Review: The Zero Knot by KZ Snow

Eighteen-year-old Jess Bonner is casting off pretense—and, with it, some friends from his past who aren’t particularly trustworthy. In just a few months he’ll be starting college, and it’s time for him to admit the truth: he’s gay, not bi, and only one of his childhood buddies holds any kind of real interest for him. When Dylan Finch, aka Mig, follows his lead and puts some distance between himself and the old crowd, he and Jess give in to a mutual attraction that’s been building for years.

But navigating a fledgling relationship isn’t easy for beginners, and forces they can’t seem to control keep tripping them up: sexual appetite, personal insecurities, fear of discovery, and more. They need clarity. They need courage. Just as they’re on the verge of finding both, a vindictive act of jealousy sends one of them to jail. All their hard-won victories are in danger of falling to dust. The only way to save what they have is to recognize it for what it is . . . and fight for its integrity.

Dylan aka Mig and Jesse have been close friends for years. They are in a four person “club” of people who are sexually ambiguous but frankly neither of them are quite comfortable in the group any longer and both want to leave it. But one of the other members of the group, Brandon, isn’t quite ready to let one of them go.

Both boys are gay and they finally come out to each other as such. No more of this bi stuff for either of them. They each have feelings for the other but because of a set up Mig thinks that maybe to save his feelings he needs to distance himself from Jesse. Jesse is quite hurt at the way that Mig tells him that they need to be apart and does some stuff he’s not real proud of. An incident at the hospital with Jess’s younger brother brings the two boys back together and gets them communicating finally! But will Brandon let them go so easily and without a desperate fight?

I love KZ’s books. I think I’m biased toward liking them before I even turn on the computer or ereader. Her characters are constantly coming alive on the page for me and the stories she writes always make me stop and think about life. This story was no different.

Jess and Mig were just 18 years old but they were so much more mature than you would think. Yes, sometimes they were just kids but really they were men on the cusp of really finding themselves and who they were meant to be. They had to come to terms with that and the fact that the other would have a huge part to play in that future life.

I have to say that I wasn’t sure I liked Mig all that much at first. I thought he was a bit wishy washy – though I could tell he was completely at odds to figure out where he was going with his life and how to handle his sexuality. The way that he told Jess that they needed to be apart really pissed me off and I was doubting for a time that I even wanted him with Jess. However I should have known that KZ would steer me in the right direction and show me that he was just hurt and since he was an 18 year old boy he wasn’t quite adept at communicating that well without hurting his friend.

Jess came from an awesome family. All guy men should come from a family like Jess’s – the world would just be better place. It certainly wasn’t a fairy tale but he came from an open-minded family and his family truly loved him – it didn’t matter if he was gay or not. sigh So wonderful.

This was a great book that showed the horrible side of what some people will do to get what they want as well as the fabulous side of people and how wonderful they can be. It was such a difference but both needed to be shown in this story to get the true feeling of the love that the boys had for each other. This is a story, in my opinion, not to be missed.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

KZ Snow
Dreamspinner Press

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