raeanne's review against another edition
5.0
This was so adorable! I can't believe I hadn't heard of it before. I just found it scrolling through available audiobooks from my library. I am so fucking glad I did!
I was hooked from the beginning and didn't want to stop listening at all.
--Becky, Beck, Becky! I love her but she's so dramatic and getting that dude fired was too far TBH. My heart grew for her and broke for her. She's a skater girl, old movie fanatic. Flipping the script on the stereotypical gay friend, by being the stereotypical girl best friend, without the typical problems.
--Uses "bitch", "pussy", "dick", "homo", and "faggot", the last two by the gay LI Evan.
--Not fat friendly
--Totally saw the "surprise!", but did not see the twist.
--I, like the rest of the non-Armenian Americans in the novel, had no fucking clue about the genocide and Turkey being so fucked and denying it still. It's informative, and comes across naturally, well done, and is a great example to show off.
--Train scene was so adorable and so wrong at the same time.
--They are so cute together and I think they're differences balance out well.
--Love the clothing store and bookstore they talk about.
--Evan's stealing is actually refreshing, because so many kids and families are struggling, doing little things like this to make it a tad more bearable. He doesn't screw anyone over at least and I'm sure Alek will be a good influence in that regard.
I was hooked from the beginning and didn't want to stop listening at all.
--Becky, Beck, Becky! I love her but she's so dramatic and getting that dude fired was too far TBH. My heart grew for her and broke for her. She's a skater girl, old movie fanatic. Flipping the script on the stereotypical gay friend, by being the stereotypical girl best friend, without the typical problems.
--Uses "bitch", "pussy", "dick", "homo", and "faggot", the last two by the gay LI Evan.
--Not fat friendly
--Totally saw the "surprise!", but did not see the twist.
--I, like the rest of the non-Armenian Americans in the novel, had no fucking clue about the genocide and Turkey being so fucked and denying it still. It's informative, and comes across naturally, well done, and is a great example to show off.
--Train scene was so adorable and so wrong at the same time.
--They are so cute together and I think they're differences balance out well.
--Love the clothing store and bookstore they talk about.
--Evan's stealing is actually refreshing, because so many kids and families are struggling, doing little things like this to make it a tad more bearable. He doesn't screw anyone over at least and I'm sure Alek will be a good influence in that regard.
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'