Official Review: Something About Sammy by Blaine Sims

[Paige Alvarado]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Something About Sammy" by Blaine Sims.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, "about one in four adults [suffer] from a diagnosable mental disorder." 60-year-old Andrei has just moved to Bluewater Springs to be closer to his estranged son. Always privy to the bar scene, he quickly becomes a regular at Rusty's. This is where he meets an eclectic group of people including Sammy, who is in his mid-twenties. Andrei finds Sammy to be deathly attractive, and can't seem to get his mind off of him.

Being a heterosexual, the feelings he has for Sammy become very confusing for Andrei. He seeks advice from fellow patrons at the bar, several of which attempt to dissuade him from acting upon his desires. The news travels fast and quickly reaches Sammy, who suddenly feels very uncomfortable with the way Andrei looks, touches, and speaks to him. Sammy demands that Andrei leave him alone, but a life without Sammy is no life at all in Andrei's eyes. How far will he go?

Something About Sammy is a fictional story written in the first-person perspective of Andrei, a troubled old man who finds comfort in his brief interactions with young Sammy. My favorite part of the book was the ending. I felt it was a monotonous story about a creepy old man until I reached the epilogue. The information in the epilogue left me completely dumbfounded and drastically changed my mind about Andrei.

My least favorite part of the book was when the story transitioned from the present-day to the past. He began describing his life story and the storyline about Rusty's and Sammy seemed to be lost. I quickly became bored with it because I was so invested in the initial storyline. I do understand the importance of providing background information about the protagonist in any book, so I won't discredit Sims for further developing Andrei's character.

Something About Sammy covers some heavy topics such as sexual orientation, drugs, infidelity, mental illness, and suicide. Additionally, there is heavy use of profanity as well as mention of erotic acts, such as the time Andrei described what he would do to Sammy if the opportunity presented itself. For these reasons, I think this book would be best suited for mature audiences.

In terms of quality, I feel that Something About Sammy was lacking. I found several errors, leading me to believe that Blaine Sims has yet to seek out professional editing. Overall, I did not enjoy the book and would not recommend it to others. Unfortunately, I found it to be a bit tedious to read and I quickly became bored. I am sorry to say that I am only able to give it 2 out of 4 stars.

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Something About Sammy
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[Luluwa79]

The title seems catchy and leaves one curious about Sammy. I would have loved to read but i will skip till further notice.
Thanks for the insightful review.