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Mr Toad

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Hetero romance masquerading as m/m

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 02-05-25

The premise is a fun one. The writing is easy to follow with clearly defined characters. The reader does a great job. The challenge is that as a gay man, this is clearly not written for me. It is written for women who fetishize gay romance. Kendall - one of the protagonists is male in pronoun only, and the author even refers to Kendall as “she” at one point. Small and thin, submissive, vulnerable and needing rescuing, shy about nudity around another man… it just gets a bit wearisome after a bit. Yes, some men could be like this but it is just so relentless in its two-dimensional approach to the character. Which is unfortunate. Other than slipping into and wallowing in stereotypes, it is a well told story.

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It held my attention

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-23-24

The story held my attention and the reader did a great job. At times I was frustrated as the characters didn’t communicate or behave in the way one would reasonably do or say in the circumstances, and instead were forced to do or say what would forward the author’s agenda, which would throw me out of the story’s reality. But if one ignored those lapses, the story was entertaining.

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Characters not credible and plot is tedious.

Overall
2 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
2 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-22-24

I reached about the halfway mark and ultimately couldn’t stand any more. The MC is so neurotic and rude that I never understood why Blake was attracted to him. It made no sense. And all too often the obvious questions were not asked: as an up and coming actor are you out of the closet? If he’s going out with a guy in public, dancing, wearing makeup - it shows absolutely no discretion. A reasonable person would ask about this. Having sex in the corner of a dark disco - again it made me ask if this actor is out? Then the tattoos and nipple ring on the bookish MC who never goes out and is antisocial seemed jarring to learn about halfway into the book. It seemed out of character as painted so far. And it seemed odd an educated man would need Vegan explained to him. Too much in the narrative just didn’t seem believable. And I thought in the UK, Maurice is pronounced “Morris” not “Moreece” - that was odd too. I really wanted to like it. The MC also seemed more like a neurotic woman rather than a neurotic man. Too many details were just off.

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Complicated feelings

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 01-03-24

This is the type of book I normally would love. A gay black teen that can see ghosts is a compelling premise. Add the ghost of a school shooter who wants to possess the body of our hero so he can continue his violent activities is also a gripping concept. I love that the shooter is complicated and deserves some sympathy for his horrible home life. But telling of the story meandered and at times it was hard to follow exactly what was going on. I didn’t believe characters’ choices. There were no consequences for actions that would normally have consequences. The pacing crawled into minutia at times until it would hit big action sequences that would go on and on without accomplishing anything. There were important issues: access and obsession with guns, homophobia, rape, racism, bullying, child abuse, mental illness… but it all got a bit muddy as they piled on top of a plot that was in a whirlpool of the MC’s angsty thoughts. And then the main story ended, but the book continued on for additional chapters that felt interminable. The readers were great- as good as they could have been. I really wanted to like the book. It just felt like it needed an editor to focus the storytelling a bit more.

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