Pit Stop is an adult novel by author Ellis Mae. It follows Isamu Miura has recently returned to his childhood home in South Carolina, after being medically discharged from the military and then going to Japan to visit his mother.
Isamu lost his leg after getting caught under a collapsing building and now has to get used to life outside of a military, with a prosthetic and service dog, Inu. Inu is there to help with his PTSD and heart condition that is not helped by anxiety, she is trusty and the only person he feels doesn't judge him.
When he moves in with his best friend, Gonzales, who is more like a brother, he ends up meeting Gonzales' girlfriend and her best friend John. John Love does not consider himself a dreamer. And when a random guy walks into the auto shop he works at, asking for help with refurbishing a van to live and travel in, John refuses. But when Gonzales comes to ask John to help Isamu, offering to play him in basketball and give John his car if John beats him, he decides to give it a try. John has been working from the first moment he could, after losing his mother and watching his father slowly die from alcoholism, PTSD and eventually liver disease. All he wants is to finish school and leave everything behind, but adding more work with Isamu is not what he wants.
That is until Isamu offers to help and also offers to pay, now they find themselves working in an old storage locker on the van, getting it torn apart and put back together the way that Isamu desires. During that time, they start to learn more about each other, like how Isamu didn't come out until he was in military and wrote letters to his family, and how John is trying to take care of a father who never took care of him. As their journey continues, they realize they have feelings for each other, causing John to have to explain that not everything is what it seems with him.
This book is powerfully written in a way that really makes you feel the emotions and tension with Isamu, the longing for what he had and trying to figure out what to want now, the emotions that flood him during panic attacks, the protectiveness for his dog. John is more protective of his feelings, especially in that chapters from Isamu's point of view, but as he starts to open up, we understand more and more about the discussions he makes.
This book does cover a lot of heavy topics, and making sure to check triggers will be pretty important for some. There is mention of PTSD and injuries while serving in the military, almost all the characters are queer, and working hard for their rights, even if their families don't agree. There is alcoholism and mentions of parents passing, as well as mentions of abuse. Make sure to protect yourselves friends.
Though I am not someone who has PTSD or has lost a limb, I feel like the story was told in a way that was delicate to those situations, but would definitely love to know what people in those situations think of this book.
Overall, I really loved the emotions this book has, and also how short it was. Its just a little over 200 pages and makes it an emotional and powerful read without caring on too much. The characters learn to trust each other and themselves in ways that make sense with the timing of the book and the overall vibe is sometimes really joyful.
This book was a solid 4/5 stars for me.
This book is scheduled to come out May 20, 2024
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