Cody

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Fantastic book I know have read more than five times since the first edition came out. It will make you smile, cry, give you a bit of red ears and... will make you love cody like you love the boy next door.

Rating:
Summary: Down-to-earth, all about love.
Review: I loved this book. It is the most down-to-earth gay novel I've ever come across. I fell in love with both of the main characters and a couple of minor characters as well. I could feel the love on every page. The plot's great, the writing's excellent, but what makes this one of my favorite books is the characters. I didn't want it to end because I didn't want to say goodbye to Trotsky and Cody. Fantastic book. I hope Hale writes another novel soon.

Rating:
Summary: A Treasure!!! A Coming of Age Novel Many Can Relate With!
Review: I stumbled on this novel by chance, hoping for an easy summer read to hold me over until another novel I had been waiting for arrived. I quickly realized what a true gem I had as Trotsky's life in a new school in Little Rock unfolded. The depth of human emotion between Cody and Trostky is real and their connection can be felt by the reader. I don't want to ruin the unexpected and compelling ending, but it captures you and you feel what Trostky and Cody feel. This is a very short novel and easily could have gone one for another 100 pages. I would have liked to get to know some of the characters better. I think there are many similarities to Patricia Nell Warren's Front Runner here in this book. While the final pages offer a quick glipse into the future for our young heroes, I'd love to see a follow-up. I think this is the author's only published novel. That's a shame. If you have the good fortune to run across Cody, read it, enjoy it, and tell a friend. Cody and Trotsky will always live on in our hearts.

Rating:
Summary: Good novel about gay youth
Review: There are two books in gay romance fiction that I consider to be the Holy Grails of that genre: E.M. Forster's "Maurice" and Patricia Nell Warren's "The Front Runner." All other gay romance novels, whether they are "coming out" stories or not, must be weighed against those two stupendous novels.

Cody is not either, but it is certainly a worthy, well-written, and believable romance. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters and found them real and believable. Oddly, I found myself recapturing my own youth while reading the book, because so much of the story rang true to my own experiences. This is not one of the most multi-layered character driven novels I've ever read, no. It's a very good quick read though and one I do recommend. The ending is definitely not predictable and THAT alone is worth spending a couple of hours getting to know these engaging characters.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent - but do not read!
Review: When I leave a good book, a book that have touched my heart, I want to continue my life at least some bit happier. I know it's too much to ask for an happy end in every book, life isn't that good. But when a book ends (like "Cody") without the slightest flame of hope, I feel like demanding my money back.

You learn to know people, learn to like (and almost artificially love) them, and then have to read about their endless tragedy is just a pain one shouldn't have to pay for. For most of us (who share the special sort of love with the main character Trotsky), love is painfully enough without "Cody". It's an excellent book - but don't read it - at least not the last chapters.