Review: Homecoming by Rachel Haimowitz & Heidi Belleau

“Curse you Haimowitz and Belleau – what are you doing to me???” ~Under the Covers

With a wedge successfully driven between Mat and Dougie, Nikolai is now completely taking advantage of it and creating a pet out of Dougie just as he always planned.  And poor Mat is barely holding on…to life or hope.

In HOMECOMING, the mind fuck of all mind fuck continues, but it is with this episode that the mind fuck is more for the reader than for Mat or Dougie.  For as much as I hate, loathe, and abhor Nikolai, there’s always been a part of me that cheers inside when he shows tenderness to Dougie.  Well, with this episode, Nikolai “spoils” Dougie with a taste of life outside of his windowless, basement “room,” and gives him things that he loved from his past.  And as been happening with each show and display of tenderness, Dougie thinks that maybe he CAN be the type of person Nikolai wants him to be.  He thinks that maybe Nikolai really does care for him.  That he really does LOVE him.  And maybe, just maybe with time, he can learn to love Nikolai back. And as the reader, how do I find myself?  Almost rooting for this to happen!  I mean, WTF???  Curse you Haimowitz and Belleau – what are you doing to me???

This “relationship,” if you will, is really developed in HOMECOMING, and we see very little of Mat.  What we do see, though, is just heart-wrenching.  In the last episode, he did what he promised Nikolai he would do, and he didn’t interfere with Dougie’s abhorrent treatment.  He didn’t come to Dougie’s rescue.  It was probably harder than anything he’s ever done before, but Mat knew that if he didn’t do as Nikolai told him, Dougie would suffer the consequences worse than those that were being delivered.  So Mat stood back and stayed seemingly aloof as best he could.  While he succeeded in fulfilling Nikolai’s wishes, what Mat did was something that he can’t forgive himself for.  So in this episode, we find Mat in probably the darkest place he’s ever been, and really, after all the torture he’s received, that’s saying something.

So, once again, the crack duo writing team of Haimowitz and Belleau had me reading non-stop and hanging onto every last word written on the page, waiting with bated for the next episode.  I think I’m ready…yeah, I’m ready.  Bring it!!

*ARC provided by publisher

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