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john_the_captain 's review for:
Dream Boy
by Jim Grimsley
This is a well written book although I preface that there are several content warnings (i.e. Child abuse, rape and murder) so it's not for everyone.
The descriptions in the book are vibrant and interesting, setting the scene well for a teen romance but with an underlying feeling of foreboding which of course is realised by the end of the book. Written 27 years ago, it's disappointing but not surprising that all the popular tropes are included and that's why I give this book a 3 out of 5 instead of 4. If I'd read the book 20 years ago I probably would have enjoyed it more (not being aware of the lazy/common tropes for gay characters)
For 80% of the book it's an enjoyable exploration of two teen boys figuring out their mutual attraction with some well written (and not too graphic) love scenes but the content still put's the book into the adult category rather than YA. The descriptions of the landscape & nature in the rural south (of America) is interesting and gives life to the story. It also touches on the dark past of slavery which I felt could have been explored a little more.
Overall it's a good read if you can get over the content warnings I list above.
The descriptions in the book are vibrant and interesting, setting the scene well for a teen romance but with an underlying feeling of foreboding which of course is realised by the end of the book. Written 27 years ago, it's disappointing but not surprising that all the popular tropes are included and that's why I give this book a 3 out of 5 instead of 4. If I'd read the book 20 years ago I probably would have enjoyed it more (not being aware of the lazy/common tropes for gay characters)
For 80% of the book it's an enjoyable exploration of two teen boys figuring out their mutual attraction with some well written (and not too graphic) love scenes but the content still put's the book into the adult category rather than YA. The descriptions of the landscape & nature in the rural south (of America) is interesting and gives life to the story. It also touches on the dark past of slavery which I felt could have been explored a little more.
Overall it's a good read if you can get over the content warnings I list above.