Post by Dabeagle on Oct 3, 2023 10:01:09 GMT -5
This book was made available free as the first in a series. The story follows Liam who is new to town, had a friend named Matthew who disappeared from his life literally and figuratively, although the reasons are never explained. The first time Liam sees Alex, the titular Swimmer Boy, he's falling for him. Unfortunately the story does a lot of telling and not showing, the 'bad guys' are caricatures with no depth other than existing to be the bad guy. In fact every character is a cardboard cutout - Liam is small, gay, musically inclined, very smart and non-athletic. He gets bullied at school in very Hollywood bully fashion. His parents speak to him like he's a much younger child rather than the 16 he is presented as. Alex's parents have a jock dad reliving athletics through his son (via swimming, unusual choice) and a lawyer mother who expects her son to get an academic scholarship. But his dad wants an athletic scholarship and it's casually dropped in that the father hit the mother at one point. Character development is poor, language is stilted...it's a short, inoffensive but unfulfilling story that seems written to leave plenty hanging at the end to get you to buy book 2.
This one's a pass from me.