Nicolas “Nico” Hall is sixteen when he escapes from Dr. H’s religious gay reprogramming institute in California. On his own, he assumes one identity after another to avoid recapture as he flees south to Peru and then to Mexico.
Seven days older than Nico, Samuel “Sam” Jonas Solomon is a privileged Upper West Side only child who idolizes James Bond. When his heart is broken, he vows that, like Bond, he’s never going to trust in love again. Then he meets Nico, and his heart won’t listen to any logic.
Nico’s survived by living only for himself—until his love for Sam has him risking his freedom for others. And as much as Sam wants to be like 007, he discovers that James Bond is a terrible role model.
Together, Nico and Sam set out to free the other teens trapped in Dr. H’s Institute, plunging readers into perils, drama, and a long-shot chance at love. To succeed, they’ll both have to be A Different Kind of Brave .
THE FACTS
📕 heavy subject matter
📘Nico is a great character, well developed
📙 short on romance as MCs aren’t together for much of book
THE GOOD BITS
I received an ARC of this book from Edelweiss.
This was an interesting one! I had mixed feelings so let me explain.
The book has two MCs. Nico has been imprisoned and is being tortured for being gay. It’s basically a high tech conversion clinic. At the very beginning of the story, he completes an epic escape and is on the run. I loved the way Wind wrote the escape…it was really exciting and engaging. Once Nico is out in the world, he ends up as a stowaway on a cruise ship. Nico is a sweet soul and helps out Warren, a passenger with ALS. This ends up with a bond between the two character that helps Nico to stay free and out-of-sight.
Sam I found more difficult to connect with. Sam comes from a place of privilege and it shows. The character is a good foil to what Nico is going through. Sam has an obsession with everything Bond… and that got a bit over-the-top for me. Maybe it’s because I’m not a Bond fan?
Eventually, Nico and Sam meet up and begin working together to take down Dr. H. And this is where things were a little bit less enjoyable for me.
I felt as though the blurb for this book was misleading as it implies that Nico and Sam meet up and battle the big bad together. While they do eventually get together, it doesn’t happen until well towards the middle of the story. They are together briefly, then separated again.
I continued to enjoy Nico’s story but just didn’t feel the same about Sam’s story. While Nico was battling for his life it felt quite different that Sam was on a very different journey. His realization was more to do with toxic masculinity.
Not a bad YA book. Not entirely sure who I would recommend it to… perhaps younger folks who were interested in action.
THE LINKS
🖊 Author
I received a copy of A Different Kind of Brave from Edelweiss Plus in exchange for an unbiased review.
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