YA LGBT

Review of Dead Sea by Mia Kerick

March 20, 2021 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Blurb:

Kyle is a swaggering bully; Lenny strives to be invisible.

Kyle has been left alone in the world; Lenny is the world’s biggest loner.

When Kyle saves Lenny from drowning, their lives will never be the same.

After a brutal encounter with school bullies, Lenny swims out into the ocean, determined to let the current whisk him away. Next thing he knows the meanest kid in town is pulling him from the waves, promising to be his Dead Sea, and to never let him sink.

All Kyle wants is to get out of beach cleanup, is that too much to ask? So he goes for a swim, only to come upon the most epic “nobody” in the senior class drowning in a riptide. Lenny’s haunted gaze grips him, and Kyle makes the impulsive decision to save his life or die trying. And through this ordeal, Kyle and Lenny are transformed.

Kyle’s heroic act sets him on the straight and narrow, and he opens his heart to the young man he dragged from the ocean. Lenny changes too but is still unable to reveal the truth of his pain. While drowning in a sea of secrets, the reformed bully and wary victim fall in love. But staying afloat in the Dead Sea is not as simple as it seems.

Trigger warning: one character attempts unsuccessfully to die by suicide as is noted in the blurb, further discussion of death by suicide

Review:

The story follows Lenny, a seventeen-year-old talented creative kid who loves to sew and dress up in costumes. After an upsetting event during which all of his secrets risk exposure, Lenny, unable to face the potential humiliation, decides to walk into the ocean and never return. Caught in a riptide, he begins to drown but is rescued by the unlikeliest of heroes: one of the school’s biggest and meanest bullies, Kyle.

It was so much fun watching Kyle transform from a bully into a caring individual who continues not only to surprise those around him but surprise himself as well. In Kyle and Lenny, we have two teenagers who have gone through difficult times but have dealt with them in different ways: Lenny by becoming nearly invisible (his nickname at school is “Zip-Lip” because he hardly ever even talks) and Kyle hiding behind his bullying facade and tough attitude. So in this way, both boys hid from the world in their own way.

I loved seeing the transformation as both boys evolved into something more, with each discovering themselves and each other in the process. I enjoyed watching their connection strengthen as the days passed, and they both started changing, both defying society’s expectations and overcoming their personal trauma. It was heartwarming how one of the school’s most terrifying individuals became a hero and how this affected everyone around them — but most of all, himself and Lenny. Mia Kerick really seems to understand the teenage soul—the longing, the self-awareness, the challenges, the fear, and the confusion.

There is real depth to this story as it delves into some pretty serious themes such as suicide, bullying, depression, parental rejection, abandonment, survival, homophobia, and fitting in, all of which the author handled expertly and compassionately. The author created here two characters that I couldn’t help but care deeply for. They were well-fleshed out with a satisfying character arc. Though the book is layered with complexities of identity and societal expectations, ultimately, Dead Sea ends being a beautifully written story about friendship, redemption, and first love.

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Review of As Far As You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper

February 10, 2021 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

This is a delightful and moving coming of age story about a gay seventeen-year-old boy named Marty who escapes his ultra-conservative and ultra-religious parents by moving from Kentucky to London. He tells them he’s taking a summer music program and will be staying with his Aunt. What he doesn’t tell them is that he really didn’t get into the program, he’d only purchased a one-way ticket, and his Aunt will not be there for the entire summer.

We then following along with Marty as he makes new friends and obtains his first-ever boyfriend. But he also suffers from anxiety and is torn between his new life and the one he left behind, not quite sure where he fits in. So in this way, we see him creating new friendships while still trying to maintain the ones back home, and in the process, we get a compelling discussion around the topic of toxic friendships/toxic relationships.

I enjoyed journeying with Marty — through both his high moments and low moments — as he explored his identity and made a new life for himself. It was impressed by the brave risk he took in leaving home and moving to an entirely different country.

I also enjoyed the message here that, at times, the bonds of a family found or family chosen can be even stronger than a family bound by blood. And that’s what we have here, in which Marty creates a beautiful family for himself in London — a family that respects him. Additionally, it was fun seeing the surge of hope flow through him as he finally feels that he’s escaped his oppressive situation in the states and moves into a circle of friends where being gay is accepted and normalized.

I also enjoyed how the author tells the tale via two storylines: the present and through Marty’s journal entries from a year prior when he, along with his family, visited London. There were so many compelling themes to this story: friendship, religion, eating disorders, found family, anxiety, homophobia, betrayal, toxic relationships, and more.

