The Boyfriend

Rating:
Summary: Positive Story of Developing Self Esteem
Review: Although considerably over their target age for readers, I've become a fan of the gay-teen-comes-of-age genre of novels, which I started reading to get a perspective on counseling youth on the gay hotline. I've probably read several dozen, many very good, but many others falling into the "gay teen accepts his sexuality week before senior prom, finds out hunk he had crush on since junior high is also gay, they go to prom, everyone cheers them on, world turns into sunshine and lollypops, and they live happily ever after" - but that is about as realistic as George W. Bush addressing the concerns of gay youth.

Morrisette's first novel is most definitely not in that stereotypical vein, and provides a realistic, passionate but somewhat edgy profile of Chris, a 17 year old high school senior who felt he was the only gay boy in his small town in Northern Massachusetts. His explorations of his feelings, needs and priorities rings honest with appropriate tinges of romance, wit and anger. Too young to go to bars, he (unsuccessfully) tries "cruising" at a local beach, shopping mall, and even a notorious highway rest stop, with scary results. He finds who he feels is his "one true love", and juggles his feelings against the reality of his daily life as well as his plans for the future. To Chris, he thought his love for Jamie would last forever, and at first didn't want to believe signs that this was not to be. It is a positive story of developing self-esteem, of dealing with reality while remaining true to yourself, and ultimately of learning the true meaning of love. The book contains some sexually-explicit passages that I usually find out of place in novels geared to teens, but the scenes contribute considerably to the character development and do not seem the slightest out of context here.

I see from his website that the author has two additional similar novels in progress, and look forward to reading them as well. I'd not hesitate to give The Boyfriend five stars, based on originality and a realistic depiction of gay teen life.

--Camelwest

Rating:
Summary: Definitely Missed the Mark
Review: First let me say that this book wasn't horrendous, and the story could've been interesting, but it is way too long for the amount of plot provided. The author missed the mark by being overly wordy. The other misses:

The relationship at question is fairly believable, but it lacked the urgency that teenaged, first love imparts. But this story lacks the passionate connection most teens feel with first love. Sure there is sex, which is probably what most people are reading this book for, but there is no intensity to their bond. Their relationship is as thin as the paper its printed on.

The main character meets a friend at work, who he originally has a crush on and who secretly has a crush on him...and then they become friends. I've been gay for a long time and any time someone has a crush on another it usually doesn't end up as a strong friendship...it ends up with hurt feelings.

Also, the ending just completely turned me from reading another offering by this author. ... Also, the other thing that was a little off was how convenient most of the people the main character encounters is gay.

Completely misses the mark in my book.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely Missed the Mark
Review: First let me say that this book wasn't horrendous, and the story could've been interesting, but it is way too long for the amount of plot provided. The author missed the mark by being overly wordy. The other misses:

The relationship at question is fairly believable, but it lacked the urgency that teenaged, first love imparts. But this story lacks the passionate connection most teens feel with first love. Sure there is sex, which is probably what most people are reading this book for, but there is no intensity to their bond. Their relationship is as thin as the paper its printed on.

The main character meets a friend at work, who he originally has a crush on and who secretly has a crush on him...and then they become friends. I've been gay for a long time and any time someone has a crush on another it usually doesn't end up as a strong friendship...it ends up with hurt feelings.

Also, the ending just completely turned me from reading another offering by this author. ... Also, the other thing that was a little off was how convenient most of the people the main character encounters is gay.

Completely misses the mark in my book.

Rating:
Summary: Teen passion, witt, humor & anger
Review: I finished THE BOYFRIEND a few days ago. It sorta left me with an emotional hang-over and I've not been able to stop thinking about it. That's why I didn't post this right away. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say or how to say it. ...Actually it left me somewhat up-set & frustrated. I even had a couple of dreams about it. I guess that means Keith's a really good writer because I just really got into Keith's boys. And I know, I was forwarned at the get-go, (Keith's web site), that he doesn't write sappy/sweet endings. I think midway thru the story I was wanting not to believe him because those two guys were such a hot couple.

TB will definately stay in my ever expanding library. It's very unusual for me to order a book without at least 1 review unless it's by an author I already know whose work I like a lot. Keith was a good risk. I would also like to thank him for letting these older teens have sex, (I've noticed most writers are terrified to even mention sex & teens on the same continent.), which makes the story sooo much more real. There's an awful lot of 'sterile' books out there. It's too bad & so sad we're headed back to the Puritan era when other countries are getting into reality. But thanks also for not getting into crude parts of things by too many details. If I encounter that even in the 1st chapter, the book goes straight into the fireplace.

...Anyhow, mucho thanks for the great read... jjl

Rating:
Summary: Dead On Target
Review: This is the second go-round for this review but the first seems to be lost, so if this turns up twice, sorry about that.

Although about teens (17-18), this isn't a Young Adult story. Younger teens woud probably be confused by it, but older teens will get into the humor. Twenty-somethings (like me) who remember that age will like this because they've been there, and I think older readers will get their laughs because of the naïveté of the narrator. There are sexual situations and scenes, but nothing is actually in [graphic] detail. Good sex doesn't equal love here, and for a change not everyone's built like a Greek statue.

There's a thing with first-love stories like these to have the characters react with such high intensity that you wonder about their mental health. I was thankful that for once I could read a romantic, funny story where the main characters behave like real guys - carried away by emotion one moment, then swinging back to the real world, and gradually looking at things a little cynically once first infatuation starts to wear. Like most people, they can do some dumb things. When the end comes, the main character has a hard choice between what he wants to believe and what he knows. A lot of us have been there. Too many make the wrong choice. Morrisette gets that, in a story with characters that breath and in settings that are nicely detailed enough to feel real.

Focusing on four [homosexual] characters in the same age group who stumble into other [homosexual] characters along the way doesn't give me any problems. They don't appear to live in a totally[homosexual] universe, just one where others live in the same world. And I've been in the situation where I start off having a crush on someone and wind up becoming their friend.

Good fun to read with a good, unpretentious story that doesn't preach and makes a few points. I give it top ratings.

The author has a fair size website with a lot of information and different stories in development.