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bluebeereads's review
5.0
Istyria book blog ~ B's world of enchanted books
This was such a nice surprise! I went into One Man Guy with mixed expectations and I just ended up loving it to bits. It's such a surprisingly light and fun summer read. In one word: adorable.
One Man Guy tells the story of Alek. Alek's family is Armenian and very much grounded in their own traditions. Alek doesn't always feel like he belongs though. When his parents force him to go to Summer School, his whole summer seems to be ruined. But then the cool and handsome Ethan notices him and Alek's summer just got a whole lot better. Ethan seems to want more than just be friends, but what does Alek want?
Wow, talk about diversity! This book is not only about a young man/boy discovering he's gay. It's also about that boy's Armenian heritage. I was surprised by how much I loved that aspect of the book! I was a bit hesitant about it going into the book, but Michael won me over immediately! The stuff we learn about the Armenian people was really interesting and yes, I did get a bit hungry from all that talk about the foods they have. Makes me want to try Armenian food.
While this may not be the best writing ever, it's still very good. I was sucked into the story right from the start and it didn't let me go! Alek was such a great main character and I liked him a lot! I think a lot of people can relate to him. He's stuck between being who his parents want him to be and being who he really is. I really did feel for him and with him. I was just as annoyed by his parents as he was and I loved that! His parents were a bit annoying at first. They really stick to their traditions and beliefs and while I respect that, it did annoy me a bit. They grew up in America themselves so they can expect their kids to be a bit more modern than they are too! But they grew a lot in this book and I really liked that! Alek's brother Nik, who seems like the perfect son, also grows! The character development in this book is fantastic! Everyone grew in this book. They all learned from their mistakes.
I loved Becky, Alek's best friend. She was fun, quirky, a bit of a nerd, ... She's such a great friend to Alek and I loved their friendship. It felt so real and genuine. And then you have Ethan. I loved him so much. He's confident and free spirited. Almost the opposite of Alek. He has a really good influence on Alek, learning him that it's not wrong to want something and be yourself. Their romance was absolutely perfect. It built up slow in the first half and the second half was just one swoon-worthy moment after another. So sweet and adorable!
One Man Guy is a very fun, sweet, adorable summer read that I'd recommend to everyone who loves a good contemporary romance book with a little more diversity in it. I loved it and I can't wait to see what the author brings us next! And yes, Kat, I did want to hug everyone in this book by the end.
“You know, when I came home after our day in the city, I just crashed, thinking about Remi and how much I missed him. And then the next day was worse, And when you walked up to me at that ice cream machine, I just felt myself crumble inside. Around Remi, I felt like I was always trying to act like I was good enough. But around you, I don't want to pretend or hide. That's why I didn't say anything in the cafeteria that day, I knew that in five seconds, I'd be crying on your shoulder."
"That's what it's there for, Ethan."
Alek leaned in, took Ethan's face in his hands, and kissed him.”
catpanda1's review
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
emergencyjam's review
1.0
***not a spoiler-free review***
One Man Guy is a young adult novel starring an Armenian teen who is really just trying his best. He’s just trying to please his parents, be a good friend, be a good student, and he’s totally not gay.
Like, totally. For sure not a gay boy.
Surprise, he actually is a gay boy, and for someone who didn’t previously know they were a gay boy, he takes it REALLY well. Which is great! I love reading books where being gay isn’t a big deal. Unfortunately, that is one on a very, VERY small list of things I actually liked about the book.
Overall, I’m actually very disappointed with this book. I got so excited when I saw that the book was blurbed by none other than E. Lockhart, author of some of my favourite books (We Were Liars and the The Boyfriend List series). But you know what? E. Lockhart let me down.
I want to begin by reiterating that I totally loved that being gay wasn’t an issue in the book. Alek (our fearless Armenian hero) didn’t go through a giant crisis upon discovering his gayness. Ethan (Blonde Bad Boy of Alek’s dreams) is unapologetically out and his friends could literally care less. They have skateboarding to do. His friends and family don’t even take it badly, either. This is honestly refreshing. Thanks, Michael.
There was also a really funny section of dialogue on page 228 about roses: “I did what any self-respecting guy would do. I returned all the Armenian books I bought this summer and used that money to have a dozen roses delivered to her house with a note begging for her forgiveness and telling her that if she took me back, I’d be her slave forever.” I chuckled.
And now, onto what I didn’t like. There is … a lot.