All in all, I thought this was a fantastic, heart-warming story about a young man finding his place in the world. Another hit for me by Phil Stamper.

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Review of Boy Shattered by Eli Easton

January 1, 2021 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Boy Shattered follows our two main characters, Brian and Landon, and takes place at Jefferson Waller High School. The story starts off as an ordinary day at school, and we’re introduced to our two protagonists, who, as of yet, barely know each other. Brian Marshall is a handsome and popular quarterback who is secretly hiding the fact that he’s gay, mainly because of his extreme right-wing gun-praising father and Landon Hughes, one of only a few openly out and proud gay students at the school.

The next day, two gunmen attack the school, and in the midst of the shooting rampage, Landon comes across Brian in the school cafeteria, bleeding out from a gunshot wound on the floor. Following his instincts, Landon immediately put pressure on the wound and saves Brian’s life.

What follows in the heart-wrenching aftermath of the school tragedy is the strong connection that forms between Brian and Landon. Brian is now living with severe PTSD and survivor’s guilt, and through it all, Landon ends up becoming Brian’s sole system of support. Brian now only feels safe when he’s in Landon’s presence and comes to depend on him. It’s also worth mentioning that the shooters were not caught, which only adds to Brian’s anxiety.

In the days that follow, Brian starts spending more and more time with Landon and his parents, and a powerful friendship developed between the two boys. It doesn’t take long for Brian to admit to Landon that he’s not only gay but that he’s had a secret crush on Landon for a while; though this admission doesn’t happen right away — the romance is definitely a slow burn.

I enjoyed that the story is told both from Brian and Landon’s point of view, allowing us to see both the events and the aftermath from both of their perspectives. We really get a feel for Brian’s fear, anxiety, and uncertainty and Landon’s strong desired to not only protect Brian but to enact permanent change. It also helped to show the different paths each had to take in order to heal from the event.

Now let me say that the first couple of chapters, which chronicled the events of the shooting massacre, were absolutely brutal to read. The author does not sugarcoat the events of the shooting nor the aftermath and steps us through the event in a realistic way. It then zeros in on the shell-shocked survivors in the subsequent days.

This story hit me hard: it’s raw, heart-shattering, visceral, and with so much horror and grief. And though it’s fiction, you realize while reading it that this has actually happened to real people in real life. That realization was extra tough to get through.

But through the tragedy, there is a silver lining, and that is the slow and tender romance that develops between Brian and Landon. Their story was hopeful and uplifting — a light that shines through the darkness. But though there was a romance between the two boys, the heart of this story was how each of them deals with the after-effects of the shooting, each coping and healing in different ways. It’s a psychological drama with so many serious and importing themes such as school violence, coming out, bullying, compassion, healing friendship, survivor’s guilt, gun control, innocence taken, PTSD, and first love. There is also a mystery to solve as the killers were not initially caught, which added extra intrigue and tension to the story.

Reading this story leaves you outraged, angry, sad, and frightened for our characters, but it also leaves you with hope at the end — that Brian and Landon, through their love, will be okay. So while this story is indeed gut-wrench and brutal, it is also beautiful in many ways. One of the more emotional elements in the story were Brian’s poems, which made me misty-eyed on a couple of occasions.

Yes, this is a painful story, but there’s a lot of beauty and heart to it as well. So if you have the fortitude to take on a story such as this one, you may find it as rewarding as I did. If you have PTSD, however, proceed with caution, as many people may find this too triggering.

All in all, I’m so glad this story came to my attention. I admit, I put off reading it for quite some time because of the heavy subject matter but ultimately, I’m glad that I finally picked it up. I’ve enjoyed every book that I’ve read by this author, and this one was no exception, though the author’s impressive writing skills really shone through in the story. Not every author has the writing chops to pull off what Easton did here.

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Review of Surrender Your Sons by Adam Sass

August 10, 2020 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Blurb:

His SAT scores bombed, the old man he delivers meals to died, and when he came out to his religious zealot mother, she had him kidnapped and shipped off to a secluded island. His final destination: Nightlight Ministries, a conversion therapy camp that will be his new home until he “changes.”

But Connor’s troubles are only beginning. At Nightlight, everyone has something to hide from the campers to the “converted” staff and cagey camp director, and it quickly becomes clear that no one is safe. Connor plans to escape and bring the other kidnapped teens with him. But first, he’s exposing the camp’s horrible truths for what they are— and taking this place down.

