beta
This feels like a writer had a bunch of scenes in mind and forcibly tied them together. It's less about a plot/story and more about "exciting" scenes playing out. It would be fine if it didn't present itself as a deeper story. The amount of inner dialogue makes it appear as of the author wanted this to have feelings attached, but that is all thrown out by how the characters interact.
I mean.... really? The trope that gets this rolling is a "straight" guy going to "teach" his gay friend how to have sex? What? That doesn't even make pretend sense. That's like saying I'll teach someone how to be vegan by feeding them meat. It makes no sense.
This is good yet felt unsatisfying at the same time. Art is good, plot is nice and characters are interesting. However... it has a heavy tone that it doesn't quite deliver on. It feels like it should have been quite a bit longer.
It has topics such as death, rape, abuse, neglect and more yet they are handled so lightly. They will be touched on, the depth occasionally acknowledged, and then moved on from instantly. This feels unfufilling.
There are also a number of things that feel as if they've been left unanswered, but in a way it felt like they were forgotten about.
Basically- it feels like a full length novel was condensed into a short story. Enjoyable but like something is missing.