lindaunconventionalbookworms's review against another edition
5.0
*I received a free ARC of One Man Guy from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*
What can I say? One Man Guy blew me away! Alek is a very young protagonist, but he is a great one all the same, as are the other characters in this story. I loved it all!
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
What can I say? One Man Guy blew me away! Alek is a very young protagonist, but he is a great one all the same, as are the other characters in this story. I loved it all!
This and all my other reviews are originally posted on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews
scrollsofdragons's review against another edition
5.0
A lot of time with coming of age contemporary's there's always an thought or a feeling you have different from the character but with Alek, I grew with him, had those thoughts he did, realised when wrong or right and grew to a different understanding. I felt like I was on that journey with him and it was such a great one.
alonepeanut's review against another edition
1.0
I actually wrote a review of this one back when I read it 4 years ago but I initially gave it 3 stars because back then if a book was 'readable' (basically I was able to actually finish it) I thought I should give it at least a 3 star.
I did delete that review once I revised the rating, realising I was being too generous. My rating for this sits between 1 and 2 stars.
What I thought was good: this was clearly very personal for the author and I respect that
What I hated: that can be summarised in the "how do you do fellow kids" vibes this book gave off. This author I can only assume was born into this world an already grown adult and decided to learn all about youth culture via cliche 80's high school movies.
At one point a group of boys make a whole stink about how no girls can sit with them because girls are icky. These characters are meant to be 16 not 6.
At another point the relationship between the main two headed in a more sexual direction which would be fine except if you removed all references to how old the characters were meant to be I could so easily believe I was reading about 12 year olds.
And then to top that all off at the end of the books the main character; Alek, decided to host a big family dinner inviting everyone including his boyfriend Ethan to make amends over the plot drama that had occurred in the last 50 pages, and it's his best friends job to make sure Ethan arrives to said dinner.
Luckily best friend is able to persuade Ethan to come and they all have a great happy time, but how did best friend persuade Ethan? that's the question on everyones lips
best friend challenged Ethan to beat her in a race on roller blades and if he lost he had to go the dinner...
It's a realistic contemporary YA romance book, so challenging someone to a roller blade race to convince them to go to the big happy end of book scene is so bizarre and wild to me.
Edit: best friend was on roller blades, Ethan was on a skateboard
I did delete that review once I revised the rating, realising I was being too generous. My rating for this sits between 1 and 2 stars.
What I thought was good: this was clearly very personal for the author and I respect that
What I hated: that can be summarised in the "how do you do fellow kids" vibes this book gave off. This author I can only assume was born into this world an already grown adult and decided to learn all about youth culture via cliche 80's high school movies.
At one point a group of boys make a whole stink about how no girls can sit with them because girls are icky. These characters are meant to be 16 not 6.
At another point the relationship between the main two headed in a more sexual direction which would be fine except if you removed all references to how old the characters were meant to be I could so easily believe I was reading about 12 year olds.
And then to top that all off at the end of the books the main character; Alek, decided to host a big family dinner inviting everyone including his boyfriend Ethan to make amends over the plot drama that had occurred in the last 50 pages, and it's his best friends job to make sure Ethan arrives to said dinner.
Luckily best friend is able to persuade Ethan to come and they all have a great happy time, but how did best friend persuade Ethan? that's the question on everyones lips
best friend challenged Ethan to beat her in a race on roller blades and if he lost he had to go the dinner...
It's a realistic contemporary YA romance book, so challenging someone to a roller blade race to convince them to go to the big happy end of book scene is so bizarre and wild to me.
Edit: best friend was on roller blades, Ethan was on a skateboard
aceofclubs's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
kricketa's review against another edition
3.0
i am always looking for lgbtq books with happy endings, so lindsay recommended this one. the dialogue and aspects of the plot didn't strike me as particularly realistic, but it's a sweet story and i loved all the references to armenian food and rufus wainwright.
rearviewmirror's review against another edition
2.0
It felt like reading the m/m version of 'Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel'
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
I was looking forward to this book since the time it appeared on Goodreads. I love LGBT books, especially if they are done right, and this one is done perfectly right.
Alek was a wonderful character and I really loved him. I was also cheering for him to speak up or at least do something so his parents would know why he is acting the way he is acting. While I loved his romance/relationship with Ethan, I also felt that Ethan wasn't always a good influence. Alek started skipping school, started to care less about his homework and a few other things. The first time they skipped school I was like, ah finally. But after a few times, I just was waiting for the moment it would go wrong and everything would go boom.
But still, I loved Alek, and I loved how he changed. From silent guy with a bit of an attitude, to someone who dares to speak up, who dares to say no to people, and someone who discovered his sexuality.
Ethan was a great guy, but again, I didn't think he was that good of an influence on Alek. He did a lot of things right for Alek (getting him out of his shell, helping him with clothes/hair and also being there for him), he also did things wrong by promoting skipping and other things.
I loved those two together though, they make a wonderful couple and I was also happy to see that no one had too much of a problem with them. I know how it often goes when parents find out their child is gay, and it is terribly sad.
And then we have my second favourite character of the whole book: Becky. My, she was a totally awesome character. She has spunk, spice and kicks ass on a daily basis. I loved how she was always there for Alek. And even when things took an awkward turn (you can partially guess what will happen), she still stuck with Alek and helped him out on numerous occasions.
I would truly recommend this story. It is sweet, cute and you will be cheering for Alek on multiple occasions. Read this book!
Review first posted on http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
Alek was a wonderful character and I really loved him. I was also cheering for him to speak up or at least do something so his parents would know why he is acting the way he is acting. While I loved his romance/relationship with Ethan, I also felt that Ethan wasn't always a good influence. Alek started skipping school, started to care less about his homework and a few other things. The first time they skipped school I was like, ah finally. But after a few times, I just was waiting for the moment it would go wrong and everything would go boom.
But still, I loved Alek, and I loved how he changed. From silent guy with a bit of an attitude, to someone who dares to speak up, who dares to say no to people, and someone who discovered his sexuality.
Ethan was a great guy, but again, I didn't think he was that good of an influence on Alek. He did a lot of things right for Alek (getting him out of his shell, helping him with clothes/hair and also being there for him), he also did things wrong by promoting skipping and other things.
I loved those two together though, they make a wonderful couple and I was also happy to see that no one had too much of a problem with them. I know how it often goes when parents find out their child is gay, and it is terribly sad.
And then we have my second favourite character of the whole book: Becky. My, she was a totally awesome character. She has spunk, spice and kicks ass on a daily basis. I loved how she was always there for Alek. And even when things took an awkward turn (you can partially guess what will happen), she still stuck with Alek and helped him out on numerous occasions.
I would truly recommend this story. It is sweet, cute and you will be cheering for Alek on multiple occasions. Read this book!
Review first posted on http://twirlingbookprincess.com/
ssjonoyoung's review against another edition
5.0
Like seriously this was more adorable than Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda. It was funny the character diverse and interesting. The relationship was so natural in its formation even though it was quick it felt so genuine. The Armenian Heritage back drop made the whole thing so much more interesting and generally created some intense situations that were awesome. So so so good.