Hi I have a very specific request
-Preferably the teenage male character is emotionally abused by his father (and the son is afraid of his father)
-The male character to be a cinnamon roll (like Adrian Agreste from mlb)
-Emotionally abusive father is a single parent
-Any and all abusive parents in the book are **not** forgiven
-Highschool setting
-Nice and wholesome queer found family
-Dual/multi POV, should have at least one grumpy female character, who cares fiercely about her found family
-No romance at all or a main f/f romance (and no enemies to lovers please, rivals especially academic rivals to lovers is welcome tho)
Fantasy or contemporary is fine, but not historical fiction lol
Thank you in advance!!!!
by mellow_melodies
2 Comments
For the first item, The Great Santini by Pat Conroy
I hope you are able to find what you are looking for! But this feels extremely specific, so if not, here is something that feels pretty close to me:
The Arcane Ascension series by Andrew Rowe, starting with Sufficiently Advanced Magic. It’s a fantasy series whose (male) protagonist has an abusive father who is very much NOT forgiven. Most of the story does not revolve around the father, and he is rarely present in actual scenes (with some notable/dramatic exceptions), but he has a strong background presence in the story. The mother is alive but the MC hasn’t heard from her in years and doesn’t know why.
It is a single POV story, but there is very much a found family dynamic, involving the main character, his sister, and friends they meet at a magic school. (Not clear whether it’d be labeled “high school” as it’s not our world and the character ages aren’t made explicit… Maybe a closer vibe to college though?) The friend group stars several women who are strong in different ways (physically, magically, emotionally).
There is some minimal romance in the story, most notably between the MC and another man, but nothing sexual. (I believe it’s implied he is asexual.)
The friend group dynamic is pretty wholesome but not perfect. Characters, especially the protagonist, often make mistakes and hurt one another, but they generally talk things through pretty soon.
Oh and I’m not sure about “cinnamon roll,” but the main character is very naive/innocent with a poor understanding of social dynamics. He makes a lot of mistakes but generally does his best to help his friends and people in general.