My G-Spot

Steven is a teen boy. Just like any other teen boy. He is excited about taking up his car license. He has a best friend. Fine. His best friend is a girl, named Rachel. But who says you cannot have a girl best friend. He is not that athletic, but who needs to, when Steven can square-dance well. With his mom. Secretly.

And so what if Steven admires his teacher.. namely, Mr Bowman, for his fine physique. That should not be anything unnatural about it. Except that it is making Steven edgy and uncomfortable. With an aid of a stolen old library book, Steven is determined to make himself straight, even if it means joining a group of hockey guys who swear and curse a lot. Or dating many girls. Or feeling icky when a girl wants to go into a higher base with him...

Despite many attempts, Steven is still unable to get over his attraction to young Mr. Bowman. One screw-up after another, Steven ends up with disastrous and humorous events..

This book is good. There were a few times when I laughed out loud. I mean, really loud. The book is simple to follow and an easy read. Steven is a lovable character, and is not the only one. There is this natural desire to know and eager-to-find-out what is going to happen next. So, I find it difficult to let go of this wonderful book.

However, I thought that jokes were jokes, and funny writings should not be without limit. When it comes to an end, there should be a proper ending, instead of still trying to make a mockery of the character. Sure, Steven was written well as a funny, gay teen version of Bridget Jones, or a straight version of bad-luck Adrian Mole... Should the book ended simply that way.. I thought the writer should cut Steven some slack and give him a good, fairy-tale ending.

Nick Nolan's Strings Attached tells the story of a young Jeremy Tyler, growing up not know much of his father, Jonathan Tyler, who died in a car accident. He had to deal with his mother, Tiffany, who had a drinking problem. When Tiffany was admitted into a rehab, Jeremy was sent to stay with his super wealthy aunt, Katherine Tyler and her husband Bill.

In a new environment, Jeremy faced a challenging school life with the help of two girls and a gay guy, Carlo. In trying to adjust himself to the comfortable new lifestyle, Jeremy carried with him his one secret - his desire for other boys. So, it was not easy for Jeremy when Coby came into the picture, tempting him.

However, one dark past event refused to go away and it began to rear its ugly head when Jeremy Tyler showed up.

Frankly, I heard a lot of this book, and tried hard to get this book. It was banned in several countries, and after several attempt, I was able to read a copy of this. Generally, the first few pages were promising. I was intrigued. I wanted more. However, as I went through the pages, I was disappointed that the story was quite expected and did not go deep enough to explore the issues that Jeremy was facing. The coming-out issue was almost no big deal. There was a brief touch on Carlo's difficult journey of coming-out.

I thought the whole simple teenage story was blown out of proportion with the drug and illegal business dilemma and murder. It felt like detectives in the country are poor in their job in investigation that a murder 17 years ago could just get away so easily. And must Jeremy have everyone in his life passed away??

Strings Attached is another gay novel that lingers the plot that I don't like - the main character ends up with the lesser attractive character. It reminded me of John Simpson's Murder Most Gay. I was hoping for a Jeremy-Coby or Jeremy-Darius ending. I have no idea why Jeremy chose that guy. Borrrriiiiiing.