Power Play

Sorry but thge "condoms aren't necessary" in a novel about teens is outrageous. This wasn't sweet. It wasn't romantic. It is about people acting so carelessly that they get themselves killed. It was outrageous and I was truly horrified. I'd LIKE to give this novel fewer than 4 stars I was so outraged at this "plot point" (one that was totally needless since it was NOT necessary to the plot) but the fact is that the writing and story is good. But telling teens that "condoms don't matter" is all too likely to get someone seriously ill -- or dead.

This is one of those books that I've had for a while and have resisted reading. One of the reasons was the length of the book. And to be honest, that was an issue. I know, very strange coming from me, who always wants more... complains about a book being too short etc. But in this case, it honestly was, in my opinion, too long. In reality the whole book covers only about a fortnight in time. Yes, only 2 weeks or less.

And that does also bring another point up. Insta-love. Yet that doesn't worry me in this case because we are talking about teenagers. At 18 & 19 insta-love is allowed and actually nearly expected.

But it does mean a lot of words to bring a very short relationship in a very short time period to life. And while there are show more books where you forget how long it is, this was not one of them

Both Ryan and Dante are great characters though. Both these guys have managed to worm their way into my heart. And yes, I would honestly love to have a follow up story with both of them, to make sure their relationship survives the hard yards. But this time, maybe either a much longer time period for that many words, or simply a shorter book. show less

This is not at all the novel I was expecting. First of all the characters are much younger than I thought.

Ryan is a 19 years old college student and hockey player who, during a game, was badly injured. Now he is in a wheelchair and ahead of him he has many months, maybe years, of therapy for the hope to walk again, but not more skating for him. He has lost everything: he is not a striking guy, not a good student, he is plain and simple, and maybe a little surly, and being the star of the college hockey team was his change to be someone in college. Now he is a cripped guy living with his parents and with no chance in front of him. And he is also virgin, he likes guys but he has never had the courage to near someone, only an interrupted show more attempt of blowjob during a frat party.

Dante is a 18 years old boy from the wrong side of the city. After high school he didn't go to college, cause he has no the necessary money, and to be true, neither the inclination. He only loves speed skating, he is very good at it, and his dream is to arrive to Olympics. He works to pay his lessons and the fee to the trials. He is a beautiful latino guy, the dream man of many girls, but he is gay. He has had only a lover, a very bad experience with a schoolmate, but he has not given up the hope to find a boyfriend. Yes, a boyfriend, cause Dante is only an eighteen years old guy, and for him love is someone to call mine, someone to hung out with, someone who, like a knight in shining armour, stand up for him and claim to all the world and above all to the men who bother him, that he is his boyfriend, so hands out from him!

The story is very well written and compelling. Dante's trouble to find the money for simple things but also for the month's rent, his daydreams of glory. Ryan's struggle with the therapy, his bad attitude, very right considering his situation, his relationship with his mother. Oh yes, his mother... cause we are speaking of a nineteen years old guy, not a man, and mothers are still a very present costant in a guy's life. And Ryan's mother is a wonderful character, not the perfect mother of fantasy, but a real mother, bothering but loving.

And then there is the sex, that at that age is the most important thing you have, but it is naive and tender. Sex is also a kiss stolen in the shadow, but sex is also something more, you do careless and with enthusiasm. Condoms are a joke, not a life's necessity... they are teens in heat.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/059527014X/?tag=elimyrevandra-20 show less

While there were many aspects of this book that I liked eg he way Ms Snyder captured the youthfulness of her protagonists, I can't rate it any higher because it's written in the present tense.

As I read, I felt like translating it all to the more normal past tense. Instead of feeling immediate and in the moment, it felt forced.

I ploughed through to the end to see how she resolved the storyline, but couldn't help wishing the whole time that it had been written "normally".

It turned what could have been a four or five star book to something I wouldn't recommend.

This was rather sweet.