You can really, REALLY tell that this was Michael Barakiva’s first book. It was overflowing with annoying tropes and clichés. Don’t get me wrong, I’m okay with a cliché here and there, and sometimes tropes are fun. But not when the entire book relies on them to exist. Of the top of my head: inexperienced closeted gay falls for a more experienced, out, older, cool gay; straight girl falls for her gay best friend but doesn’t know that he’s gay; best friend is Not Like Other Girls; overbearing parents; older sibling is perfect and the apple of their parent’s affection while the younger sibling can’t do anything right. And that’s only a few of them!
Speaking of the best friend being Not Like Other Girls: Becky. You see, Becky is cool. Becky likes old movies. Becky rollerblades. She is SO not like other girls! There is literally a whole page of dialogue where Becky and Alek make fun of stereotypical popular and “slutty” girls and honestly? It was in really poor taste. And as a feminist woman, it frankly made me uncomfortable. I actually decided to drop the book when I read that, but I thought that I'd pick it back up again because I believe in second chances.
And as a queer woman, the views expressed in the book regarding female sexuality kind of offended me. From what I’m to gather after reading this book, women are just naturally more fluid when it comes to their sexuality. Becky expressing interest in kissing other girls probably doesn’t mean anything. Maybe she’s bisexual but probably not. Which is fine, except not how it was written.
And then, and this is really the icing on the cake for me. There is a woman in the book who, after seeing Alek and Ethan being happily adorable and cute and gay together, says that being gay is really “in” right now and that she’s totally thought about becoming a “lesbo.” Nobody corrects her. Nobody explains to her that, no, being gay isn’t a fad. You don’t just decide to be attracted to the same gender as yourself. I actually flipped back to see when this book was published when I read this exchange.
This book was published in 2014.
I can’t believe that a gay man actually sat down and wrote this and published it in the year 2014.
And that is why this book is only getting one star from this reader.
One Man Guy is a young adult novel starring an Armenian teen who is really just trying his best. He’s just trying to please his parents, be a good friend, be a good student, and he’s totally not gay.
Like, totally. For sure not a gay boy.
Surprise, he actually is a gay boy, and for someone who didn’t previously know they were a gay boy, he takes it REALLY well. Which is great! I love reading books where being gay isn’t a big deal. Unfortunately, that is one on a very, VERY small list of things I actually liked about the book.
Overall, I’m actually very disappointed with this book. I got so excited when I saw that the book was blurbed by none other than E. Lockhart, author of some of my favourite books (We Were Liars and the The Boyfriend List series). But you know what? E. Lockhart let me down.
I want to begin by reiterating that I totally loved that being gay wasn’t an issue in the book. Alek (our fearless Armenian hero) didn’t go through a giant crisis upon discovering his gayness. Ethan (Blonde Bad Boy of Alek’s dreams) is unapologetically out and his friends could literally care less. They have skateboarding to do. His friends and family don’t even take it badly, either. This is honestly refreshing. Thanks, Michael.
There was also a really funny section of dialogue on page 228 about roses: “I did what any self-respecting guy would do. I returned all the Armenian books I bought this summer and used that money to have a dozen roses delivered to her house with a note begging for her forgiveness and telling her that if she took me back, I’d be her slave forever.” I chuckled.
And now, onto what I didn’t like. There is … a lot.
You can really, REALLY tell that this was Michael Barakiva’s first book. It was overflowing with annoying tropes and clichés. Don’t get me wrong, I’m okay with a cliché here and there, and sometimes tropes are fun. But not when the entire book relies on them to exist. Of the top of my head: inexperienced closeted gay falls for a more experienced, out, older, cool gay; straight girl falls for her gay best friend but doesn’t know that he’s gay; best friend is Not Like Other Girls; overbearing parents; older sibling is perfect and the apple of their parent’s affection while the younger sibling can’t do anything right. And that’s only a few of them!
Speaking of the best friend being Not Like Other Girls: Becky. You see, Becky is cool. Becky likes old movies. Becky rollerblades. She is SO not like other girls! There is literally a whole page of dialogue where Becky and Alek make fun of stereotypical popular and “slutty” girls and honestly? It was in really poor taste. And as a feminist woman, it frankly made me uncomfortable. I actually decided to drop the book when I read that, but I thought that I'd pick it back up again because I believe in second chances.
