Paint It Black

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
Beneath the Stain remains one of my all-time favourite m/m books, so this sequel had a lot to live up to. And for the most part, it delivers. Outbreak Monkey may be a proper A-list band in this story, but the Sanders family relationships are just as messy. At the start of the story, Cheever’s demons are slightly different than his brothers’, but his life hasn’t been easy and this second book adds child rape to the dark themes of addiction, depression, and abuse in the first book. This isn’t an easy read at times, but the unlikely relationship that develops between Blake and Cheever is pretty special.

With all the big personalities in Outbreak Monkey, Blake became the band member who faded into the background. Similarly, growing up with superstar brothers often made Cheever feel invisible. But Blake has always seen Cheever and it is Blake who comes to Cheever’s assistance when he hits rock bottom. For me, Cheever felt like an entitled asshole at times in the first book but in his own book, I found myself falling hard for the brother the band left behind. There’s a huge age gap between Cheever and Blake but the relationship works. There is much more communication and much less angst in this second story but there are moments where Cheever’s story is just as heartbreaking as Mickey’s was.

I really didn’t enjoy the domestication of Outbreak Monkey in this book. Mackey and Trav are almost bearable here but they do feel like dimmed versions of themselves. The women from the first book have almost been re-written into good little wives who guard communal fridges and keep popping out children. They feel more Mormon than counterculture and did not resemble their previous selves in any way. The many small children don’t help the rock star image at all and I felt like this book was missing the streak of wildness and sense of fun that balanced the darkness in the first story.

I enjoyed this book and I devoured it in a single sitting – but I don’t think I’ll remember it or re-read it like I have the first one. Beneath the Stain took me on a brutal emotional journey and I loved every moment of it. This book was a gentler, possibly more mature read and a chance to say goodbye to favourite characters who have grown up and are moving on.

Reviewers were provided a free copy of this book to read and review.

I was fully expecting a repeat of Outbreak Monkey, instead I get this emotional, break my heart, stomp on it and then sew me up with some jagged edges story that was oh so perfect. First, I was omg Cheever. Then I was omg Blake. And then I just settled into an omg through the whole story as I watched Cheever and Blake get their story. Cheever, well, Cheever is Cheever but Blake, he just broke me heart over and over again. I really never gave him much thought, and apparently he didn't give himself much thought as well, and all the pain and hurt that came through just, ugh, so much!

It was fun to see everyone, the band, Travis, the family, the house and so much making music. Another well done story by Amy!

Wow-o-wow, does Amy Lane orchestrate a symphony with “Paint It Black,” the sequel to “Beneath the Stain,” which is too well-written to miss (4.47 on Goodreads and 4.9 on Amazon!!!). This novel offers crashing cymbals of abuse, the tentative melodies of recovery and rousing choruses of hope. But be warned, “Paint It Black” is a crescendo of family strength, whose strains cannot be fully appreciated without the original novel.

Outbreak Monkey is composed of 3 brothers (Kel, Jackson and Mackey, their genius composer/ singer), friend Stevie, and Blake, a second guitarist. Blake replaced the boy Mackey once loved, who stayed in their conservative, rural, homophobic, dead-end town. You can bet these boys barely survived, with bruised knuckles from many a fight.

Once the group made it big, they also left their much younger brother Cheever, and beloved, hard-working mother who birthed them by four different fathers. “Beneath the Stain” shows us how they tried to take care of those they left behind, and one another, only for Mackey and Blake to plunge into addiction before their rescue by manager, Trav, who became Mackey’s husband. In the process, Cheever became estranged.

As “Paint It Black” opens, the band lives in two houses on a wealthy compound. Kel, Jackson and Mackey all have stable families with children, and the band is still flying high. Blake, who is grateful they rescued him, walks on the edges, while Cheever has supposedly become the unflappable spoiled rich-kid/artist. Except, Blake discovers Cheever in a suicide attempt, supposedly because he earned a “C” in his last college class towards a degree. Terrified by the ten-years-younger Cheever’s over-reaction, Blake rushes Cheever into the same rehab center where he got sober nine years earlier.

What follows is a dance of intimate self-discovery, as fine-tuned as the best symphony, as dramatic as the blues, as romantic as a love ballad. Lane is a master of understated dialog that showcases the enormity of emotions. For example, Blake identifies with Cheever about an instance when he was forced. “‘You think…if you scream or cry or complain, your life is just gonna get a fuck-ton worse? So you just pull back in your own head and you walk away from the shit that hurts…You walked away and tried to fix yourself. You know what? There wasn’t anything wrong with you. You needed to be heard, that’s all.’”

