Rating: 
Summary: A different point of view.
Review: I know I'm going against the grain with this review, since everyone else seems to rave about it, but it seems to me that this book was lacking in "drive." I felt that I couldn't get connected with any of the characters...and didn't particularly want to get to know them. I had little or no motivation to continue reading more and more, unfortunately. I wanted to like the book...but I couldn't make a connection with the author or the characters. This is the first book I've read by this author, but I didn't think it was of a very good quality. I wasn't impressed with his writing style or characterization. Sorry, guys! Just telling it like it is from another gay man's point of view...
Rating: 
Summary: not an easy read, but worth it
Review: This book touched me on a number of levels. There were times I wanted to cry for Nathan or to reach out and throttle his parents. But there was such a real connection between him and Roy that I can't imagine Grimsley didn't write from his own experience. Read this book, but do it when you have the time and emotional energy to really focus on it.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting and Captivating
Review: This book is one of the best novels I have ever read. How a southern boy can find love in another southern boy living beside him and how is two years older. Nathan, who has been abused by his own drunken father, who also thinks he is a great Christian Baptist buy, finds true love in Roy. They begin with only friendship but it leads to love and protection for Nathan. They hang out at school. Roy's friends Burke and Randy allow Nathan to join their group of friendship. They go on a camping trip and find an old plantation in which an old house still stands. The house is said to be haunted. Boys being boys end up going inside to check it out. After Roy and Burke fight over who gets the only flashlight, the group gets separated. Nathan and Roy end up alone in one of the dark rooms in the house. Roy begins doing sexual things with Nathan and they are both caught by Burke and Randy. Roy runs out of the room and Nathan is left alone. He is later found by Burke and taken to another room and raped. The book ends very heartening. This is a great story of two boys that take it slow by starting a friendship first, and what can happen in an ugly world of other boys that do not tolerate gays. I have read this book twice already and there is an exquisite pain in me. A beautifully written story--great descriptive language, great characterization (you even get a mental picture of Nathan although he is never physically described). A spiritual roller-coaster as you feel Nathan's pain and fall in love along with him. One of the best romantic novels ever written--gay or straight.
Rating: 
Summary: Very well done
Review: This short, remarkable book moves with a style of its own, and is quite an achievement. Grimsley is an assured stylist who gets away with what a lot of writers usually don't--continually using the present tense and sounding natural. Lots of people have used the adjective "dreamy" in regards to "Dream Boy"--like a dream the book is both ambiguous, hazy and soft and also truly vivid, hallucinatory, and deeply felt. Grimsley has the gift of quickly establishing character in a few strokes, and his protagonists Roy and Nathan are both spectres and boys you probably encountered growing up. It's possible to say that a book sounds "right" without having personal connection with its subject matter or any biographical footing, and this book feels right up until its climax. After that, the ensuing events are up to personal interpretation. I personally believe that the book's last chapters aren't meant to be taken at face value, but on the other hand, had Grimsley removed them the book might have been too painful to bear. "Dream Boy" lives up to the nature of dreams and their ability to provide safety one moment then remove the trap door and cast us into a realm of horror and blindness. The book is paused mid-way between those extremes, and the result is an everday unworldliness. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Sad, yet beautifully rendered. Great book for young adults
Review: I recently read "Dream Boy" a second time. It has helped me cope with being a young, homosexual teenager. It has shown me that love can be found almost anywhere, and that everything is ok in the end. I would recommend this book to anyone who feels lost in this world. Beautiful, seductive, and enticing. Great for youthful gays, who feel that love is never in their reach.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read
Review: Romantic, moving, heartbreaking, realistic. Don't start this book unless you have a little time on your hands because you won't want to put it down! The main characters are endearing; the dialogue is lifelike; and the setting is truly captivating. The writing style however is a bit awkward I feel, written all in the present tense. The ending will leave you curious and wanting more. Don't miss this one! I read it in two days - a record for me I think!
Rating:
Summary: an excellent and fast reading
Review: though i can not identify with the main character from my personal life, i was able to feel the pain and desire at the same time. for wanting another so bad. for hiding something that hurt so deep. for wanting to live as his urges prompted him. a struggle and victory in the strangest sense. of friendship and love. i hope these words spur you to go to your library or purchase this book. it is worth the time and effort.
Rating:
Summary: The Power of Two
Review: Charting the boundaries between abuse and love, "Dream Boy" tells the story of two boys caught in the terrible drama of excepting themselves and each other. Nathan comes from a family constantly on the move to prevent others from realizing the kind of abuse his father forces on him. Roy comes from a loving home. Both families aspire to devout religious beliefs. In that, they are the same, but the reality for both is much different. What both boys find together in each other outside the lines of oppressive religion is celebrated, even though their relationship is despised by others. In this, the strength of love is shown to be greater than petty religious beliefs. Through uncertainty and doubt the boys learn to love. But, the purity of what they feel for each other is nearly destroyed because Roy cannot find it in him to accept himself as quickly as does Nathan. Their story could be read as a tragedy or a tale of hope depending on how one chooses to view the last few chapters. I personally choose to believe that Nathan survived the attack upon him. However, even for those of the less optimistic turn of mind, the story can be one that excels in hope and confirms the power of true love.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting, Beautiful: Great for Discussion
Review: Grimsley takes us inside a gay teen's psyche and makes us feel the joy, melancholy, angst, and fear of the main character. A very gripping and quick read... I immediately recommended this book to friends so I could discuss the ending. This is a serious and splendid work. If you like Grimsely's style, check out a completely different endeavor by this author in his fantasy novel "Kirith Kirin."
Rating:
Summary: What a dream-like gripping novel!
Review: Dreamboy is written in a hazy way-the way you want a dream to go on and on. It is mildly erotic-the end is horrible! I couldn't believe what happened, and the end leaves you with-is he dead? is he living? Most likely poor Nathan is dead. I was taken aback with how passive Nanthan is. Roy should have done more with helping Nathan leave his family, but he did what he could. Overall, an incredible book!
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