Wow what a great story. Way to go Mark

I simply could not put this book down. Loved everything about it. I recommend this to anyone. Definitely one of my favorites. I might even read it again. Also the narration was fantastic

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Another tear jerkier with a lot of laughs

Just a great HS story which would never happen in my HS and time period. It has a great many characters that I ended carrying about. I love the author.

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This is one of those books I always hope to find

I've been hesitant to get this book for months, but I finally decided to take the plunge. It was so worth it.
There are several "interesting" supporting characters that twist through the main plot of Jarrod and Mark, two jocks vying for a coveted Center Forward position on their new high school's soccer team. One of those supporting characters is Dylan, an over the top out and proud exuberant gay boy who is an open book when it comes to his social skills and he's a Hoot. His special way to "get along" with the Jocks is well.... inventive, and laugh out loud sometimes. I think most guys who have been out for a while know someone who might remind them somewhat of a Dylan. He's also supportive, honest and says what he feels.
I like the character development, the competition, and Jarrod's unwavering support to try and help Mark, his always slightly better competition, with the dark mental state he falls into. I really enjoyed this book and plan to listen to it again. It's not only frequently funny, but emotional, sad at times and then uplifting. Sometimes Mark's actions are temporarily confusing, but for me it was a joy to experience and I was very satisfied at the end. Also a very big plus, the Narrator did a great job with the voices.

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Its amazing

I loved the story. Although sometimes i couldn't seperate who was saying what bus a minute later it cleared itself out.

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What did I buy?

This is not my kind of read.
I do not know how this was subjected to me after reading one man guy. This is fringe romance and erotica. Also from chapter one it is so plain how low level the writing style is. It became clear this book is for sensationalism and not quality enjoyment by chapter two when it went from coming of age story to porn. This is genre writing and not universal and exclusionary to a small readership, this coming from a gay reader.

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PerfectStory + PerfectNarrator = PerfectAudiobook

After having read (or, rather, listened to) a few Audible books where the narrator was not suited to the story (in particular the narrator's voice being much older-sounding than the characters he was reading the parts of... and pretty much reading rather than performing the parts), I am so happy to have stumbled upon this one! Great job, Bryant Sullivan! I could tell who was speaking by the differences in the voices you used, and the emotions/excitement/moods were so evident in HOW you read their parts. Bravo!

And Bravo! as well to Mark A. Roeder for writing this great book. You pulled me in right from the opening chapter and never let me go. I always just had to know what would come next to the point when I couldn't be listening I was thinking about the story and wanted to get back to it. And not only that... having become so absorbed into their world I found myself happier because it was like I had entered into it.

Before I go: One slight criticism. It seemed that the tragedy-card had been overplayed a bit much. One character in a wheelchair from a car crash, another character's parents killed in a house fire, and there were a few others. e.g. The two characters whose Dad's had married after a tragic death of one of their mothers. (I think that was the point when, listening to the book, I thought "Here we go again -- yet another tragic death". Maybe a divorce of both Dad's previous wives would have sufficed? Anyhow... maybe I'm being nit-picky. I just don't think sooo many tragedies for sooo many people was quite realistic. Anyhow, overall, I loved the story/book and THANK YOU for writing/sharing it with the world.

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Great Book Despite the Title

The author creates a delightful subversive high school world where a flaming homosexual is safe through a unique incentive program, and a soccer team and jocks accepted gay teammates. This is the kind of book where you wish the characters were based on real people because the world would be so much better if it were so. Well written and insightful as to mental illness and trauma during the high school years, this book was a joy to experience.

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What kind of 9th graders are these!!!

I couldn't actually finish this book. It was so unrealistic and borderline disturbing! My first and biggest issue is that this is practically child porn. No one wants to think about 14 year old children in sexual situations! Also, the hints and jokes about incest are disgusting! If you can get past that, the story is sooo unbelievable. 6'4 ninth graders with beards! I just can't!!! I rarely give up on books without finishing them, but this was just awful.

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Too much of a very annoying character

I admit I've only listened to the first four or five chapters, but I'm going to go ahead and give this book a very solid one star review. Let me sum up the first four chapters for you: "Dylan Dylan Dylan. Dylan Dylan Dylan Dylan Dylan Dylan? Dylan!" I have heard the name Dylan so often in the past couple hours that I think I genuinely like all the people in my life who are named Dylan just a little bit less. Is it possible for a peripheral character to get more on-page time than the first person protagonist? Yes!

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1 person found this helpful