Review:

This story follows Connor Major, a gay teen who, at the incessant urging of his boyfriend Ario, has just come out to his mother. She did not take it well at all, especially since she’s become quite a religious zealot after getting involved with a fundamentalist Christian church lead by a super-creepy pastor. Connor hopes his mom comes around and ends up accepting him, but instead, she has him kidnapped in the middle of the night and sent to a religious conversion camp on a secluded island off of Costa Rica.

And thus Connor’s nightmare begins.

This ended up being quite a disturbing thriller — a dark, raw, intense, and heartbreaking story that explored themes of suicide, homophobia, parental abuse, physical abuse, mental abuse, murder, conversion therapy, and religious zealotry. The author did an excellent job of capturing the camp’s horror and the terror of the campers into the written word. We witness firsthand the brutality of the “camp counselors” and the monstrous things they did to their young prisoners. So, in addition to being poignant, the story is atmospheric and evocative.

The author also gives us some fantastic side characters. I thought the queer kids in this story were utterly brave and commendable, considering the unimaginably terrifying situation in which they found themselves. No matter what monstrous events they faced, the theme of hope ran throughout the narrative. So though it was quite dark and creepy in places, there was always a light of hope in that darkness.

I loved the camaraderie and solidarity that developed between them as they faced imaginable odds and ended up turning the tables on their captors. In this way, this dark and disturbing survivalist story ends up being a hopeful tale of bravery and resilience.

Though it was an uncomfortable, intense, and violent book that delved into some pretty gritty places, it was also fast-paced, thrilling, twisty, and adventuresome. In fact, the entire story took place over a period of two days, which really lent a sense of urgency to it. The book also ended up being a compelling mystery as Connor, and a few other campers begin investigating the mysterious death of a former camper, leading them to uncover the camp’s deepest and darkest secrets. I found the story compelling, gripping, and unputdownable as the secrets were revealed to us one by one.

Surrender Your Sons had a satisfying conclusion with everything neatly tied up at the end and is well worth the read. I ended up loving this book and look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a review copy of this book.

This title will be released on September 15, 2020 but is now available for preorder.

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Review of The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune

July 14, 2020 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

The story follows our main character Nick Bell, a high school junior with ADHD who lives alone with his father, a police officer.

They reside in Nova City, a city of superheroes (who are called “Extraordinaries”) and Nick is a die-hard fan of one particular local superhero: Shadow Star (and Nick harbors a not-so-secret crush on the superhero). Nick spends his days writing fan fiction about Shadow Star and his arch-nemesis Pyro Storm. Nick’s best friend Seth, how also happens to be super cute (and may or may not be a potential love interest), beta-reads all of Nick’s writings.

Nick is crushing pretty seriously on Shadow Storm, and that crush becomes even more exacerbated after Nick has a real live encounter with the superhero. After that encounter, Nick decides he’s going to do whatever it takes to become an “Extraordinary” himself — that is to say, to somehow morph into a superhero.

But when the battle between Shadow Star and Pyro Storm escalates to epic proportions, Nick is thrust right in the center of it.

I loved this book on so many different levels. First off, the humor and banter was superb and caused me to cackle out loud several times. The author’s witty and clever use of language also succeeded in bringing a smile to my face all throughout the story. It was so much fun following along with Nick and his friends as Nick learned not only about himself but also about the superheroes that he worships. I fell in love with the fumbly, clueless, bumbling Nick with all of his flaws and shortcomings, rendering him utterly endearing and adorable. I enjoyed how everything he did seemed to land him in hot water.

Nick’s voice grabbed me instantly, with sharp humor and tender growing up moments, and didn’t let go until the very last page. This is openhearted storytelling at its best. Humor is often tough for me, but I felt the author really nailed it here. The fluffy romantic aspect of the story — notably the angsty (and sometimes infuriating) mutual pining between two of the characters — really warmed my heart and found myself rooting for them to get together right from the get-go.

I loved the positive LGBTQ+ and ADHD representation in this queer coming-of-age tale about a lovable boy with ADHD. The secondary characters, many of whom are also queer, were also equally amazing. There’s Seth who is bisexual; we have Gibby (the badass) and Jazz (former popular girl), the two lesbian best friends of both Nick and Seth who are also romantically involved with each other; and then there’s Nick’s ex-boyfriend Owen who continues to thrust himself into Nick’s circle of friends and who, as we learn later on in the story, has some pretty serious issues of his own to contend with.

