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aashkevr's review against another edition
2.0
This book could have been so much more than it was. I was incredibly hopeful about it, but it seemed too short and underdeveloped, and I thought that it was also very misleading in terms of plot and blurb. Everything happened at rapid quickfire pace and although an attempt at resolution was provided, nothing actually felt "resolved". For me, this was more of an "issues" book and not an actual novel. I didn't connect to the characters and I was interested on a more academic, kinda distant level then I was in the actual immediacy of the plot.
Step 1: Main character is accidentally outted by his best friend (but really himself) right before the beginning of the new school year.
Step 2: Main character feels alienated by being outted, and is not comfortable with the only other gay boy in the school.
Step 3: Main character starts making dating profiles on websites mentioned by only other gay boy.
Step 4: Main character meets someone and because he is feeling alienated from friends and family decides that this relationship is super serious and ignores lots of warning signs in an effort to feel that he belongs somewhere.
Step 5: Main character loses virginity to new guy. MC learns NG is HIV+. MC gets mad at NG too and now has no one he really connects to.
Step 6: Only other gay guy tries to commit suicide because people are awful to him, esp. MC who doesn't want to have too much "gay" camaraderie. Cause ... that's not what defines him. And stuff.
Step 7: MC is not HIV+. MC sticks up for OOGG. Main character patches things with old best friend. MC rekindles friendship, but not relationship with his HIV+ first.
Thus ends the novel.
What isn't covered:
1) Why the MC is so fricking unlikable and mean to everyone around him and why anyone still likes him even though he is essentially a snotty jerk.
2) That there are actually more than three kinds of gay people.
3) MC's actual transformation into a better person, which one constantly assumes is coming, but is wrong to assume.
4) That HIV isn't really a "homosexual issue" the way it once was.
5) That the drugs were probably just as much of a threat to MC's wellbeing as this other stuff.
6) That romance and love are not dead ideas.
7) That your "first time" is important and shouldn't be given up lightly
8) That you can't just run away from your problems
9) That parents may not be fully supportive, but if they try, that should probably be acknowledged.
I got caught up in my list. Anyways, there was a lot missing. And I wasn't asking for an HEA (not with that title and blurb), but I did come away feeling like this was a book about HIV, and not really about the MC. It showed some of the trials that a homosexual youth can go through, but it didn't delve into them. It more seemed to flit from issue to issue. Oh, now I've been outted. Now my friends are irritated with me. Now I am lying to my parents. Now I am doing drugs. Now I am having disappointing and unfulfilling sex. Now I am learning about things I should have known before. etc. I don't know. I wanted to like this book, but I didn't. There was something missing. For lack of a better word, I will call it "soul".
I don't think I would recommend this to a young person struggling with sexuality. It's not that kind of book, and it certainly doesn't resolve itself into any useful lessons, or at least, none that the MC is aware of. What readers take for themselves is probably a different story.
Step 1: Main character is accidentally outted by his best friend (but really himself) right before the beginning of the new school year.
Step 2: Main character feels alienated by being outted, and is not comfortable with the only other gay boy in the school.
Step 3: Main character starts making dating profiles on websites mentioned by only other gay boy.
Step 4: Main character meets someone and because he is feeling alienated from friends and family decides that this relationship is super serious and ignores lots of warning signs in an effort to feel that he belongs somewhere.
Step 5: Main character loses virginity to new guy. MC learns NG is HIV+. MC gets mad at NG too and now has no one he really connects to.
Step 6: Only other gay guy tries to commit suicide because people are awful to him, esp. MC who doesn't want to have too much "gay" camaraderie. Cause ... that's not what defines him. And stuff.
Step 7: MC is not HIV+. MC sticks up for OOGG. Main character patches things with old best friend. MC rekindles friendship, but not relationship with his HIV+ first.
Thus ends the novel.
What isn't covered:
1) Why the MC is so fricking unlikable and mean to everyone around him and why anyone still likes him even though he is essentially a snotty jerk.
2) That there are actually more than three kinds of gay people.
3) MC's actual transformation into a better person, which one constantly assumes is coming, but is wrong to assume.
4) That HIV isn't really a "homosexual issue" the way it once was.
5) That the drugs were probably just as much of a threat to MC's wellbeing as this other stuff.
6) That romance and love are not dead ideas.
7) That your "first time" is important and shouldn't be given up lightly
8) That you can't just run away from your problems
9) That parents may not be fully supportive, but if they try, that should probably be acknowledged.
I got caught up in my list. Anyways, there was a lot missing. And I wasn't asking for an HEA (not with that title and blurb), but I did come away feeling like this was a book about HIV, and not really about the MC. It showed some of the trials that a homosexual youth can go through, but it didn't delve into them. It more seemed to flit from issue to issue. Oh, now I've been outted. Now my friends are irritated with me. Now I am lying to my parents. Now I am doing drugs. Now I am having disappointing and unfulfilling sex. Now I am learning about things I should have known before. etc. I don't know. I wanted to like this book, but I didn't. There was something missing. For lack of a better word, I will call it "soul".
