Review - Down Beat by Max Henry

by - Sunday, April 19, 2020



Some call him a rock god.
Others a celebrity bad boy.


Me? I call him the arrogant bastard who stole my concert venue.

His apology? To take me and my violin on tour with the band.
It's an offer I can't refuse, even if it does come with strings attached.

Because Rey Thomas isn't who he seems.

Life isn't pretty behind the deviant frontman's facade.
It's raw, ugly, and at times downright painful.
But it's real.
And far better than the lie he presents to the world.

The man behind the face of Dark Tide is beautiful in his chaos.
All I have to do is keep him alive long enough to see that too.

PLEASE NOTE:

DOWN BEAT deals firmly with the subject of mental illness and its associated effects on not only the sufferer, but those around them. If this is something you feel may be a potential trigger for you, I advise you stop, consider if this book is right for you, and if you decide yes, ensure you have a support person available.

Rey's story is an immensely personal one for me and I would love for you to experience it, but not at the cost of your own health and wellbeing.

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My Review Rating: ★★★★★

Love me, hold me. 
Tell me you're here to fix me.
Love me, hold me. 
Tell me baby, please, 
Tell me you can fucking save me.
~ Descent of my Mind (Dark Tide)

A poetic masterpiece.

I'm stripped bare and raw, my emotions are all over the place, I drained myself out of tears and my heart is just so f*cking full. The highs and lows, the ups and downs, I'm consumed by every word, every thought, and every emotion. I have no idea how Max Henry came up with those lyrics, but it hurt, they hurt, the words danced off the pages and like a knife straight into your heart and stabbed you in the soul. That's what Rey Thomas did to me.

"...they can't see what I can. 
 A man who makes a career out of his cry for help." 


Down Beat is a story about the struggle with mental illness and its effect on yourself and the people around you. How it felt to lose control and slip into a coma that will free you from the spiral, told through Rey and Tabitha's point of view, it was brutal, honest and absolutely devastating, nothing could prepare me for the way it changed my life and opened my eyes to the struggle and knowing the backstory of what inspired this novel had me weeping, with tears of sadness, understanding and most of all, admiration.

"I am my mental illness, but my mental illness is not me." 

I love Rey for Rey. My heart ached for him. 

I love Tabby for being the one who noticed his aching cries for help and made the hardest decision with consequences she will have to face. 

Rockstar romance with a soul, stage dive into this series if you're into a dose of reality and angst. 

I will religiously stalk the rest of the series now because I am just so captivated by all the members of the band! 


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