Rating: 
Summary: An immature book from an amateur writer
Review: From the cover, I've expected this book would be cheesy. Boy, am i wrong! This book was beyond anything i could think of. The writing was immature, and very un-professional. The plot was unbelievable. Where in the world were these characters coming from? Okay, let me recapture the lives of every characters in this book: Casper, a very poor boy, who was raped by his brother and being abused by his school-mates; Brandan, a rich boy who was extremely good-looking and popular, fell in love with the poorest boy in school (Casper). But wait, there were more. The rich boy was sent to a mental hospital because his parents couldn't accept his homosexuality ??? And then, there were Nathan, who was raped by his mom ??? Wait, we still had more melodramatic characters: Mark and Taylor, who killed themselves because their school-mates discriminated them. What on earth was happening here? TOO many tragic lives. And way too many social conflicts in this book. But...guess what? They all found happiness in the end. Although this book was edited by the author of "Common Sons" (which I like a lot), it still reflected a very bad writing style. I know I'm not an expert in literature, but I've read quite a lot. And this book will ever be in my list of worst books I've read. If you don't believe me, borrow it from a library (don't buy), and you'll see what I'm talking about.
Rating: 
Summary: Hope for a better life
Review: I found Mark A. Roeder's punctuation choices distracting at times, but I still loved this novel of young gay life. Roeder gives honest portrayals of how difficult one's teen years can become, especially for someone who feels different. The scenes with gays being institutionalized and subsequently abused for their gayness are especially horrifying, mostly because of how those scenes parallel actual cases. Of course, Brendan and Casper face many obstacles, but they also find hope for a better life.
Rating:
Summary: Drivel...
Review: I guess the author never heard of a developmental editor because some of the passages in this book are so weak and simple, I was suprised a grown man wrote them (I mean, pages and pages of simple dialogue and sentence structure). But then, this is one of those instant books, self-published, and so there is often very little quality assurance. The cover (blurry) should have warned me. I'm not sure why this book earned all the positive reviews, unless maybe the author enlisted friends and family. To me, it's no better than monkey-scratch.
Rating: 
Summary: Clearly, the best book I have ever read
Review: I have read a lot of books. This is the first time I've read a book with a gay theme. And i love it. I finished the book, read it once, twice, thrice and still couldn't get enough of this novel.
I don't know why I am so drawn to this book. Maybe because of the characters and the story. Casper and Brendan are two most unlikely couple ( like the author already said). One is rich, one is poor. One is popular, the other gets beaten around.
I guess I'd like to think that fairy tales do come true, that love will conquer all, and that one day we will meet the person of our dreams, sweep us away to a better place.
Rating:
Summary: Touching and moving! Definitely 5 stars! A grand adventure!
Review: I know that it may seem corny to say that A Better Place is touching and moving but it is! Brendan, the jock of all jocks, a man among boys, the dream boy of all the girls, smart, intelligent, obviously he is in heaven, right? Casper - wears old clothes, motherless, abused by older brother and ignored by drunk father; a loser? What do these two people have in common? Each other, they are both gay high school students. It is set in a contemporary setting but some opinions have not changed. This is a true love story on how two people met, had quite a few problems at first but when people finally listened... I do not want to give away the plot but there are incidents and situations where we can all identify with whether straight or gay! I would love to teach this book in my classroom. If you know people who are struggling with their gay identity, I strongly recommend this novel. Thank you Mark Roeder for a wonderful novel.
Rating: 
Summary: High school love
Review: I thought this book was a bit on the "tame" side. I was looking to read about real life experiences when teens are coming to grips with their sexuality - and this includes their sexual experiences as well. The book never really touched on the boys sexual experiences! I'm not looking to read erotic novels, but do enjoy real life stories with real life sex as well. This book might be more appreciated by a younger audience who can relate more to the characters in the book. I just felt the story was not quite real enough!
Rating:
Summary: A Better Place - A better novel
Review: It's wonderful to read a novel that pulls at your heartstrings and makes you care deeply about the main characters. But this novel will make you sad not only for what happens but that what happens also happens to too many other boys. But feel assured they do end up in A Better Place!
Rating:
Summary: Gay men certainly can fantasize!
Review: Let me say first off that I enjoyed reading this book. It was fun to read and the story moved forward quickly. But it was "fantasy". To call it "a romance" is to be far too generous in one's praise. Oh alright - we'll call it "a fantasy romance". The writing style is simple, almost childlike. This reads more like the work of a high school student than a multi-published author. All of the men in the story are crying half the time. I know gay men are supposed to be sensitive, but this was ridiculous. There were enough tears to float a navy of pink rowboats. This is not to mention "bulging muscles" which popped out at every encounter, whether with the good guys or the bad guys. And what about those rape scenes, which were the sole property of the "bad guys" and which were obviously supposed to be the source of major trauma for the "good guys". Me thinks the author got off just a little too much on those fantasys. If they were supposed to be the root of so much pain and turmoil for our heros, why did the author write in such delicious detail of these warped episodes? So, I conclude with my point that this is really just a fantasy -a gay Harlequin Romance. I enjoyed reading it and rate it four stars. Within its class, it deserves such a rating despite its contrived plot, stereotypical characterizations and numerous grammatical and spelling errors.
Rating:
Summary: A nicer place, but not perfect...
Review: Overall the book was quite good...it had a few problems, it tended to get a little repetitive and it did have quite a few grammatical errors (makes it look less professional)...Good story line though, suggestive, but not too much. Very good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Tidal wave
Review: Set in the early 1980s in Kentucky and Indiana, "A Better Place" is the story of two boys who fall in love and search for a place to call home. Casper is poor and the victim of incest. Brendan is the captain of the high school football team, and keeps his being gay a big secret, until he falls for Casper. They struggle through a rough beginning, but eventually they become boyfriends. When their secret gets out, their schoolmates are supportive, but Brendan's parents force him into a mental hospital for treatment. He escapes in time to save Casper from his sadistic brother, but at a terrible price. They flee and scrape by, until they end up in Verona, where they feel finally at peace, until Casper's family reaches him yet again. This is Roeder's fourth book in his gay youth series, and it intertwines with those tales, forming a tightly-fit jigsaw. Unfortunately, the story suffers because of it. As the novel progresses, events become more and more contrived and almost unbelievable. There are several passages of great writing, but the endless clichés and stock characters drown these passages. Plus, the characters of Casper and Brendan are nearly indistinguishable in terms of story voice and actions, only the details of their backgrounds keep them separated in the reader's mind (poor/rich, abused/strong). I wanted to rate the book higher, but the final dozen or so pages reinforced the novel's deliberate lack of reaching beyond the plot's ubiquity in so many stories targeted to gay youth.
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