And as a queer woman, the views expressed in the book regarding female sexuality kind of offended me. From what I’m to gather after reading this book, women are just naturally more fluid when it comes to their sexuality. Becky expressing interest in kissing other girls probably doesn’t mean anything. Maybe she’s bisexual but probably not. Which is fine, except not how it was written.
And then, and this is really the icing on the cake for me. There is a woman in the book who, after seeing Alek and Ethan being happily adorable and cute and gay together, says that being gay is really “in” right now and that she’s totally thought about becoming a “lesbo.” Nobody corrects her. Nobody explains to her that, no, being gay isn’t a fad. You don’t just decide to be attracted to the same gender as yourself. I actually flipped back to see when this book was published when I read this exchange.
This book was published in 2014.
I can’t believe that a gay man actually sat down and wrote this and published it in the year 2014.
And that is why this book is only getting one star from this reader.
literarylovebug's review against another edition
5.0
A very cute book that I highly enjoyed!! A little cheesy in some aspects but it was a good cheese! I'll definitely read more from this author!!
melissaverasreads's review
4.0
Rainbow Readathon: Yellow.
Omg, this was so awesome I can't even :D It was so funny! I was laughing out loud until the very end. This is a really cute, light, short read that I highly recommend to everyone that wants to laugh!
The Armenian culture present in this book was awesome, and the food! I find myself wanting to try the Armenian food several times!
Alek, the lead character, is an amazing character, I really loved reading from his point of view!
There were a few things that I have problems with:
-The main characters did certain thing that left me frowning.
-The writing was lacking something. The author sometimes did really unnecessary descriptions, and other times he wasn't descriptive enough. Plus, he tend to cut a scene just to describing it later... Why? Was that really necessary?
But I have to say, this is exactly the kind of lgtb romance I like to read. So four stars for you, book, well done!
Omg, this was so awesome I can't even :D It was so funny! I was laughing out loud until the very end. This is a really cute, light, short read that I highly recommend to everyone that wants to laugh!
The Armenian culture present in this book was awesome, and the food! I find myself wanting to try the Armenian food several times!
Alek, the lead character, is an amazing character, I really loved reading from his point of view!
There were a few things that I have problems with:
-The main characters did certain thing that left me frowning.
Spoiler
I'm sorry, but what's with the stealing thing? I know they're young and whatever, but NO.-The writing was lacking something. The author sometimes did really unnecessary descriptions, and other times he wasn't descriptive enough. Plus, he tend to cut a scene just to describing it later... Why? Was that really necessary?
But I have to say, this is exactly the kind of lgtb romance I like to read. So four stars for you, book, well done!
princessklee's review
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
serru's review
2.0
It's the author's first book and it really shows. There was lots of telling instead of showing, some unrealistic dialogue (there were many parts that sounded less like real people's conversations and more like the author's mouthpiece to send a specific message to his readers), inconsistent characterization (Alek going from being practically scared of Jake to suddenly pulling off a somewhat mean practical joke on him at the lunch table, for example), and just overall simplistic writing that frequently focused on explaining unnecessary details (such as basically taking us on a tour of NYC) while barely fleshing out major characters beyond "he's so cool because he skateboards and starts food fights but he's actually got a really deep, sensitive side because he listens to Rufus Wainwright".
Speaking of Ethan, I felt he came off less as a cool, older guy the way the author clearly intended him to, and more like a bad influence for Alek. I don't have a problem with kids skipping school occasionally but there was no indication that Ethan actually cared about his academics at all. And all his little tricks for getting around the city on just $10 made him seem more like a sneaky person rather than a respectable, streetwise guy. Especially that bit about "returning" a brand new book to the bookstore in order to get trick the cashier into giving him some store credit -- that was just outright theft.
Speaking of Ethan, I felt he came off less as a cool, older guy the way the author clearly intended him to, and more like a bad influence for Alek. I don't have a problem with kids skipping school occasionally but there was no indication that Ethan actually cared about his academics at all. And all his little tricks for getting around the city on just $10 made him seem more like a sneaky person rather than a respectable, streetwise guy. Especially that bit about "returning" a brand new book to the bookstore in order to get trick the cashier into giving him some store credit -- that was just outright theft.
nklosty's review
3.0
The Armenian twist on the story was entertaining. It brought out the culture of the boys and how differently perceptions might be from one generation to the next. I liked how the parents and kids were willing to look at things and try to figure them out together. 85