All Over Him : The Continuing Journals of Will Barnett

Rating:
Summary: Ron Donaghe is three for three with "All Over Him"
Review: "All Over Him" is the seamless continuation of the story of Will and Lance, begun in the first installment, "Uncle Sean" and picked up again in "Lance." Once again Ron Donaghe has the reader glued to the pages following Will and Lance as they navigate the events of their lives, in a world relentlessly telling them that long-term, committed love between two men is an elusive dream. Alone and together they face what could be the biggest test yet of their love and the reader won't know the outcome until the very end.
Once again, with remarkable consistancy, Ron Donaghe speaks as Will in a completely believable, almost too believable way, often leaving the reader wondering if Will is out there too, reading his own story.
"All Over Him" answers the question about the permamancy of love shared by two men.

Rating:
Summary: Ron Donaghe is three for three with "All Over Him"
Review: "All Over Him" is the seamless continuation of the story of Will and Lance, begun in the first installment, "Uncle Sean" and picked up again in "Lance." Once again Ron Donaghe has the reader glued to the pages following Will and Lance as they navigate the events of their lives, in a world relentlessly telling them that long-term, committed love between two men is an elusive dream. Alone and together they face what could be the biggest test yet of their love and the reader won't know the outcome until the very end.
Once again, with remarkable consistancy, Ron Donaghe speaks as Will in a completely believable, almost too believable way, often leaving the reader wondering if Will is out there too, reading his own story.
"All Over Him" answers the question about the permamancy of love shared by two men.

Rating:
Summary: The Saga Continues...Well
Review: Another great contribution to the Continuing Journals of Will Barnett, "All Over Him" finds its storyteller, Will Barnett, in his freshman year of college, hundreds of miles away from the love of his life, Lance. Even as the boys stay in contact with regular phone calls, external factors threaten to tear them apart. Ron Donaghe continues to bring to bear his considerable skill as a writer and storyteller himself, working in real-life events from the era of his story (in this case, the early 1970's) to make the tale that much more vivid. Donaghe writes with a compassion and respect that leaves the reader feeling like he just spent time with old friends by the time the story concludes. A must read for all fans of Will's story, old and new. --Andrew Barriger, author of Finding Faith.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling! A series with a soul!
Review: Donaghe gets better and better. "All Over Him" is a worthy addition to this lovely series. Here we find Will and Lance trying to stay true to each other though separated by distance. Of course this is not easy. Thrown into a different environment, each young man has to overcome temptation and desires which seems an impossible feat in the real world. But this is fiction, and should gives us hope that monogamy is possible.
Being a sentimental fool, I find myself screaming at Will to just drop everything and go to Lance. But I understand Donaghe's message. Will is only 19 and needs to sort out his feelings for his Uncle Sean, whom he loves since 14, and his husband, Lance. Uncle Sean's emotional search for one true love to spend his life with just tugs at my heart. I am glad he finally found Hank and Hanky Hank. The ending is satisfying but I hope Donaghe is not considering to end the series. All Over Him is one year in Will's life when he was 19. I am sure Will and Lance has much more to tell.

Rating:
Summary: Good News: The Saga Continues
Review: The Journals of Will Barnett - "Uncle Sean", "Lance" and now "All Over Him" - make a wonderful series. In "Uncle Sean" we meet Will at age 14 when he untangles those mysterious feelings that lead to the understanding of being gay. In "Lance", Will meets the love of his life. Now, in "All Over Him", Will and Lance's love for each other is tested as they go off to college and experience being apart from each other.

As a fan of the first two books, I was happy when the third book was published. I wanted to learn what happens to Will and Lance. Writing a love story about two guys eighteen hundred miles apart is a particular challenge. Donaghe is certainly up to the task as he addresses separation, temptation and reunion of these two great characters.

Set primarily in Austin, Will lives with Uncle Sean as he attends the University of Texas. Austin's a great setting. Moving from a small town in the desert of New Mexico, we meet a variety of gay characters, good, bad and indifferent as Will is exposed to the bigger world and the temptations and complexities that it offers.

