Tormented Discovery (Finding Our Way #2), Jayson James

Justin and Derrick (from Finding Our Way #1) are now seniors in high school and must overcome family, friends and a threats in order to find their way as a couple.  

- Review by Cindi

In Tormented Discovery Justin and Derrick are beginning their senior year of high school.  This review will be a continuation of their story but I will not be revisiting every detail from the first book that I reviewed here though some will be necessary in order to tell their story.  

Justin and Derrick, after being best friends for years, are now a couple.  They are out to their parents. They are out to their closest friends.  They are not out at school and wish to keep it that way until they graduate.   They are so close to finishing their high school years so why make waves unnecessarily?  Their friends accept them so that's all that matters.  Their families, on the other hand, are a different matter even if they like to pretend they do.

The cast of secondary characters are back in all their glory including the twins, Tyler and Tyson, Hayden, Ryan and Stacy.  New characters are introduced that are integral to the story.

Tormented Discovery is told in three alternating points of view:  Justin, Derrick and Hayden's.  While I never got confused in regards to whose particular thoughts I was reading each time, I did end this book somewhat confused with why Hayden's were shared.  It was interesting being inside his head and watching his relationship with Ryan unfold but I am not sure I completely understand why I was there.  His particular story did not go in the direction I expected which is probably why I am now at loss in regards to him.

In the last book, Justin had been finding index cards with the word FAG written on them.  They were found on his windshield, inside his school locker and other places.  He had no idea who was doing this and had made the decision to not tell Derrick about it.  This continues in Tormented Discovery with the cards being left in more and more places.  The index card thing is resolved in this book and I have to say I was not surprised in any way when the person doing it was revealed.  I did, however, get confused in the why.  

Justin and Derrick must deal with the typical complications of high school.  New friends are introduced who may or may not be who they say they are.  Parental issues are once again in the forefront with both Justin and Derrick.  Derrick's, who like to pretend their son is going through a gay phase, and Justin's who are in one moment screaming at each other and the next pretending to be a family.  The way both sets of parents is written is done well.  I once again adored Tyler and Tyson though each twin showed their age often.  All of the characters showed their age often.  Some more than others.  

All of the boys have this thing for underwear and this is discussed often.  I am not saying this is a bad thing as I found each time it was mentioned amusing.

While I enjoyed this story I did have a few issues with it.  One, the Hayden thing mentioned above.  Two, this is edited better than the first book but I still found myself confused a few times because of sentence structure.  Three, I have a major pet peeve with excessive exclamation points in books and Tormented Discovery has quite a few.  Otherwise this is an entertaining read.  Watching Justin and Derrick as they journey through their last year of high school as well as dealing with problems at home and their friend's problems brought things together that were not quite so clear in the first book.  There are still questions left unanswered for this reader but I have no doubt the author will revisit them in a future book in the series.  A new character, Kristian Kirkpatrick is brought into the fold though not all characters want him there.  Something happens with Kristian that I wish had been elaborated on but overall I was satisfied with his character.

Overall, an interesting continuation of Justin and Derrick's love story.  As with the Finding Our Way, I absolutely love the cover. It is beautiful and very fitting for Justin and Derrick.  This book could be billed as a Young Adult title but with the amount of sexual content and language, I am choosing to not post a review on On Top Down Under's sister Young Adult site, Greedy Bug Book Reviews.  The characters are teenagers who must go through typical teenage issues but I felt the sexual content was more appropriate for this adult site.

This book was provided by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.