Very good book.

This particular book is not a typical book for this author. It follows the path of a very young ostracized boy Who is generally i'm excepted by everyone. Then he meets this mysterious stranger at school and everything changes completely. Things are not as they appear… Quite the opposite actually.

A very good read that that is completely unrelated to any of his other books. It does not follow any particular series that Mark has written.

It's an excellent book to introduce someone to his work for the first time reader. I follow all his books regularly and have read many of his books regularly. He is an excellent writer for this particular kind of genre.

I am in my late 30s and his books are usually easy reading but they intended for a younger audience… but that does not take away from what he had written and make any of his books less enjoyable. I have enjoyed every book, some more than others that he has written.

I so enjoy his books as they typically are a coming-of-age stories. So most of his books are easy reading. I believe that Mark is not only providing entertainment but he is providing information to the young gay audience who grow up in a stereotypical ideology heterosexual world and are taught that there is something terribly wrong with them which is specious.
These books provide information that are contrary to this and indicate it's OK to be gay.

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1 person found this helpful

Reads very "young"

Any additional comments?

This is a Young Adult story that reads very young. Graham is thirteen, just figuring out he's gay, has no friends, is super small and "puny", and exceedingly lonely. After deciding to take his life one day he's stopped when he sees a wolf in the forest where he hangs out by his lonesome.

After he goes home and realizes what a huge mistake he almost just made, Graham decides to turn things around and try harder to make a friend and maybe get a boyfriend.

When he goes back to school there's a new student, Josiah, who immediately captures his interest and attention. Graham begins a subtle campaign to win over the taciturn boy, and after many weeks, finally succeeds.

Their friendship isn't the only new one Graham makes, he also gets a job as a kind of helper to an old man running errands and doing yard work, etc. He loves his job, and the old man, Mr. Basil Diggory. Turns out Basil is the son of his new 15 year old friend, Josiah. And his new friend is actually a hundreds of years old vampire.

Though the narration was very good, the story itself lags in places. Then it inexplicably sped up, practically galloping, toward a very rushed ending, which, while fine and has a HEA, wasn't very satisfying.

Like I said before - this is a Young Adult story that reads very young. While I would have no problem with my thirteen year old (or my eight year old for that matter) nephew reading this, I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for the over eighteen crowd.

I suppose I can chalk that up to liking my YA to be a little more "adult". Plus it sort of creeped me out when (spoiler removed).

Bottom Line: Good narration and a not terrible, but definitely young, story.

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great story

It was good and actually a true story not some steamy read. A little too woe is me but it was good.

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no one wants to be alone

starts off sad then it makes you happy your first love a new beginning makes you want to be young forever

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forever young

i liked the suspense and the friendship. I also liked the narrator. but I think the characters should have been older so that they would at least be a legal age to do everything they expect to do without problems. graham can't even get a job he's only 13! other then that i liked th book

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Starts slow, but....

This is a very good story done by Mark! The beginning of the story starts out kinda slow, but towards the end of the book, it gets very interesting! Both well written and narrated, the book introduces us to a hidden secret by a 15 year old boy who's about 900 years old. The story is powerful, romantic and filled with lots of fighting! And the book is full of surprises!

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You are 13!

I lost count of how menny times I though that. This was so bad I had to stop listening over and over just to get thrue it. Sadly Im the kind of person that got to listen to the end, no matter how much pain my brain felt.
The mc kept saying he didnt have any male friends but obviesly he wont get any when he dosnt try. And his constant talk about not being interested in girls and wanting a boyfriend and right after say "Im so confused. Am I straight? Or gay?" Obviesly you are gay kid! Considering he keeps saying he think dirty thoughs about the sexy boy, I think thats a no brainer.
Save yourself and dont listen to this!

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great concept horrible story line

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

a completely different story line and caricter development

What was most disappointing about Mark A. Roeder’s story?

the main caricters where 12 and 13, no where dose it tell you this is for pre teens

How could the performance have been better?

the reader was great

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

NO

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"The Room" of books

So, if you are a fan of terrible cinema then you may be familiar with a movie called "The Room." It's got three basic scenes that are repeated over and over again. Why do I bring this up? Cause that is this book. I kept yelling at my ipod to hurry the freak up and get on with the plot. It drags for sooooo long; long after you have figured out the paper thin plot. Do you think you might know where the story is going? You're probably right...

What else could be wrong with this than a plot that could be compared to a person scraping their nails across a chalkboard? The protagonist is 13. *Spoilers* the vampire is from the 10th century. Did you think that 100 year old Edward lusting after 17 year old Bella was creepy? Try a 1000 year old lusting after a 13 year old. Ugh...

Hey, I'm sure there's an audience for this, it's just not me.

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Unintelligent characters drive plot

The story for this book is driven by the idiotic actions of its main characters. At no time did I feel that the characters actions were natural or consistent with the situations they were placed into. Characters are introduced and then nothing comes of them. There is only one main plot and no secondary storylines. Most of this book is an experience in frustration.

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