I don't think I would recommend this to a young person struggling with sexuality. It's not that kind of book, and it certainly doesn't resolve itself into any useful lessons, or at least, none that the MC is aware of. What readers take for themselves is probably a different story.
blaarrosir's review against another edition
3.0
It was really difficult for me to decide whether to give this book 3 or 4 stars. There were parts I truly liked and parts I didn't. I loved Will's family dynamic and how he viewed them. It seemed so real and relatable. I liked his first attempts at dating and how he handled it. I didn't like Julie. She seemed to be there just so there was someone to rain on Will's parade. They were supposedly best friends but she never acted the part. It was also very unclear how the entire school came to find out Will was gay. The back cover description says his best friend outed him on Facebook but that was never said in the book itself. Background characters made overheard comments about a video but that was never elaborated on, either. The ending also didn't mesh and was unrealistic. It's been months and Riley and his friends just welcome Will back like he never left? Sure. While there were positives and negatives enough was positive that is be interested in reading more books by the author.
elephant's review against another edition
2.0
I found this book to be depressing. Will is a high school senior in a small town where the only other homosexual boy at his school, Daniel, is picked on relentlessly. Will looks online for a boyfriend and finds an older man in a nearby city. In the meantime, he is not a good friend to Julie and Daniel, his only friends, he lets his grades slip and he lies to his parents. The older man he met online gives him drugs and only after they have sex, with a condom at least, does he tell Will that he is HIV positive.
Then there are some websites listed in the author's note at the end of the book that are support networks for queer teens, which is probably good because if they were not depressed before they read this book, they may be by the time they finish it.
Then there are some websites listed in the author's note at the end of the book that are support networks for queer teens, which is probably good because if they were not depressed before they read this book, they may be by the time they finish it.
saturndoo's review
1.0
I truly had anticipated a good read from this book but was highly disappointed. I was highly interested in this book because of the topic and genre. Usually a catchy title or beautiful cover peaks my interest but this book has neither. The storyline had great potential but the delivery fell very short. The target audience for this book is young adults, as well as adults, but yet the writing, context, and lingo was so “old school” I couldn’t help but do anything but shake my head. Being the mother of young adults, I can only imagine the ridicule my kids would make about the slang/lingo used in this book. I felt absolutely no connection to any of the characters as they all seemed very one dimensional and there was very little descriptions about their characteristics, feelings or looks. The setting was pretty much the same. There were no painted visualizations to make the reader “see” or “feel” as if they were actually there. Not anything to really draw the reader in. The dialogue was seriously lacking. A sentence here, then a few lines later another one. No actual serious interactions/conversations amongst the characters which made the story a little dull. It seems as if the author tried too hard to write like a young adult would think or talk which in turn made the writing seem forced.
One thing I despise in a book is repetition. I noticed that the term “like” “know” and “cool” was used frequently, with the term “like” and “cool” being old school slang terms. A thesaurus could have been used to help with this. I also noticed the repetition of phrases and then there would be a series of periods and then the phrase again which is very annoying. Once is enough for the reader to get the point. Parentheses and italics were also overused in the story which is also an annoying characteristic to a reader.
As short as this book was, I should have been able to read it in a short period of time but this was not the case. I had to go back and re-read lines, paragraphs and pages to comprehend or make sense of what I had just read. A book should flow so smoothly that a reader gets sucked in and doesn’t have to re-read, but this book required a lot of re-reading. I noticed that words were omitted, there were lots of typos, words used in the wrong context, and even some words should be taken out as it serves no purpose.
With a lot of editing and hard work this could turn into a wonderful book. The storyline was realistic and could be very interesting. At this time because of all the issues I struggled with, I am giving this book a one star rating which also means I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
I received a free e-book copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my free and honest review. I received no form of compensation for this review. All thoughts and opinions written in this review are mine.
One thing I despise in a book is repetition. I noticed that the term “like” “know” and “cool” was used frequently, with the term “like” and “cool” being old school slang terms. A thesaurus could have been used to help with this. I also noticed the repetition of phrases and then there would be a series of periods and then the phrase again which is very annoying. Once is enough for the reader to get the point. Parentheses and italics were also overused in the story which is also an annoying characteristic to a reader.
As short as this book was, I should have been able to read it in a short period of time but this was not the case. I had to go back and re-read lines, paragraphs and pages to comprehend or make sense of what I had just read. A book should flow so smoothly that a reader gets sucked in and doesn’t have to re-read, but this book required a lot of re-reading. I noticed that words were omitted, there were lots of typos, words used in the wrong context, and even some words should be taken out as it serves no purpose.
With a lot of editing and hard work this could turn into a wonderful book. The storyline was realistic and could be very interesting. At this time because of all the issues I struggled with, I am giving this book a one star rating which also means I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
I received a free e-book copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my free and honest review. I received no form of compensation for this review. All thoughts and opinions written in this review are mine.
librarianpirate's review
3.0
No real complaint - fine writing, but this wasn't much of a book. One hundred and four pages? I just wanted more. More from the story, more from the characters ... more!
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