a must have book
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when i looked on this page i read the other review and i thought i would give this book a chance.
i thought this would be another boring gay love story.
but this book is about finding your inner self
and all i can say is that it is beautifully written and must have book.
i finished this book within 2 days i was so hooked on the story line and the juicy characters.
this just shows you how everyone is a someone and that everyone should be accepted for who they are.
if you are looking for a differant kind of love story, this is the book for you.
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A story of two equals...
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I brought this book after noting a recommendation in another book ('In To This World We're Throw', author Mark Kendrick). I didn't realise at that point however that this was actually the third novel in Gay Youth Chronicles, by this author, following his earlier books 'The Football Field is Empty' and 'Someone is watching'. If I had, I'd have brought the earlier two books first and read the series in order as several events were refered to in 'A Better Place' which will no doubt spoil my eventual reading of the earlier books.
Anyway, back to this novel which is the story of two young guys - Brandan, the high school football hero and all round hunk, and Casper, the weak, bullied boy - and how they eventually fall in love. However, before happiness can be achieved they have to jointly overcome many trauma's and hardships, of which some were very adult in content. To give you a rough idea of some of the subjects covered in this novel, there is bullying, incest, prostitution, medical misconduct, rape, murder and underage sex. Reference to a medical centre aimed at 'curing' homosexuality paints a dim view of the methods used to put gay kids on the straight (excuse the pun) and narrow. I personally felt that this book almost needed a guidence rating due to its content, although the subjects are glossed over mostly, being only touched upon with little or no details given.
The book is also told in chapters from the viewpoint of each of the two main characters, so that you get variations of the same events and challenges, plus some that the two guys don't share with each other (making you feel privy to secrets). However, the book also has two parts - book 1 and book 2 - and book 2 definately has the feel of being a 'tack on' to the first, which ended quite nicely (with a few lose ends which could have been fully resolved in a proper, second installment of the story). Also in book 2 the focus changes and the story is told from Brendan's viewpoint and that of a new character named 'nathan' which left me feeling that Casper had been slightly dumped, which was a shame, as of the two boys, he was the most engaging.
Overall, I throughly enjoyed the book (even though I haven't quite yet finished it but couldn't wait to review the book here). I will definately now be going back and checking out the first two books despite knowing how they ended.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes not only a gay romance, but also a damn good story too!
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Deep devotion
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A Better Place is told initially by the two main characters, Casper and Brendan in alternating chapters, in Part Two by Brendan and new character Nathan. Casper, the "friendly runt", a waif of a boy from a socially and economically very poor background, abused by his brother and neglected by his father, his mother having died, is the frequent victim of bullies. Brendan, a regular jock, rich, handsome, well built, the school football team's winning quarterback and captain, is the school idol. Both are troubled by the sexual feelings. Brendan is attracted to Casper, befriends him, but when he makes further advances it leads initially to disaster, but eventually matters are resolved and they can accept and pronounce their love for one another; and we are left in doubt as to the depth of their devotion. But that is just the beginning of their problems, and what follows is a tortuous journey, physically and emotionally as they fight against the odds to remain together. The period of corrective detention for one of them in a mental institution is particularly shocking.
It is a lovely story, almost a fairy tale (no pun intended), very warm and moving, and often very tense as the two lovers face various threats and trials. It says a lot for Brendan's character that he can see beyond the outward physical appearance to Caper's true qualities. The first chapter alone, where Casper describes himself and his circumstances is so desperately sad and heartrending that one has to read the rest of the book just to be sure that he somehow makes good.
It is admittedly at times a little patronising, and it does become repetitive, with the frequent pronouncements of their love for one another, and more irritatingly the regular retelling of events and other facts about their relationship. The acceptance of their relationship by most others is at times almost too good to be true, yet to be honest we would like it to be so. The predominantly short sentence structure makes for a rather jerky read, but despite its faults, it is a perfect love story, with Casper and Brendan each prepared to do anything, even sacrifice his life, to protect the other, a very touching tale.
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