Introduction

Recently, I have joined some groups on Goodreads such as Queerreaders and LGBTQ+ support groups, and I have stumbled upon this book. It looked interesting enough, so I got myself a copy. After reading Freedom's Fate (Book Review), I was pleasantly surprised by the LGBT representation in the book. It made me want to read more books by LGBT authors or on LGBT topics, and here I am, giving this book a try.

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One Little Word: Gay YA Romance
by Finn Manning

Image Source: Amazon

Book Details

Title: One Little Word: Gay YA Romance
Author: Finn Manning
Genres: LGBT, YA, Romance
Length: 202 Pages
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Publication Date: 26th October 2017
Format: E-book (Kindle)
ASIN: B076XQ7LSY
Price: $2.99
Excerpt available on author's site.

Book Synopsis

The following Synopsis is taken from Amazon. Be warned, this does spoil the whole story:

What happens when the most popular guy in school must depend on a social pariah to save his skin?

Luke Chambers is about to find out. When one stupid word heard by the wrong ears sends the captain of the baseball team’s life into chaos, his plan to get out of trouble involves the one kid who seems to hate him.

Ryan just wants to have some fun at the jock’s expense. He won’t be stupid enough to fall for the gorgeous blonde with green eyes, dimples and impressive arm muscles from pitching. Okay, he might like to look, but it’s difficult being the only gay kid in a small town.

Relationships are never easy, especially when both people want different things. Ryan wants a boyfriend who wants him back. Luke wants things to start making sense again. But what if they both wanted the same thing? What if they want each other?

Review

Ratings

Disclaimer: Some spoilers may be featured in this review.

Personal Rating: 3.25 stars
Average Rating (Goodreads, Amazon): 4.09, 3.9 stars (respectively)

The story itself is decent, however, there were a couple of issues with the writing and editing. I will get to that at a later stage.

High School Story

Putting everything aside (the style of writing, editing, etc.), the story in itself is interesting. There are some key events that made me laugh or intrigued to read further. On the other hand, there were plenty of other times where the story felt stretched out and repetitive. There is too much of a focus on the two protagonists, and not enough on everyone else. This was problematic. When Ryan is dating someone else, you already know they will, most likely, not end up together. It seemed obvious that the other character, Zach, was included and dated Ryan simply for the sake of the romance story, and it did not make much sense within its own context. Their relationship was barely given any importance in the book, as the author skips to several weeks later.

There are many other hiccups in the story. For instance, after a kiss, weeks pass by without anything almost changing. Time is a luxury that the author did not use wisely. The consistency through longer periods of time does not seem parallel to the real-life experience of high school. The characters seem too volatile to actually have that much consistency. The earlier chapters were especially dry - luckily, the story did get better.

Overall, it is still enjoyable, even though you know how the story will end. The confusion within the protagonists' behaviour/cognition is typical of high-school students. It is very difficult to critique and compliment this book - there is a lot of untapped potential within the story. I can envision it; but I have not received it from the author.

The Presentation & Writing

The book's presentation is reminiscent of Robert Swindells' novel, Stone Cold. For those who are not familiar, the book is written in two alternating active voices: in this case Luke's and Ryan. In one chapter, you might start with Ryan's version of the story and his feelings and thoughts. Then, after a line-break, you will be reading Luke's experience. At times, the shift was not as smooth and was confusing, especially with the "I said/he said" dialogues. What made this more difficult is that the way both of these protagonists think is sometimes too similar. Their characters are polar opposites - so this can make it confusing.

On that note, something I was not a huge fan of was the writing. In my opinion, the style of writing does not match the story's creativity and wit. The dialogues were dealt with greatly, with intermittent thoughts after anyone says anything. However, when the author focused on the thoughts of the protagonists, they were basic. The characters lacked the depth I seek, especially for protagonists. Maybe this is because they are high-schoolers who are simply too superficial. I do think that the author misses the mark on this aspect; their thinking reflects an external view that everyone can understand - whereas I sought for a unique internal perspective that tells us how the protagonists truly feel.

Spelling and Grammatical Mistakes

While I was reading, I kept getting distracted by grammatical mistakes. I have written and self-published a poetry collection, so I do know that even when you have reread everything five times, some mistakes will go unnoticed. However, there were a little bit too many of these mistakes. At times, the sentences were too long and incoherent. Other phrases were written too literal to what the protagonists think - without proper punctuation.

An example of one of these errors is this line:

I like friends who let me be yourself

When I read a line like that, I feel quite frustrated. It distracts me from what was being said and I lose some of the investment I have in the current scene. Maybe I was being too harsh; I still understood the message behind it. The first thing I did after finishing the book, was to read others' reviews. Even the 5-star reviews commented on the poor editing and grammatical mistakes. Several people were able to look past it and enjoy the book as if it was flawless. Unfortunately, I did not have such experience. I do understand with limited budget and time, a self-published author has his own limits (especially if he does not hire an external proofreader/editor), yet I still believe it could have been written and edited better.

Summary

Overall, the book presents a cute story that at times will be heartwarming, other times it will be sassy and witty, and other times just plain boring. If you are not someone who gets hung up on grammatical mistakes, the book is worth a read. As the high school experience of most of us, the confusion amidst the characters is relatable; although this may be somewhat exaggerated. It would have been more interesting to have read the book solely from Luke's perspective. That would be something that I would have really wanted, now that I have finished the book. There are more books in the series, although this does stand-alone, as the author said. I am unsure if I will be attempting to the next book - it will have to depend on the reviews and see if the author has improved or changed the style.

P.S. I hope I was not too harsh on this book. It is definitely frustrating to see such a creative story unmatched by its writing. You can read the excerpt from the author's site.

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