The Summary

Markus Reiner is a former soldier dealing with PTSD while trying to start a new life and finding himself through college classes. He meets a free-spirited girl named Lydia in his photography class, and CW style romance-drama ensues.

The Blurb

Coming Home's blurb is... good. It establishes characters and environs, as well as gives a general sense of the story's driving forces. It actually sounds fairly interesting, in a sense that several concepts will be explored. Until you realize that in ways, the blurb is somewhat misleading.

(4/5 points)

The Hook

There are two different sides to Coming Home. One is a story about a military veteran dealing with PTSD and the scenario that caused it. The other is a story about two broken people finding love together. The first chapter does a fine job of unveiling conflicts for Markus. As far as a military story goes, it's pretty generic. There's a flashback and a firefight that is clearly the catalyst for Markus' issues. If you are here for the latter story, you will have probably already made a decision on whether you will continue the book or not. If you are there for the former, prepare for disappointment.

(3/5 points)

Grammar

The grammar is practically impeccable. The author is very in touch with the ways to construct a sentence, and everything is clearly defined. I'll touch more on this in the descriptions portion. I may have a found a single flaw or two in this department, but it's invisible for the most part. The writer has a terrific grasp on language, and the story was an easy read.

(10/10 points)

Characters

Unfortunately, this is where a lot of my praise for Coming Home ends. Characters are the single most glaring issue of this novel. Before I get into the wrongs of the characters, I'll go over what went right. They are developed, and most find some form of personal growth.

Lets start with MC Markus Cullen... er, I mean Reiner. He's a vet with a tragic backstory and a penchant for deep, mysterious brooding, with a thousand-yard stare not seen since vampires sparkled. Lucky for us, we are also given a picture of Chris Evans as a stand-in for Reiner in every chapter, so we know exactly how we should swoon. He also has Dr. Phil inspired inner monologues with himself over being a worthy/unworthy person, mostly over the love interest, Lydia. Except he says the F-word.

Let me get this out of the way, because it may be the most infuriating point. This book is supposedly a realistic look at PTSD, but all Markus does is brood like every chain-smoking bad boy in dime-store literary existence during his flashbacks. And there's one instance where he breaks down while hearing fireworks at a festival. Look, PTSD presents in more ways than this. There's sleepwalking and obsessive gun-cleaning, rampant alcoholism, and self-sabotage just to name a few. Unfortunately, the author doesn't examine any off-beaten paths of PTSD. They are content to let Markus glower and then act like a scared puppy to show vulnerability. This is PTSD for pretty people.

Moving on to Lydia, the love interest. Beginning a budding relationship with Markus and photography are, I believe, the only agency the female MC has in this book. She's in an abusive relationship that she won't leave, involving some convoluted political situation with her parents that basically regards her as an arranged marriage. She's a good enough photographer to win a city-wide competition, but only because Markus is her subject. I mean, let's face it, who could take a bad picture of Chris Evans? She spends the course of the novel leading Markus on, then flipping back to her abuser at the last minute. Okay, on second thought, this might be the most infuriating aspect.

Lydia is Uggs-and-North-Face-wearing-Starbucks-Frappe-drinking-Imagine-Dragons-on-her-Spotify Basic. She plays with her hair and blushes almost every time Markus speaks to her. Seriously, this girl is gonna have heart problems by her late twenties with the volume of blood she must be pumping to her cheeks on a regular basis.

Then there's the aforementioned abuser, Kyle. He's our prime antagonist with the dimensionality of a paper doll. No, that may be too much credit. He's a trust-fund baby whose family "owns" Lydia's. He thinks all veterans are "baby-killers", and his signature move is to get violently jealous before beating the hell out of Lydia. Oh yeah, he also has a man-bun, as if he needed another giant neon sign above his head, telling the reader to hate him.

Markus' family, the Reiners, are ancillary characters, but bring some depth via the family dynamic. The most interesting character is Jake Dawson, Markus' dead best friend. He's an overly-charismatic trickster shown to us via flashbacks. His energy overshadows every other character in the book. I'd like to read more about him, and what made him the way he is. I feel like it would be infinitely better than Coming Home. Most of the points I award this section are due to him.

