former Angel of Death and a Drag Queen. Could these two cause the fabric of our world to collapse or will they manage to keep the future as it should?
Just the facts: Supernatural, queer tale about life.
Simple moments, roads not taken can change the future… for everyone – Kinzie Things
My thoughts bit: This was a sweet story about angels, fate and human nature.
When Drag Queen and hairstylist, Doug first meets Tad it seems random. Tad is on a bench, weeping, guilty over the events of 9/1. The reason he is guilty is because he’s an Angel of death. He manipulated the events of 9/11 as much as he was able to try and save as many people as he could. Unfortunately, that runs against the rules of “heaven” and he is punished by being banished to a life on earth.
Doug is a sweet man and takes Tad under his wing. Of course, Doug knows nothing of Tad’s past life. ?Doug believes that Tad might be a pilot who was traumatized (just like everyone else) by the terrorism.
The two becomes friends, attempt to be lovers, discover they are better as friends and move on with their lives.
The story becomes more complex once Tad is visited by his angelic friends and warned that he is changing the future course of Earth by existing on earth.
I really liked the idea of a chosen family that develops throughout the course of the story. Doug isn’t living the best life when he first meets Tad and together, they find their way towards a family of choice. Of course, it has its ups and downs, but ultimately their lives are better for finding one another. I’ve read a few of Neu’s books before, and he always does a great job at characterization.
In particular,I loved the way Neu wrote about Doug’s issues with his own body. In the society we live in, Doug’s embarrassment and discomfort with his body seem like something we need to be able to read more about! We need to be able to live in a world in which there are books where many different body types are celebrated and accepted as part of our natural variety. Kudos to Neu for that!
Some of the ideas were a bit too “fairy tale” for me. But, I’m not a particularly spiritual person, so I struggled a bit with suspending my disblief. I do love the sentiment behind the story though! I also feel that this novel was written as a memorial by Neu and I think that is a remarkable way to honor someone.
This was a light read with heavy emotional moments so 3 stars from me!
Things You May Want To Know: Please be aware, I’m by no means an expert on what may or may not have the potential to disturb people. I simply list things that I think a reader might want to be aware of. In this book: (SPOILERS) Substance abuse, suicide, sexual assault, description of events of 9/11.
Readalikes: Other stories that are similar or give the same feel.
- We Are Lost and Found by Helene Dunbar
- A Light Amongst Shadows (Dark is the Night #1) by Kelley York, Rowan Altwood
- Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju
Links: Goodreads // The Author // The Publisher
I received an ARC of Tad by M.D. Neu from NineStar Press via NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.
Kinzie Things 