Jaden has agoraphobia, which gives him severe panic attacks when he is outside of his house. He has been receiving therapy and slowly making progress, but his brother wants to speed up the process by signing him up for a blind date contest on a whim. When he wins, Jaden would rather do anything but go across the country with a stranger. But when he meets Henry, he is a little less apprehensive about this trip. Henry is new to the dating world himself after finishing his lower surgery recently, and he is worried about how dating will treat him.
I loved these two characters. They both come to the table with worries about dating, all valid worries, yet they fit each other perfectly and are able to calm each other down when needed. Both of them want to take things slow, but their chemistry is undeniable. I didn’t notice any of the things that I usually hate about short romance novels, that being the annoying “conflict” that sometimes occurs near the end to drive the characters apart. Any type of conflict in the story seemed to be a valid, real conflict that affected these characters deeply.
This book addressed agoraphobia in a realistic and sensitive manner. It did not infantalize Jaden by making it seem like the outdoors were “so scary” and that he just wanted to stay inside. Jaden knew his anxiety could be irrational, yet he respects how his body feels and works with his mind in order not to push himself to a breaking point. He lives his life as an adult, while receiving treatment for this debilitating mental illness that he suffers from.
Henry being transgender is also not a problem in this book. It isn’t used as a feature to “mold” his character, and he has many character traits besides being transgender. Do not worry about this being a “token” representation, I loved Henry so much! Not sure how accurate this book was in its sex scenes, but if it was accurate it was very educational!
Overall, I would recommend Freedom by E Davies to anyone looking for a new gay romance novel.
I received a copy of this book and this is my voluntary review.
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 books.
