Boy in the Hole

By: Akiva Hersh

Narrated by: David Joyce

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

From an anti-other political climate comes a novel that gives voice to outcasts tyrannized by power. Boy in the Hole is the gripping account of Jacob, a boy wrestling to understand himself, his family, and the world in which he lives as he grows up in the Deep South in the '70s.

Emerging from a family of sexual deviancy and alcoholism masked by religion and wealth, Jacob learns to define who he is, but struggles to find the balance between faith and sexuality. To embrace his true identity, he must go on an exodus to face his demons and overcome the pressures to conform. But his parents' toxic beliefs and the messages of self-hate taught by religion and society could prove his undoing.

Will Jacob love himself despite the potential isolation? Or will he conform to the norms and settle for mediocrity...and a life in which he can never truly live?

©2019 Akiva Hersh (P)2019 Akiva Hersh

Excellent!

I LOVE this book. It really was amazing. It totally freaked me out though. I just found out the night before I started this book that I am 5.5 weeks pregnant (very unexpected and not 100% sure what I'm going to do about it). So this book gave me like 10 more things to freak out about. And psychiatric problems can happen to anyone. I'm sure Jacobs crazy mother never saw her crazy coming. But anyways, back to the important stuff.... I found this book to be very well written and very entertaining even though I felt so bad for Jacob the whole time. Almost every person in his life is crazy in one way or another. Also, the narrator did an excellent job. I would highly recommend this book!! It was amazing! <3

This book was given to me at my request (Thank you!). I am providing a voluntary and honest review. <3

High Expectations --- Ultimately Unmet

I SO wanted to enjoy this book! To its credit, it is well written. It involves a coming of age, coming out story. It involves a dysfunctional family with eccentric, histrionic Southern "characters." How could it go wrong? Yet, I found the book psychologically shallow, focusing on the disjointed and mundane vignettes of the family, instead of the more emotionally intense issues ( coming to terms with sexuality, mental illness, child neglect, sex abuse). Characters seem to use denial, blame, sarcasm and yelling as ways to dismiss the more serious issues, like a bad episode of "Mama's Family," without the humor. I received a free copy of this audio book for an honest review.

The chills won’t soon leave my spine!

After reading the book and being so intrigued,I wanted to also listen to Boy In The Hole and I’m so glad I did! The story is dark, chilling, and at times sickening with details of what the main character, Jacob,and his sister endure in their family. With a hint of southern goth writing the author takes you through Jacobs twisted, abusive life growing up around a family full of secrets and incest. While Jacob wrestles with insecurity and sexuality you find yourself either crying with him or cheering for him to find his inner strength and make it out whole! Akiva has written a novel that is timeless as it speaks to so many truths that children endure and often that go untold. Bravo to him for telling this story, and I can’t wait to see where Akiva takes us next in Jacob’s journey and so hope he’s planning on writing a sequel soon!
A must read for anyone who has suffered abuse, known someone who has suffered abuse, has struggled with their sexuality, has known someone who has struggled, or is from a dysfunctional family. Surely everyone fits into one of those categories and is why this is a must read for Everyone!

Put the D in dysfunctional!

This family was incredibly dysfunctional! The mother, Rose was sexually abused by her father and was in denial about the situation. She was very mentally ill and allowed her father to sexually abuse her daughter. She was mentally and physically damaging to her son, Jacob, as well. No one in this family seemed to be remotely sane. Throw in coming of age/coming out and a non-conventional psychiatrist in the mix and there you have it. Parts of this book were so cringeworthy I wanted to scream or quit reading it, but I could not. The narrator did a good job with voices and inflictions.
"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

A coming of age story

This is the coming of age story of Jacob Murtaugh, and follows him from baby up to leaving home for college. This is not the usual coming of age story; Jacob's life is full of abuse and mental illness and this book deals with many serious and disturbing topics.

The author, Akiva Hersh, has a talent of telling this horrendous story in such a way that you are always filled with hope for Jacob. You love him and want to protect him from the first instant you meet baby Jacob in this book, and your heart breaks a little, every time another horrible thing happens in Jacob's young life.

Despite the dark subject matter, this is a beautifully told story and had me gripped from the very first chapter. I listened to the audiobook version and the narrator was very good. My only problem with the story is that there were so many characters that I found it hard to keep track of who was who and how they fit into Jacob's life. It was also a little confusing when the story swapped between the veiwpoint of the different characters, ie Audrey's view or Edwin's or Rose's. I don't know if it is because of the audiobook, but there was no clear indication of who we are dealing with now and I had to go back sometimes and listen again to pick up the story line.

I would love to read more about Jacob and what happens to him once he escapes his family and starts college and I love Akiva's writing and will definitely be reading more of this author.

I received a free copy of this book at my request from Audiobook Boom in exchange for an honest review.

Disturbing in its realness

Oh god where do I start. The crazy mother Rose, her delusional psychotic personality, poor Jacob being abused by her emotionally and physically, his sister sexually molested by the same man who originally damaged Rose.... and and Roses own mother taking part silently covering up the abuse. I wanted to murder half the characters in this book. I too am a child of abuse very similar to some things in this book and it hit home. It was told in such a way that made me mad, sad and just upset.

Narration was excellent.

I was voluntarily provided this review copy at no charge by the author, publisher and or narrator.

Not very engaging

This is a well-written story about an unbelievably disfunctional family, but there seems to be no point to the story. Nothing is resolved and it ends quite abruptly. None of the characters are especially likable.

David Joyce does make an effort to give distinctive voices to the characters, but the voices he chooses for some of the characters are overly dramatic and not really appropriate.

I never really connected with this story. I was still waiting to be drawn in when it abruptly ended.

Note: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.