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Black Hawk Tattoo

Black Hawk Tattoo - Aundrea Singer 3.5 starsI needed to sleep on it because I wasn't able to immediately decided on the rating. There were things I loved as well as few niggles, which were already captured by some of the reviews here. But I tried to explain mine and how I ended up with 3.5 stars...What could've made it a 4-star book a.k.a. What I loved about it:Solid portrayal of hurt/comfort theme that tackled PTSD. I thought Jake's trauma was very well-written. He already suffered from a terrible tragedy in his childhood (his house was on fire) and then the war, it definitely could paralyzed people and messed up their brain. It felt very realistic -- in a way that as a reader, I also became frustrated with Jake for being stubborn, determined to punish himself, claiming that everything was fine.This story also had colorful secondary characters ... most notably the teenager Hype and Jake's older sister, Alice. I read a review here that blasted Alice for being "an idiot and a harpy". I have to respectfully disagree with this opinion. I thought Alice was a layered character and very well-portrayed. Although Alice bullied Jake, guilt-tripped him, nagged him, and even at one time slapped Jake in the face, it was all done because she was frustrated and truly deeply scared about what would happen to Jake. That scene where she told Gabe everything, and her reaction when Jake returned, was vividly real. I felt that Alice didn't know what to do because Jake keep stone-walling her. She couldn't do anything else but trying to snap Jake out of it, hoping that by feeling guilty or realized how much it hurt other people to see Jake in pain, Jake could take that step to heal. It was a complicated sibling relationship that still based solidly on love.I also loved that this story didn't immediately sell the idea that "Love Fixed EVERYTHING". While it did help Jake to graduately forgive himself, but he still needed a professional treatment to get better. The last few chapters were intense and I loved it that Gabe stood his ground about his relationship with Jake ... that he wanted relationship, but Jake needed to get better first. What made it ended up only 3.5 stars a.k.a. My Niggles:Unfortunately, I also agreed with the review that said that they couldn't see the chemistry between Gabe and Jake. While it was easier to see how Gabe got attracted with Jake, I didn't really know what pushed Jake to Gabe. Not because Gabe was not appealing... but I guess I didn't really "get" that from Jake. Jake had been hiding himself for months, being fucked up in his brain ... so was it because Gabe was the first man who showed attention? I also felt that Gabe was clueless and naive when it got to Jake's problem. Like another reviewer said, it was easy to seach for PTSD definition these days. I couldn't believe that it didn't even come to Gabe's mind that Jake's issue was post-war trauma related. His tendency to think that everything was fine, and being a bit naive, frustrated me more than Jake's behavior.Oh, and also after I thought about it ... they only took few weeks to say that they love each other. Which was quite fast for me, especially since I didn't really feel them connected. Jake kept silent about his issue, his life, his family ... and Gabe didn't really know him at all, in that sense. It was a moment of disbelief for me. Although, at least, this was 'saved' by that turning point, that pushed Jake to his path of healing.All in all, it was quite good though, for a new author. I might keep my eyes on Ms. Singer in the future.