And she also explains her characters’ complicated, often contradictory thoughts with ease. Here’s Blake’s reaction to Cheever. “He responded with a kiss and allowed Cheever’s response to wash away the worry, the anxiety of being seen for who he was, of being left for who he wasn’t.”

Shouldn’t we dislike pain-in-the-bunnies Cheever who is so shallow he would end his life over a mediocre grade? Nope, Lane paints him to perfection, a boy who has stuffed every emotion to earn the respect of his successful brothers. But it is by showing up for Blake, who has opened himself raw to save Cheever, that the younger man finds himself. To earn Blake’s trust, Cheever matures into an adept seducer, cheerleader, and a consistent whirlwind of promise. Lane never falls into stereotypes, surprising us with her characters’ depths and fortitude we couldn’t have imagined- until we realize they should have been expected.

If “Beneath the Strain” was a swell of emotional highs and lows, “Paint It Black” licks at our feelings, pushing them gently to the edge and back. Amy Lane’s novel is as healing as the passionate lyrics of the band’s music, an ode to those who never give up on their families or themselves.

‘Paint it Black’ is the long-awaited sequel to ‘Beneath the Stain’, Amy Lane’s angst-ridden, emotionally devastating story about three brothers, their best friends, and the rock band they formed from a desperate need to have something to do in their small town where no one gave a damn. There are four boys in the Sanders family and each has a different father. Growing up in Tyson, California, with a population of ten thousand, they took a lot of heat but Mackey, Jefferson, and Kell, along with Stevie and Grant, made Outbreak Monkey and got the hell out of that small town. Well, all except Grant but if you haven’t read ‘Beneath the Stain’ then I don’t recommend you read this second book until you have. In my opinion, anyway. Regardless, Cheever Sanders was left at home with Mom and even though the home got bigger and nicer as the band became famous, sometimes it sucks when no one can see you.

“Cheever couldn’t seem to remember being hungry or hating his clothes or being crowded into a two-bedroom apartment, like they did. He just remembered his brothers, all around him, until suddenly they weren’t.” ~ Cheever Sanders

Amy Lane did a very sneaky thing with this book. I mean, maybe an argument can be made for interpretation, but when I read the blurb for ‘Paint it Black’ I see the book in one light, when in reality it’s 180-degrees different. In my eyes, anyway. Yes, Cheever has baggage related to his brothers leaving, to the rich kid boarding school he was sent to, and certainly to the abuse he suffered at that school. But Cheever is a Sanders and he’s more like Mackey than even he knows. Because when all is said and done… when Cheever is forced to admit to what happened all those years ago… when he can let go of so many of his own misconceptions regarding his brothers and their life… well, that’s when Cheever sees Blake for who he truly is and nothing is going to stop Cheever from loving him. Not even Blake himself.

“But you’re right. I may have needed Blake when I was at my lowest, but Mackey, he needs me. He needs someone to tell him he’s good inside, someone he will believe.” ~ Cheever Sanders

It’s so hard to realize that even after ten years Blake still doesn’t see himself as anything worthy of Outbreak Monkey or the guys. He knows they love him; he knows he’s useful, he knows they’re his brothers, but deep down inside in the dark places you never talk about, Blake still sees himself as the guy who sold himself on the streets for drugs or a place to sleep. When he looks in the mirror all he sees is the white trash kid who grew up in a trailer park with nothing. Blake is positive that no one is ever going to love him enough to stay. It’s Cheever’s job to change his mind. It’s the toughest job Cheever has ever had but he’s just as stubborn as his brothers and he’s not going to lose this man.

I expected all the feels with this book but I got so much more than that. I got a reunion with my favorite guys. I got to see the family with all of its additions. I got to see Katy, happy and healthy. I got to see Mackey still kicking a** and taking names. I got to see Trav still being the father figure and taking care of his boys. I got to see Cheever when he let his heart out from inside the jar. I got to see Blake feel like number one. I got. Yeah. I got it all.

NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews

This was a long-awaited book for me. At the end of Beneath the Stain, I really became attached to Blake. When I read that he and Cheever would be involved I was seriously worried. I didn't know that I could ever even LIKE Cheever based on his past behavior. However, the evolution of Cheever as a character was exciting, heartbreaking, and joyful in this book. I hope to eventually hear more from these guys!