Wes and Toren

2 stars

Toren is in high school, and can't wait to leave it. He feels unnoticed, and when he is noticed, it's not because people think he's awesome. But one day, the coolest kid talks to him. And then wants to be his partner in the final history project. And then tells him that Toren looks at him like he'd like to have sex with him. And Wes is down with that. At first, Toren thinks maybe Wes is screwing with him, but he quickly loses those reservations and they do everything together. There are a few bumps, like Wes' family and Toren's reaction to anything stressful/confrontational (he freezes), but for the most part, Wes and Toren work toward becoming #couplegoals and #shmoopy.

Nice things first: I liked Toren's mother and sister. Both show more of them reacted really well to Toren being gay, and both of them came across as independent, well adjusted women. We's one friend and his brother were also awesome.

Negatives: Well, that's 10 years of my life I can't get back. Or, I guess it only felt like it took my 10 years to read it. First of all, I didn't like Wes. And not because of him being the "bad boy" or anything, but because he didn't take no for an answer. Toren didn't drink, didn't do drugs, didn't skip class. Until Wes. And the first time Toren said no to skipping class, smoking pot, drinking, Wes ignored him, and forced him to. (Kissing Toren and shotgunning the pot smoke), dragging him along with him to Wes' car to skip class. And I do mean literal dragging here. Toren had to keep up because he didn't want his arm to hurt. Wes did not know the meaning of the word no. And the fact that Toren folded and didn't stand by his principles didn't impress me either. I've been a teenager. I've been offered drugs and alcohol, and it probably would have made my life easier at school had I accepted it. I might have become closer to the in crowd. But I didn't because I didn't want to be one of those kids who lived every weekend just to party. I really, really wanted Toren to fail classes or get fired because he didn't know how to say no to his boyfriend who didn't listen to the word. Wes actually reminded me of the stereotypical guy who would say "well, if you love me, you would do this for me" and always had to have his way. In fact, he seemed to be like his father in that regard, and considering Wes didn't like his parents, one would think that he would go out of his way to not resemble them at all. And the thing is, Wes knew how it felt. To not have "no" listened to. Why would he want to even potentially make Toren feel that way? There were also a few misogynistic attitudes, in that Toren thought maybe Wes thought he was the girl in the relationship because he was always trying to take care of Toren and Toren wanted to buy things for their apartment too, gosh darnit! Me, eyebrows raised: uh... girls can take care of themselves. You know that right? They've been doing it for awhile. Are we back in the 1960s? Oh! And, Wes, while being a minor himself, gave pot to Toren's little sister. He's definitely a class act, that one.
And there was some awkward phrasing in the writing where I couldn't quite figure out what the author was going for. I'm glad I got it off my TBR, at least. And if I hadn't disliked most of the other options I had to choose from, I would have definitely dnf'd this. show less

3.5 stars.

This is a slice of life - from Wes and Toren's first meeting for about 18 months, maybe two years. We follow their developing relationship, and their trials and tribulations from the end of high school through their first year out of school (roughly).

It's a sweet story, examining other people's reaction to their relationship as much as learning about the two MCs. The ending is delicious!

This is a classical coming of age story with a bit less angst than usual. I'm really fond of teens story, I always say that in them I find an innocence and a sweetness that it's hard to find in a normal contemporary story. Teenagers are so eager for love, and the love so hard that it's impossible to not heart for them; problem is that I'm maybe a bit too realistic, and I always wonder if a story that starts when the boys are underage have really a chance to last.

This is the main reason why I liked this book, since it spans almost two years in the life of Wes and Toren, from when they are still in highschool till when they approach their adult life, with college and work and stuff like that.

Toren is a cute nerd little student; he is show more obviously gay, he has written it all over his face but he is so worried to come out: his parents got divorced since his father fell for a man when Toren was 12 yeard old, and since then he lives with his mother; he loves so much his mom that he fears to hurt her with the truth and so he represses his feelings. But then Wesley enters his life and he can't help to fall hard and love is impossible to hide. Plus Wes has not a supporting family and Toren becomes not only his lover but also all the family he has.

Probably Wes and Toren have to grew too soon and too fast, but as I said this is not an angst story: even if they went through some not nice events, mostly their story is made of tenderness and cuteness; there is clearly a yaoi imprint in it, but not so much as other western yaoi novel I read. Wes is clearly the top in the relationship, he assumes the role of the caretaker, the man of the family, the one who goes to work and comes back home to his little 'wife'. But he is not an authoritative man, he is not an absolute top, he is only a real good boy; and it's strange since in highschool he had the fame to be a bad boy, the one born in the wrong side of the city. But for most of it was only a role he played as reaction to what he was living at home, with parents that never once supported him, even before they knew he was gay.

Toren instead is the classical bottom, all blushing and tears, but he is not weak, he only needs to find a bit of courage to come out, and not only in a sexual way. But don't forget that Toren is 17 years old when the story starts, he is still mostly a boy and he has plenty of time to grew; I like that he is not forced to take steps he is not ready to do only since around him people don't understand. And I think that Wes, with his protective attitude, somehow helped Toren to walk at his own pace.

There is a lot of sex, and there is clearly the fascination of a woman author for two young boys in love, another legacy from the yaoi influence; not only that, there are also some female characters in the book that probably represent the author herself (actually the female are the strongest characters in the book). But the sex is also tender, as all the book, and so it's very nice to read it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1935192477/?tag=elimyrevandra-20 show less

Tor and Wes are really likeable characters and theirs' story is very sweet but I found something missing in the way it was told. Usually I like the 1st person pov but in this book I had sometimes the impression the narrator was simply reading items out of his grocery-shop list..especially in the beginning of the book.

THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE WESLEY AND TOREN!

Seriously, it's like I was reading Jamie McGuire's Beautiful Disaster—the MM version! At least that's how it felt like.

The lines and scenes are all sweet and cheesy, but it's never corny. It just has the right amount of sweetness, firmness and creaminess (yes, I'm talking about the perfect crème brûlée now—it's that good). Kidding aside, the scenes are kind of slice-of-life-ish, but it never got me bored.

Just the right amount of drama, just the right amount of sweetness, just the right amount of angst, and just the right amount of smut (I'm biased though. I love smut.).

I'm not one to reread novels, but this is so cute and so awesome that I really plan show more to read this again and again and again!

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Don't judge a book by its cover. I keep forgetting that. In fact, don't judge a book by other reviews. I was so tricked by some reviews.

Read this book a few years ago, and regretted I spent my time reading the book. At some point, I was swearing that if Toren would cry one more time, that was it. And yet, he cried again. And again. And again. Sheesh. Get a life.

2.5 stars I enjoyed the simplicity of Wes and Toren, but it soon became overly long. It felt very repetitive and overworked.