2008-09-19 Oh to be sixteen again ...

If you are gay, bisexual or just 'curious' this book is likely to make you wish you were sixteen again. And if you are still around that age, I suspect by the end it may even help you feel 'ok' about how messed up life can be, without preaching.
I started flicking through this book last night as an idle distraction from a project that I've been obsessing about for a month now, consuming all my free time. It completely derailed my evening. I could not put this book down (ok I put it down maybe twice as nature called and I needed coffee, but that was it, honest).
The main character makes some bad choices and things get messy (and not just in the nice 'watch out for the parents' way, kids). He has some good friends who seemed three dimensional, and I'm pretty sure I went to school with all of them and apparently missed out on some fun times. This book has some very sexy moments in it, but you'll miss the point if you just try to flick to the 'good bits'.
On the very minor negative side there are some of the cliche's of coming-of-age novels here that I normally find quite irritating (to those authors in general, I'm sure I wasn't the only horny gay teenager whose world failed to catastrophically implode), but the story is well crafted with some beautiful prose and rings true to anyone who has spent time in a real French community.
The instant I finished reading I
a) wished there was more
b) wanted to read it again and
c) just had to come here and write this review.
Oh yes ... 'd)' .. after I reluctantly closed the book I truly found myself wishing I was sixteen again.
A final word of warning: you will need a box of tissues for this one.