Review: Sweet and enjoyable
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 18, 2014
Reviewed by Pat Henshawfor TheRomanceReviews.comThe first year of college is always a year of change for eighteen-year-olds. For Lewis, it's a year of revelation as well.Lewis moves from Kent to Bristol where he meets his flatmates, all of them freshmen. One young man in particular catches Lewis' eye. Max is an out-and-proud gay man which intrigues Lewis who has called himself straight rather than buck the tide.As he hangs out with Max, Lewis begins to feel the latent twinges of homosexuality that he's been repressing since he had a crush on one of his lower form friends. Suddenly Lewis is questioning whether he's gay or not, and coming up with the answer that he is.Meanwhile, he's hanging out with Max and agrees to be his friend, only to watch the handsome, charismatic Max get a boyfriend who, after a few nights together, dumps Max. Now when Lewis is ready to get serious about Max, Max decides he's off boyfriends and only wants to be Lewis' really good friend.Jay Northcote explores the ups and downs of freshman year and the changes young people go through as their world expands. Because it's based on the British school system, the book will be particularly interesting to Americans who are in college or who've been through it since some events and people are quite recognizable and some are completely different. This is an added dimension to a sweet story that isn't terribly remarkable, but definitely enjoyable.Lewis is the kind of friend everyone wants to have. He's kind, considerate, and loyal. He's also conflicted about his sexuality. In high school he had a girlfriend, but wasn't into the heavy petting and sex that his peers were. They broke up as friends before heading off to their separate colleges.Max, on the other hand, is openly gay and takes no guff about it. He even stands up to their macho flatmate who occasionally makes tasteless jokes about gays. What Max is hiding is his romantic heart, so when he's thrown over by Bruno, his first college crush, he's devastated.As they lean on each other as friends, Lewis and Max not only learn who they are as individuals but who they are as a team. Readers will root for Lewis to change Max's mind about relationships because they are so perfect together.Having read Jay Northcote's previous novel, Nothing Serious, I'm happy to report that she just keeps getting better as a writer. I can't wait to read her next gay romance.