Rough and Beautiful. A metaphor for some that you won’t soon forget.

I devoured this book in 2 days, and boy was it rough and beautiful. I’m not sure it would be possible to read this slowly. The story is tight, tense and claustrophobic and captures gay teenage emotions, insecure love and obsession, in a way and with a metaphor, that I haven’t seen before. It’s not an easy read; the pain is hard to swallow for the long stretches in the middle of this book but I dare you not to finish and get the release of the ending. The characters emotions are too familiar in many instances and the knifes edge of being completely consumed and out of control because of alienation and pain, I believe, will be all too familiar to LGBTQ readers from a certain time and place.

The narration from Michael Crouch, one of the best around I believe, captures the constrained wild and pain of Paul so perfectly I couldn’t imagine this book without his voice- it’s so tightly interwoven that it became the book as so rarely happens when narrator and story become one. I’m not sure I could’ve managed this book as well had it not been for the connection Mr. Crouch facilitated for the reader.

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Excellent book. Hated it.

F*cking miserable. Why do I keep reading literary fiction? Why why why why why why

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Read Cautiously

Beautiful and disturbing. It ripped my heart out. It's the kind of book you return to hoping for a better end game.

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A bit dark for me

An amazing listen that envelopes you in the world of Julian and Pablo. And what a dark world it is. We've all had dark relationships and this one takes it to another level. The love story is real, as real as it can be from 2 souls that both have monumental issues. I kept wondering why neither family put either boy in counseling. But that would have prolonged the inevitable. I did thoroughly enjoy this book. A bit cerebral in parts for some of my friends. And too dark in the late middle for me to listen to close to bedtime without getting nightmares. Though to have that effect and be so submersive is the mark of a great story.

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A first love that spirals down a feedback loop of trying to be worthy of love

An excellent listen. Well-narrated. I enjoyed Julian and Paul and watching the shifting dynamic of their relationship. Some incredible moments of raw emotion as the desire to be loved distorts each character. A compelling theme that holds true to the books end. Will struggle to find a next read that is so gripping. Emotional. Their relationship is so wrong when observed from the outside but still feels so realistic and worth having when seen through their eyes. Every character they interact with feels real and is given some degree of depth. Would love a sequel that is the happy ending version of them developing a healthy relationship with boundaries/ respect/ conditionless love.

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fuck

paul & julian actually killed me, not stepanek



i need to write 8 more words lol

One of the best books I've ever read.

I rarely give anything 5 stars, but this book was perfectly written; a true masterpiece. It made me laugh and cry within the same paragraph and I was able to empathize with the characters. The turbulent romance between the boys was so intricate in its detail yet written broadly enough that nearly anyone can relate. The intimate moments between the boys are not lascivious in their detail, but instead display the depth of emotion that those moments embody.
In addition, the narrator captured the very subtlety that the words were meant to convey. His voice was soothing, yet raw in its passion.

“A pair of sunflowers who each believed the other was the sun.”

Perfectly written and expertly narrated, this is likely the most intensely psychological book I’ve experienced in at least a decade. I became utterly and completely obsessed with this novel and with both the protagonist and the antagonist, because both of them pulled me in so deftly that I could never discover who was which. Abhorrent in its beauty and sublime in its ugliness, every single word is woven with meaning and allusion and deception and with the deepest possible love imaginable. I went back countless times to reabsorb the pain, the power and the passion. This story requires full attention and no distractions in order for the full impact of its profundity to be felt.

When I finished it, I sat quietly with a glass of bourbon and listened to the beautiful silence and serenity of the world around me. It took me a view hours to fully understand that the story had ended…

…and then I started it from the beginning again. It’s hard to leave the emotional peaks and valleys behind.

very good

very good book, unpredictable and beautifully written. poetic and smart. I have read a lot of books with gay boys in it and they tend to be the same story written over and over, super cliche and boring, this, this was real art

Two disturbed teens, who're gay, go off the rails

This novel should be of interest to anyone who likes a well told gripping story. The sexual content is PG-13 and most of it is obtusely hinted at. The story is believable in a world where 'good kids' go off the rails too frequently.