Rating: 
Summary: It tried to be better
Review: The story was good, the writing was good, the characters were good, but this novel would have been a much smoother read if Roeder had employed a copyeditor wirth his salt. As a fellow writer, I realize the importance of making a story move smoothly, and this was hampered by the many spelling and grmatical errors found in the text. Still, though, I really enjoyed the action in this book and it is evident that Roeder is getting better and better at what he does.
Rating: 
Summary: In another time I would have loved this book
Review: This book is basically a romance novel for gay teens. That said I think it is great that this stuff exists for the gay youth of today. I found it a little too young for me but hey-I ain't a kid any more. Had I found a book like this when I was a teen I would have thought I had died and gone to heaven. Love and acceptance are universal desires and in this book the author gives a voice to those who usually feel only rejection. Despite the fantasy romance aspect of the book I have to say it wasn't a bad read. I congratulate the author for his effort and recommend this book to any gay teen.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Story, Mediocre Writing
Review: This book is definitely a teen book. The writing is simple at best. The story seems choppy, mostly because of the grammatical and spelling errors. The characters are likeable, but somewhat unbelievable. Casper is on one extreme end. He is utterly and desperately poor, beaten, molested, and has only one shirt and pair of jeans? He only has moldy mayonnaise to eat? It is hard to believe that he spends all evening wondering around after school, you would think he would get a job. I know that opposites attract, and the fact the Brendan falls for Casper is believable, I just think that the author has tried too hard to make them opposite. This bothered me for the entire story.
The author seems to have the need to constantly repeat himself in simple terms to prove a point. I would have liked this book better if the writing had been more complex. It is a great story, but I think that anyone over fifteen would find the writing a little uninteresting.
Rating:
Summary: Too Idealistic
Review: This book is good, but it is too unrealistic, and main character, the football jock Brandan cried too much.
It started off very good and interesting, because you gotta see clint & brandan different point of view and how people think differently without knowing what others think. Then afterward the plot is getting too unrealistic and like chances for that happen is zero, after like clint & brandan meet nathan & ethan, they are almost like identical twins and very similar (or same) backgroud and like everyone around them is all accepting and so. It is not a bad book, but actually i expect more from it.
Rating: 
Summary: i cant stop crying
Review: this book is the greatest book i have ever read in my life, it is greater than lord of the rings more amazing than harry potter, it is truly the greatest book in the world, but bewar, i cry VERY rarly, infact i havent cried in over 5 years, but this book brought me to an all out bawl, i burst into tears with every chapter, it is truly the greatest book on the face of the earth........BUY IT, YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY, and if you get to a very bleak point in the book, just keep reading you be happy you did.
Rating:
Summary: Uplifting and significant but badly edited
Review: This book is very uplifting in many ways even though it deals with some very somber issues. I had bought the book by mistake thinking it was cowritten with Donaghe, whom I adore (the book was misrepresented online--Donaghe only wrote the forward). It's a highly enjoyable read. However, oftentimes the poorly edited text gets in the way of my being able to enjoy the book to its fullest(simple grammatical mistakes like "it's" for "its" and vice versa are very annoying and seem to be quite rampant with the iUniverse books in general). Also, there are lots of redundancy in the text -- facts and situations are repeated many times, often just a couple of pages after they've been mentioned. This is arguably part of the conversational style of the book but it is highly distracting nonetheless (also, the argument about the conversational style doesn't really hold water since the three or four voices in the book all sound the same -- there is no differentiation in vocabulary or tone of each of the characters who are given a voice. Nathan is supposed to be more farmer-like and less educated-sounding than Brendan, yet Brendan makes the same grammatical mistakes as Nathan when it comes to possessives even though Brendan is supposed to have gotten all A's in high school (?). Brendan's experience at Cloverdale is a bit over the top and a bit orchestrated but it does serve as a painful reminder that such inhumane institutions do exist and our gay and lesbian youths are still being forced to change what they cannot change. Note: no explicit sex like some of the other books by iUniverse (perhaps because it's meant for young adults too, yet there are enough suggestions throughout that sex does goes on and quite a bit of it too (and not just kissing either)). Bad editing aside (by the way, the book was edited by the highly talented Dohaghe, whose many wonderful books are unfortunately plagued by the same grammatical mistakes as Roeder's), this book is still highly recommended to anyone who loves coming out movies or books such as Beautiful Thing, Common Sons, etc... All the young protagonists exude a positive and uplifting outlook on life, even in the face of tragic though highly plausible circumstances. It's a real pity that more attention wasn't paid to basic proofreading before it went to press. I would get more of Mark Roeder's books for sure as I greatly enjoy the subject matter he treats. --Compulsive reader from the Pacific NW.
