Name: Shaq H's review of The Dove in the Belly by Jim Grimsely
Item: The Dove in the Belly
Rating: 5
Author: Shaq H

Jim Grimsely

The trailer Ronny grew up in was never a home; at least not in the sense of a haven. He shared it with his mother and a succession of husbands, learning to keep to himself, get good grades, work toward a scholarship (since no one was going to pay for college other than him). At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Ronny�s made some friends, kept his secrets, survived dorm life, and protected his heart. Until he can�t. Ben is in some ways Ronny�s opposite; he�s big and solid where Ronny is small and slight. Ben�s at UNC on a football scholarship. Confident, with that easy jock swagger, and an explosive temper always simmering. Straight. He�s aware of the overwhelming effect he has on Ronny. It�s like a sensation of power. So easy to tease Ronny, throw playful insults, but it all feels somehow�loaded. Meanwhile Ronny�s mother has moved to Vegas with her latest husband. And Ben�s mother is fighting advanced cancer. A bubble forms around the two, as surprising to Ronny as it is to Ben. Within it their connection ignites physically and emotionally. But what will happen when the tensile strength of a bubble is tested? When the rest of life intervenes? The Dove in the Belly is about the electric, dangerous, sometimes tender but always powerful attraction between two very different boys. But it�s also about the full cycles of love and life and how they open in us the twinned capacities for joy and grief.

The Dove in the Belly

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Shaq H

just spectacular. easily my favourite book of the year. cant believe ronny and ben aren't real, but i've headcanonned ben as jacob elordi so i guess there's some semblance realness there 😭😭

ghost girl in satin

« Gay. He had to accept the word and the fact. It was his nature, he had to stop denying. Remembering the times he'd told Ben he never could be attracted to a guy who was gay, which meant, effeminate, or obvious, or flamboyant; which meant honest, open, brave enough to come out of the closet. He hated the idea of being labelled, he had said; he was more than just a gay person, he had said; he wanted to be attracted to a man for what a man was, he has said. So much crap he had said. The conviction had swum up through his thinking during the awful summer, in the echo of Mrs. Nickelsen's death, when Ben was God knows where. If he was too afraid for people to know he was gay, then what did that mean about his character? What hope could he have? Doomed to be obsessed with straight boys. Doomed to nothingness. But even that wasn't fair. Because he had no idea what was happening to Ben right now. Silence told him nothing, after all. » 

This book made me feel heavy, depressed, it made me smile, too, and I loved the way the author explored the intimacy between the characters. The last part was definitely my favourite. I'm completely in love with the ending, even if it made me cry (good tears). The prose was gorgeous.

Lila Roberts

“You heading home?” “Yep” 

4.5 stars actually. Loved this, picked it up bc it looked interesting AND is set at my university. Took a second to get used to the writing style but once settled in I loved it, beautiful book. Grief and loss combined with love and introspection will never fail to get me misty eyed. Listen to Your Song while reading this, it’s a must.

Songs listened to: I’m not in love, Storms, Your Song.

Dani

Review to come, because I need to sit with it, and because I’m very busy, and because it was so very beautiful that I cannot find the words for it. 

Warmth, maybe. Discovery. Life.

this book made me think of how afraid we all are because of our wanting, how embarrassing it is sometimes to show how much we want, care or love something. but even if it physically hurts us we keep wanting and we want our hunger to be acknowledge by others. and that it is all tangled: love, pain, sorrow, desire, sadness, joy. how human it is, to laugh and cry at the same time. 

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
The Dove in the Belly by Jim Grimsely

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &The Dove in the Belly by Jim Grimsely

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
The Dove in the Belly by Jim Grimsely