(5/20 points)

Dialogue

At best, it's serviceable, but mostly it's forgettable. Grammar and flow are good, but it's just so... generic. There's the constant will-they-won't-they dancing around the subject of the two main characters telling each other their feelings. And of course, this goes on for something like thirty chapters. I guess at least it's engaging for the audience that is into this type of story. The drama is definitely present, and at least most of the topics are real and relatable.

(6/20 points)

Description/Narration

This is probably one of the brightest points of Coming Home. The author has a terrific knack for description, all-around. From setting the scene to character motion and emotion, @EDPowell makes sure that the reader always clearly knows where the characters are and what they are doing. This aspect is truly professional work, and it's important in fully fleshing out novel-length work.

Markus' narration becomes stereotypical when it comes to characters, however. When he talks about Kyle, everything is tough-guy machismo. When Lydia is in the picture, she's a delicate but mysterious enigma. Of course, most of the mystery is why she would want to start a friendship/relationship with Markus, even though (duh) it's probably because Markus looks like Chris-fucking-Evans. The quality of narration seems to be directly related to the characters within its focus, with the high points whenever Markus flashes back to Jake, or his time in the army.

(16/20 points)

Plot *spoilers*

The blurb and tags place this as a romance and military thriller. Truth is, it's 90% romance, 10% military, and I don't understand the thriller tag at all. It's a drama, first and foremost, with a premise that focuses on two broken people finding and fixing each other. Again, if this appeals to you, you know whether this story is in your wheelhouse right away.

On the downside, this isn't how things work. Markus goes from standoffish loner who doesn't know whether he can ever let somebody else into his life, to head-over-heels in the course of a single semester. And Lydia isn't the only one with an abusive ex. Of course Markus is victim to a physically and emotionally abusive ex as well, making this more of a love square, rather than a triangle, to up the drama.

And here's another thing. This is pretty much standard beach romance stuff, like a Harlequin novel you'd pick up at the airport and never remember the author because the only reason you picked it up was the cover. But when it finally gets to the sex stuff, the story turns strangely PG. Here's a tip (no pun intended), if your main character doesn't mind saying "fuck" every chapter, he's probably not gonna mind talking about his "cock", or her "wet pussy", or all other manner of dirty deeds. Have you ever hung out with someone from the military? Shit gets explicit. Not Markus though, all of a sudden, he turns into a tenderly sensitive Puritan.

But the worst part is that two broken people don't magically "fix" each other because love. No, actually, the worst part is that everything is fixed because they HAVE A FUCKING BABY, WHAT?!? I've read books with dragons and elves that are less fantasy than this. Maybe I'm saying this because I'm a cynic, but in the real world, this is like, next to a hundred times out of a hundred, a disaster. It's a horrible example from characters that you're supposed to root for.

(6/20 points)

Suggestions

This book is already done. It's a complete story, and it's done with more than competent grammar and writing style. My only suggestion is to move on to a new book with more interesting plot threads and characters. Improving on this story in particular would require a near entire re-write, in my eyes. If you were hell-bent on it, I would say tell us more about Jacob, give Lydia more agency, and abort the baby (figuratively). Oh, and give Kyle more to do than roll up and smoke all of the world's misogyny in one go. Single-mindedly evil protagonists are rarely interesting.

Overall

(50/100) Closer, but barely.

I really wanted this story to be much deeper than it was. PTSD is a subject that must be treated with care, but should also not be glossed over. It's a fine line to tread, and takes a deft hand. The author has the writing ability, but instead, chose to laser focus on a mediocre romance.

On the other hand, I'd be very interested to see this writer take on a different genre, preferably anything far away from romance, to see what they could tackle without the crutch of well-worn clichés. Take the gloves off and stop playing safe. Be incendiary. I believe in you!

Here's a pic of absolutely pedestrian closer, (although he may lose that job this year) Tyler Clippard.