Rating:
Summary: Uplifting and significant but badly edited
Review: This book is very uplifting in many ways even though it deals with some very somber issues. I had bought the book by mistake thinking it was cowritten with Donaghe, whom I adore (the book was misrepresented online--Donaghe only wrote the forward). It's a highly enjoyable read. However, oftentimes the poorly edited text gets in the way of my being able to enjoy the book to its fullest(simple grammatical mistakes like "it's" for "its" and vice versa are very annoying and seem to be quite rampant with the iUniverse books in general). Also, there are lots of redundancy in the text -- facts and situations are repeated many times, often just a couple of pages after they've been mentioned. This is arguably part of the conversational style of the book but it is highly distracting nonetheless (also, the argument about the conversational style doesn't really hold water since the three or four voices in the book all sound the same -- there is no differentiation in vocabulary or tone of each of the characters who are given a voice. Nathan is supposed to be more farmer-like and less educated-sounding than Brendan, yet Brendan makes the same grammatical mistakes as Nathan when it comes to possessives even though Brendan is supposed to have gotten all A's in high school (?). Brendan's experience at Cloverdale is a bit over the top and a bit orchestrated but it does serve as a painful reminder that such inhumane institutions do exist and our gay and lesbian youths are still being forced to change what they cannot change. Note: no explicit sex like some of the other books by iUniverse (perhaps because it's meant for young adults too, yet there are enough suggestions throughout that sex does goes on and quite a bit of it too (and not just kissing either)). Bad editing aside (by the way, the book was edited by the highly talented Dohaghe, whose many wonderful books are unfortunately plagued by the same grammatical mistakes as Roeder's), this book is still highly recommended to anyone who loves coming out movies or books such as Beautiful Thing, Common Sons, etc... All the young protagonists exude a positive and uplifting outlook on life, even in the face of tragic though highly plausible circumstances. It's a real pity that more attention wasn't paid to basic proofreading before it went to press. I would get more of Mark Roeder's books for sure as I greatly enjoy the subject matter he treats. --Compulsive reader from the Pacific NW.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVED IT, until about 3/4 of the way through
Review: This book was great, for me, until about 3/4 of the way through.
It starts off very interesting, and I love the way this Author writes (Switching from One Character's point of view, to the other's). This was the first book by Roeder I had read, but towards the end I realized that there were some tie in stories I had missed.
One thing bothered me and that was all the mistakes in the books.. typos abound.. everywhere.. Twice in the book, on far and separate occasions, they reffered to a character named "Brad" as "Brendan" when they had just mentioned "Brendan" who was talking about "Brad." I had to re-read that a few times to understand what they really mean. Also, you'd find words missing letters every now and then and you'd have to interpret that. I expect more from a professional print.
As for the story...
I must say, tha the last part of the book pretty much ruined it for me. It was as if Roeder decided he was going to jump into a fairy land and give everyone a happy pill coctail of prozac, zanax, lithium (and various other mood elevators). He woke up from this dream but only to late to realize he had f***ed up what was previously a good story.
The story is far from realistic (Which I can deal with to an extent). Granted, it is fiction and there are obviously some things that will be different, but this really should be put in the "Fantasy" section or maybe a "Romance for Lovesick Fruitcakes" section. But this kind of thing never happens.
As I say, the story is great and interesting and you really care until about 3/4 of the way through when everyone turns into a unicorn and jumps around and plays in the fields. I expected Glenda the Good witch of the north (at one part) to come in and bless everyone with her fairy wand. **** MINOR SPOILER DON'T READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW**** So, once Casper and Brendan get to Verona, Indiana... close the book and put it up or do whatever you do with books you've just finished because you can just assume "and they lived happily ever after" because everything past that point was boring crap and a waste of my time. It was like a 70 page epilogue. that really didn't do anything it was so anti-climactic. I laughed almost the entire time, and not because it was funny. I just kept imagining Bambi running accross their front yard and everyone playing with bunnies. If you make it this far in the book, you'll know exactly what I mean.
Rating:
Summary: High school daydreams really do come true!!!
Review: This is a great book. It tells the story of two boys from very different lives and how they come to find a common love for one another. I was a high school athlete who was "out" and dating a fellow football player my senior year too, so this book was amazingly real and personal to me. It's focus is on feeling and emotion not just two 17 year olds going at it. It brings to the surface the idea that we too as a community strive for love and acceptance the same as everyone else. Its a love story I personally would love to think is not only possible but going on all over our country right now.
Rating:
Summary: A *Far* Better Place!
Review: This is one of three of Mark's books that I have read so far and is, in my opinion, the best yet read. Casper's character, especially early in the book, stimulates every sympathetic and protective nerve in your body. Sometimes so much so that it hurts. Brendan, almost a little too perfect to believe at first, develops very nicely as the story progresses and the balance between our two heroes shifts into gear before any seeming gulf between their needs and abilities becomes uncomfortable. Like all Mark's couples with whom I am familiar, Casper and Brendan really and truly *belong* together. It seems to take a little longer for them to show it in APB than is the case with characters in some of the other books. But that makes it all the more wonderful. There was a quite a bit of heartbreak, suspense and even a "dark secret" or two before Casper and Brendan truly "meld" in my mind's eyes. But when they do, the result is one of the most beautiful and believable stories of mutual love and support that I have had the pleasure of reading. Although other fans will disagree (we have *strong* opinions in this regard), I would readily recommend "A Better Place" to anyone who is curious about Mark A. Roeder's work (or about "gay teen romances" in general) as a "first read." That recommendation stands whether the prospective reader is straight or gay or somewhere in between. Even more, I would recommend this book to parents or adult friends (teachers, employers, coaches, etc.) of gay young people who are a little unsure of what "being gay" can really mean. Mark captures the hopes and fears, as well as the trials and victories of young gay men and gives them a vitality and realism that is exquisite. If you have read other of Mark's books, you of course need no recommendation. But if you haven't, I urge you to try this one. It will definitely take you to a "far better place" than you might first imagine.
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