Polyamory on Trial

The four lovers are back. Raith, Phil, Mike and Ross are dealing with the fallout of the events from the previous book, as well as issues with equal division, Phil’s patients, Raith’s insecurity and keeping Mike’s sanity. This one felt like Mike and Phil were the main characters, though the four together feel more together than the first one. Its sweet, a little sad and very real. I like the writing style and the little interview parts with just Mike this time. Does contain violence, assault and people with no morals.

'Polyamory on Trial' was an interesting book, with two main plotlines and interwoven themes.

I haven't read the book which precedes this one ('Badge of Loyalty'). I don't feel that takes anything away from the clarity of this story - though I am now very curious about what happened, because it's often alluded to, so I might need to find/read it now just to sate my curiosity!

'Polyamory on Trial' tells us a tale about a polyamorous quad of men and their efforts to save young Syrian refugees who have been trafficked into the North East of England, kept in slavery and punished with rape for any escape attempt.

As we see them work together for the benefit of the young Syrian men, we also learn a great deal about the reality of polyamorous relationships (and the problems caused by misinformation and preconceptions others have about them too).

I did enjoy the book, despite it's subject matter being somewhat upsetting. All of the details concerned with the trafficking, slavery and rape of refugees was sensitively handled and brings to light the reality of awful things which do happen to real people all the time.

I also felt that there was much to learn about relationships (of any kind really, but in particular polyamorous ones), in the way the characters talked through everything constantly and felt so strongly about their four tenets of love, passion, openness and honesty.

My only real negative point is that the 'message' is rather often repeated, along with the reiteration of other details also seeming repetitive at times. The author is obviously extremely passionate about the subject matter which is great, but occasionally as the book moved along I wasn't quite sure if I was feeling a little lectured, or if it felt like the author assumed a very short memory span in the readers.

All told, interesting and informative with engaging characters. Worth reading.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines Polyamory as”the practice of engaging in multiple sexual relationships with the consent of all the people involved.” ‘Poly’ signifies many and ‘amor’ is the Latin for love. In “Polyamory on Trial”, Jude Tresswell examines this phenomenon in the lives of his four protagonists: Mike Angells, Ross Whitmore, Dr Phil Roberts. and Raith Balan. Whereas the OED definition tends to concentrate on the “sexual relationships” Tresswell imbues the relationships with a great deal of friendship, companionship, understanding, affection, solidarity and, of course, love, not just in its carnal sense.

In spite of a close bond between the young men, not all is hunky dory and the harmonious relationships have their own ups and downs and minor irritants, temporary though they may be.

Enter a Syrian refugee, Khaled Hudson. He has been physically abused and lands up at Warbridge Hospital where he is attended to by Phil. Through a strange set of circumstances, Khaled lands up living with the four gay men which further complicates their relationship. His situation raises several questions: is his presence in the UK legal? Who has caused his injuries? There is obviously some illegal trafficking of refugees which is evident from the opening pages. Mike Angells, who has recently lost his job with 5e Force begins to investigate, But more important is the new entrant who acts like a grit of sand in the well-oiled relationships between the four and threatens to upset the balance. Will their relationships survive this ordeal?

Tresswell handles the tensions very well and creates a very readable novel.

Netgalley ARC

I started reading this before I realized it was book 2 in a series. I had to go back and read the first book because it didn't make much sense to me. I'm also used to some stories with poly characters starting out that way. This is most definitely not the case.

Tresswell's writing is a very author specific writing style. She writes in a way where you can hear the local dialect and jargon of the characters because she actually makes them speak that way rather than tell you what kind of accent or quirk they have.

The books is slow. There's nothing around that, but the characters are so different and part of a polyamorous relationship that the uniqueness of that alone is also what kept me reading. It's bit on the dry side, but it's definitely worth the read for the writing and characters alone. She definitely does Mike and he guys justice in describing and telling their everyday lives. I also applaud the unique tale of mystery woven into the story.