Off in San Francisco, Lance continues to develop as an artist. It would be nice to know more of what he's going through but, unfortunately, you can't be in two places at once. Donaghe does do a good job of keeping him an integral part of the story but it's primarily in letters or over the phone. I'd hate to have their long distance bills!

I especially liked meeting up with Sean again. He's as appealing now as he was in the first book. It's gratifying to see Will and Uncle Sean come to terms with their feelings for each other. Sean also confronts his own wounds and Will's amusing attempts to find him a partner.

"All Over Him" is a more mature book than the first two. It addresses the realities and complexities of maintaining a relationship. While I confess some disappointment that it moves away from the unabashed romanticism of the earlier books, Donaghe is still a romantic. Like the rest of us, Will and Lance have to grow up. Donaghe's major themes of love and family hold the book on course. And the endings for Sean, Will and Lance are rewarding. It makes you want to write Donaghe and beg for a fourth book in this superb series.

Rating:
Summary: Good News: The Saga Continues
Review: The Journals of Will Barnett - "Uncle Sean", "Lance" and now "All Over Him" - make a wonderful series. In "Uncle Sean" we meet Will at age 14 when he untangles those mysterious feelings that lead to the understanding of being gay. In "Lance", Will meets the love of his life. Now, in "All Over Him", Will and Lance's love for each other is tested as they go off to college and experience being apart from each other.

As a fan of the first two books, I was happy when the third book was published. I wanted to learn what happens to Will and Lance. Writing a love story about two guys eighteen hundred miles apart is a particular challenge. Donaghe is certainly up to the task as he addresses separation, temptation and reunion of these two great characters.

Set primarily in Austin, Will lives with Uncle Sean as he attends the University of Texas. Austin's a great setting. Moving from a small town in the desert of New Mexico, we meet a variety of gay characters, good, bad and indifferent as Will is exposed to the bigger world and the temptations and complexities that it offers.

Off in San Francisco, Lance continues to develop as an artist. It would be nice to know more of what he's going through but, unfortunately, you can't be in two places at once. Donaghe does do a good job of keeping him an integral part of the story but it's primarily in letters or over the phone. I'd hate to have their long distance bills!

I especially liked meeting up with Sean again. He's as appealing now as he was in the first book. It's gratifying to see Will and Uncle Sean come to terms with their feelings for each other. Sean also confronts his own wounds and Will's amusing attempts to find him a partner.

"All Over Him" is a more mature book than the first two. It addresses the realities and complexities of maintaining a relationship. While I confess some disappointment that it moves away from the unabashed romanticism of the earlier books, Donaghe is still a romantic. Like the rest of us, Will and Lance have to grow up. Donaghe's major themes of love and family hold the book on course. And the endings for Sean, Will and Lance are rewarding. It makes you want to write Donaghe and beg for a fourth book in this superb series.

Rating:
Summary: More complex, closing the series for now.
Review: While the first two books in The Continuing Journals of Will Barnett focused on young gay love in an anti-gay setting, this longer, more complex installment uses that relationship to explore the difficulties of lasting gay relationships and the challenges of a growing gay civil rights movement. Setting the book in Austin and San Francisco during the 1970s gives author Ronald L. Donaghe many opportunities to examine those changing times, while still keeping the focus on Will and Lance.

The young lovers now find themselves split between those two cities, because of college and life-long ambitions. As with any long-distance relationship, theirs becomes tested in many ways. However, unlike their heterosexual counterparts, they lack role models for their relationship, since even Will's beloved Uncle Sean has not maintained the lasting love he sought.

This book's epilog closes the journals out for now, with Donaghe giving some clever winks and nods to his many loyal readers. We know we can expect at least one more visit with Will and Lance, and that we can expect many more unforgettable characters from the ever-creative mind of Ronald L. Donaghe.

-Duane Simolke, author of The Acorn Stories and Degranon