LGBT MONTH Review of Supermassive by Nina Rossing

Synopsis:
Eighteen-year-old Ing is torn apart by two conflicting emotions: his numbing grief for his dead mother and his enduring love for a boy named Ellis. Four years ago, while visiting his grandmother in a remote part of Norway, his mother died the same day he kissed Ellis, his summer friend. Convinced that moving to Norway will solve his issues, Ing faces his first setback when he can’t bear to talk about his mother or go anywhere near the river where she drowned. The second blow comes when he meets Ellis at school and Ellis acts like nothing happened between them.

Ing resolves to rekindle their friendship, but his infatuation only grows as he gets to know the stunning and matured Ellis. When heart-shattering secrets surface, Ing’s resolve to bare his soul to Ellis starts to unravel. Forced to face his mother's death, he second-guesses his decision to move. His growing closeness with Ellis also frightens him, because if Ellis rejects him, he'll have no one left to love. Ing must decide what losses he is willing to endure and what chances to take in order to gain resolution. (Taken from Goodreads)

Stars Given:★★★★☆

Overall View:
What am I supposed to even say?  This book was amazing.  The only reason why I gave it 4 stars was because the beginning had me flipping through and scanning the pages.  It took a few chapters for me to get immersed into the book.  I am so glad I did not give up on it.  It took me two days to get through this book, which is unusual because I like to read slowly (mostly because I ended up getting distracted).  The plot of this book made it seem ordinary, but I had a lot to learn from Ing.  He was my favourite character, aside from Ellis, who was on par with Ing.  Ing remained strong no matter what was thrown at him, even if he did melt down in a few chapters.  His emotions really captured me and that brought me into Ing's perspective.  I also gave it a four stars because I wanted to know more about both Aron and Odin.  I wanted to hear about their own story, and the reason why they did what they did.  Odin, to me, was a really important character.  Without him, perhaps many things could've changed in the story.  I would love to read more about Odin's part of the story.  Maybe he could find love for himself one day, maybe not.  He did intrigue me as a character, such as Aron did too.  Finding out more about their background story would definitely bump this 4 stars to a 5.

Character:
Ing -
Description of Character: As an ex-extrovert, Ing kept a lot inside of him, including the death of his mother and the never ending memory of a summer kiss.  Now an introvert, Ing is a smart young man who is mostly composed, and able to hold back his feelings, especially in front of his only love Ellis.  Although strong on the outside, he is unable to let go of the death of his mother, causing him to turn away seafood.  Hoping to be able to find a way to let go of this mess, he goes back to the one place that holds a lot of memories.


Review of Character: Ing. Such an amazing character.  At first, he seemed like a bore, which caused me to scan a few pages in the beginning (I will go back and reread them sometime soon).  But later in the book, he honestly surprised me.  I supported Ing and his feelings for Ellis so much and it just...so hard to describe him.  I definitely loved his character, and the background story provided was enough to make him feel realistic.  Ing was a sweet, innocent, loving boy before the tragedy that tore him apart, although he still held strong in the end.  Even without his grieving father, he was able to get over the fact, in the end, that his mother had really died, even if her body was not recovered.  I absolutely love strong main characters and Ing is definitely one to be recognized for.  I just simply love Ing.


*Supporting characters not listed