Book Review
Title: Polyamory on Trial
Author: Jude Tresswell
Genre: LGBT/Romance/Crime
Rating: *****
Review: So, after requesting this book I learnt that this was the second book following these characters, but the books can be read as stand-alone novels. Polyamory on Trial follows Mike, Ross, Raith and Phil in their relationship. So, the opening to Polyamory on Trial was great, we meet our 4 protagonists and we can instantly see that all 4 men are very different. It seems that there are two distinct couples being Mike and Ross along with Phil and Raith, however most interchange partners with the exception of Ross who doesn’t sleep with anyone except Mike but has emotionally attachment to the other two men. This story seems to be focusing on Phil who works at a hospital and specializes in rectal trauma when a young man named Khaled is brought in and Phil has the feeling that this young boy is here illegally and is being abused.
We also learnt that Mike used to work as a CID but left the force for unknown reasons that not even his partners are aware of. While Mike wants to help none of them are really in a position to help. As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, we get a real sense of the dynamics between the 4 men, but the real intriguing part is the developing bond between Phil and Khaled. Khaled isn’t gay or unwilling it admit he is because of the environment he was raised in. However, Khaled does open up to Phil a little telling him he does speak some English and that he is in fact being taken against his will while leads Phil to go out and get drunk something very uncommon for the foursome. The four decide together that this is something that can’t be ignored anymore.
As the issue with Khaled takes more and more control of the men’s lives, we see some tensions rising. However, these tensions are purely because they have to investigate themselves because if they go to the police and Khaled is in the country illegally, he will be deported meaning everything he has gone through has been for nothing. Things are made worse when an allegation is made against Phil at work and he has tons of emotionally pressure to deal with despite having three great support pillars around him.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, we get to delve a bit deeper into the emotional and physical relationships the 4 men share with each other. While there are two main couples seeing how they share with one another is great, the only exception is Ross who only has an intimate relationship with Mike and they share a deeper more connective kind of love than Mike shares with Raith or Phil. Despite this, it doesn’t stop Mike having deep emotional and physical connections with Raith and Phil and he even goes into depth about how his relationships with Raith, Ross and Phil are all different and unique and how he cherishes them in his own way.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, I was so invested in this novel. Mike is helping Phil deal with his problems at work and try and get some information on Khaled. It was interesting to learn more about the characters history, about how Mike has been raped in the past despite being a stereotypical masculine man and that Phil had to watch his first lover die of AIDS. I liked how the novel is showing that it isn’t just dealing with the here and now problems but how these characters came to be the people they are and what experiences shaped them. As things get more and more out of control for the quad with Phil and Mike breaking into someone’s house only to find Khaled hidden away and they decide they have to rescue him, but this poses its own set of problems. One of these problems is that Khaled hates gay men and so the quad are currently hiding the nature of their relationship, but it isn’t sitting well with any of them.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, things seems to be moving with Khaled and he seems to have a real chance at freedom when we are hit with a massive bombshell that I honestly had to read twice to make sure I’d read it right. After this the quad are left more torn than they were before but now Phil’s exclusionary feelings have been brought to light and Mike is worried that their walls might not be as strong as they first thought but I have hope that these boys will pull through as they have done in the past.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, the life of the quad becomes more about how they are going to fix the cracks they have found in their relationship in light of finding Khaled. While Ross and Mike are civil partners it seems like Phil and Raith are going to get married and Mike seems to believe they will be stronger for it. In addition, everyone seems to be more self-aware that even the strongest walls need some fixing up every now and again which makes their lengthy conversations and pillow talk all the more vital to the plot and character development.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, a whole lot of things go down that I just can’t go into detail about, but I can honestly say that the ending certainly make up for the slow start as does all the witty banter between the quad. I will warn you there is a certain joke at the end of the novel that left me in stitches. Overall, I found Polyamory on Trial to be an amazingly, funny yet serious novel that discussing issues like rape, AIDS culture, polyamorous relationship, trafficking and much more. I highly recommend this book and I will definitely be reading Badge of Loyalty soon and anything else Jude Tresswell writes in the future.

This was totally removed from my usual genres but I enjoyed it a lot. A cross between an in depth look at a polyamorous relation and all the cracks and creases that exist there, just as they do in each and every one of our relationships, with the tendency to look deeper into people's lives and situations in case a law is being broken some where along the line. In this situation it really did seem that an infringement of the patient's rights had taken place. His safety was question. His body had been violated. It is entirely understandable that their investigation was taken up. The consequences of said investigation were more serious than they envisioned however and had much more far reaching consequences. I have to say I really enjoyed this read. It was thought provoking and substantial, and I definitely recommend.

I really stepped out of my usual genres to read this book and I am so excited that I did. If anyone thinks that the LGBTQ community is any different than the heterosexual group, this book proves that we are all the same. We have the same problems, fears, hopes, and want to help as many others as we can. This book has four protagonists and there are two main relationships. This story is real and had me feeling every emotion at different times in the novel. I found out that there is another book that centers on these four characters that came out first and I will def read it although in no way do you have to read it to understand these characters.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.