Speaking of serious issues, at first glance, The Extraordinaries seems like a fun, lighthearted romp but as is typical for a TJ Klune novel, it delves into some pretty serious topics such as grief, ADHD, death of a parent, loss, self-discovery, complicated relationships, self-esteem and perhaps most importantly, self-acceptance all of which were handled expertly by the author.

The author, whom I believe is neurodiverse himself, masterfully portrays Nick’s struggles with ADHD, such as his difficulty concentrating, his chaotic thoughts, his challenges at school, and how his verbal “filter” doesn’t always come to his rescue. Additionally, the author nicely illustrates the strain that ADHD can cause in one’s relationships. But that being said, the author does give Nick a fantastic circle of support in both his father and his friends.

All in all, I found The Extraordinaries to be a delightful, poignant novel that’s heartbreaking in places, angsty in others but with exciting twists and surprises along the way. As is typical of this author’s work, I was immediately captivated by the superlative writing and remained riveted throughout the entire novel. The characters were not only compelling but also relatable, and no doubt, many people will be able to see themselves in the characters on these pages. I felt it was the perfect blend between lightheartedness and seriousness. I absolutely loved this little gem of a novel and found it wildly entertaining with its secret identities, its mysteries, and its tender coming-of-age.

The book did leave the possibility for a sequel, and I hope the author continues on with this delightful world and these delightful characters.

A huge thank you to Netgalley for providing a review copy of this book.

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Review of Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales

March 3, 2020 by Roger Hyttinen Leave a Comment

Only Mostly Devastated is a super-fun boy-meets-boy spin on Grease, which follows our two main characters, Ollie and Will. The story takes place in North Carolina, and the two boys have had an amazing perfect summer romance by the lake, which comes to an end when Ollie’s family is supposedly heading back to California. But Ollie is confused and a bit heartbroken when Will subsequently ghosts him, not returning any of his texts or emails.

Then Ollie’s family has a last-minute change of plans and ends up staying in North Carolina to help with his dying aunt, meaning he has to attend a new school. So imagine Ollie’s surprise when he discovers that Will goes to the exact same school as him. But their reunion is by no means sunshine and roses. Ollie is immediately heartbroken when he sees Will at a high school party, and Will snubs him, acting as if nothing has ever gone on between them.

As we learn, Will is a star basketball player at school and still deeply in the closet. He’s also quite freaked out by Ollie’s presence as his school, but yet, he can’t deny his feelings for Ollie. So now Will has to decide whether he should follow his heart and in the process risk his popularity and friendships with the other basketball players, or stay the course and stay in the closet.

Both boys attempt to move on from each other, but as they learn, moving on is a lot more complicated than they’d thought.

I thought this was an adorable young adult rom-com with a lot of heart. I appreciated that the author wrote sensitively about a person’s decision to stay in the closet and their right not to be outed by others. On the surface, this may seem like a fluffy romance, but actually, there’s real depth to this story, which delves into themes of death, grief, coming out, identity, sexuality, family, heartbreak, and first love. What I liked was how the author balanced the heavier themes with light, sweet humor resulting in an all-around balanced narrative.

I love Sophie Gonzales’s writing: clear and evocative, with just the right amount of description. I also felt that her characters were a joy to read, especially Ollie, who was super sweet, likable, caring, a bit bumbling, and perhaps a tad melodramatic, which rendered him all the more endearing. The author does a great job getting into the heads and hearts of her main characters, and her secondary characters are also vivid, well-drawn, and add to the impact of this book. They all felt genuine to me.

I also enjoyed the amount of personal growth that the characters, including several of the secondary characters, experienced throughout the story. So in this way, I thought the character development was stellar.

As for the romance, Ollie and Will together are great. They have this fabulous chemistry, in spite of Will’s hot and cold moods and Ollie’s attempts to distance himself from Will. What I liked was how the author gave our two characters space and time to find their place in the world and to find each other, and in this way, people struggling with their own sexuality might find this to be a thought-provoking read.

Readers who like a little messy YA romance will definitely get that in abundance here – Ollie and Will’s interactions are humorous, awkward, a bit frustrating, and sometimes exactly as confrontational as they need to be. Only Mostly Devastated is the type of story that you’ll want to fall head over heels in love with again and again, and it was a solid 5-star read for me. Loved it!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and to St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC of this story.

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