review 1: Well I enjoyed that so much I could read it all over again! I must admit Ive always loved these sort of teen stories were the jock falls for the more geeky student because I love to see the underdog get his day and his man and of course the proverbial bullies get the punishment they deserve, and the humiliation that they put their victims through! This super enjoyable YA story didn't disappoint at all. I suppose you could argue that its just another version of a trope that's been done many times before and in a way it is, but if the wonderful messages in this book about accepting and liking who you are and who you choose to love and fighting bullying in schools reaches any gay teen who's confused or frightened about his or her sexuality, then that's fantastic. Wes is the... more 'geek' of the story, except its more that he's slightly effeminate and sensitive than actually nerdy. He loves Art and the more gentle pursuits in life. His parents are fantastic and love and support him for what he is but they don't know he's being bullied at school for being gay. His best friend is a girl and he's attracted to the stronger more jock like type so when Brad moves in next door he's smitten straight away. Brad is so nice and surprisingly friendly, he seeks out Wes' friendship pretty much from the word go, of course Wes is convinced he's no chance with Brad but he has a secret that may not surprise us , but surprises Wes . You can sort of guess the rest but what you won't see is the sweet but still insightful way that Jeff Erno handles all the teen trauma of first love and of course the added pressure of that love being gay , because however enlightened we think we are, being gay for most young teens is still a very difficult thing to come to terms with especially when a lot of the distress they face comes from their own peers.Then taking away the important messages there's the romance which was just perfect. It was sweet, cute, frustrating when you get to the ' misunderstanding' which of course you can see coming but its also uber romantic and sexy . But sexy in just the right way for the age group that its aimed at. There's lots of kisses that are swoon worthy and some love scenes that could have been too explicit in some authors hands but in this story were pitched just right. Theres a prom, a bitchy girlfriend and a fabulous epilogue that made me sigh contentedly and if this was made into a film it would rival any het teen drama out there today. I'd watch it and be glued. Freddy Prinz Junior eat your heart out! Lol!I can honestly say it was just an absolute pleasure to read and I'm going to be adding a lot more YA reads to my ever growing list of books. Mr Ernos books will definitely among them! Oh and I forgot..... The awesomeness that is Lady Gaga makes a guest appearance and that made mine and Wes' day! review 2: Ahh, how I loved this book. As a former teenage nerd myself (who is now an adult nerd), it's nice to see the nerdy, quiet kids get the popular jocks. I think what I loved most about this book is how unashamedly gay Wesley is. He's effeminate and he says it himself. I loved that about him. So many gay teen books now focus on kids who could probably pass for straight. Wesley will not deny that he loves crafting, he's scrawny, and his voice is higher pitched than he'd like. And then there's Brad, his complete opposite. And that's OKAY because there are gay teens from every spectrum out there! I really felt this book. I teared up whenever Wesley did, and my chest got tight whenever I thought he was hurting. I connected with him because of how similar I was to him in school. Granted he may be a gay teenage boy and I'm a straight adult woman, but that just goes to show the skill of the author to be able to bridge that gap. What he went through in school with the bullying, I did too. And my mother was just as supportive as his is when I was in high school. A lovely read that was over far too fast. I loved the epilogue, though. It made me smile the entire time. less
