Customer Reviews

Into This World We're Thrown

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a very enjoyable and entertaining novel. The characters, notably Scott Faraday, are among the most likable and notable you will ever meet on the printed page. The setting, California's High Desert, is creative and interesting and adds to the development of the story. The dialogue is both realistic and hip.The novel is not without flaws. One character is introduced as having fallen off a roof in winter; several pages later the accident evidently happened in another season. The college application and admissions process is so facile as to be unbelievable. And ... the Ryan character should switch from engineering to probate law based on his ability to settle his grandmother's estate in lightning-speed time. But Kendrick is entitled to author's license on these points, as they don't really detract from the story.The author has stated that he's done with Scott and Ryan and is moving on to science-fiction. Those of us who have come to, yes, love Scott and Ryan will have to fantasize about what happens in the future of their well-created lives ...

I loved Mark Kendrick's debut novel, Desert Sons. ... I was surprised and happy to learn of his plans to first write a sequel to Desert Sons. Though I found the ending of the original completely satisfying, it also left some open possibilities that this book explores.

While Desert Sons deftly handles the difficult and sometimes dangerous coming out process of young lovers Ryan and Scott, the sequel finds that lingering tensions remain, while new challenges continue to surface. Infidelity, jealousy, town gossip, and buried feelings threaten to destroy their relationship. Worse yet, the threat of violence looms constantly in their lives.

Fans of Desert Sons will surely cherish this conclusion to its story-lines. However, I also suggest it to fans of gay teen "coming out" movies like Beautiful Thing, Get Real, Boy's Life, and Edge of Seventeen. In fact, Kendrick's first two novels would both make great movies themselves!

I don't feel I missed a thing by reading the sequel first: it works as a stand-alone novel. The characters of Scott and Ryan deal with gossip, resentment, and more serious matters, such as the threat of violence and feeling excluded in a place they love.

There are many sizzling scenes here, as the flames burn hot with passion between these two young men. I also liked the well-drawn setting, California's high desert. The novel progresses well and keeps the reader interested. Ryan's grandmother dies, adding a twist to the story and giving him a challenge to deal with.

These characters seem very real, the dialogue is crisp, and the events are believable. The college-admissions hassle is totally real. Guess I will go backwards now and read the FIRST book, Desert Sons--and definitely will read other books by this author.

I loved this book. I found the story compelling, and kept me turning page after page to see what was going to happen next. It was a little slow at the beginning, but that was mainly because it repeated some stuff from the first book. I like how the book could stand alone, but it was a little tiresome at points. I highly reccomend that you read the first book. All in all, I loved the book. As a Psych major in college, I found that that aspect was well done, even if it was a little too fast for reality. I really ejoyed reading this book, and was dissapointed when it was over. I would love to read more about Ryan and Scott in college.

This book was soo much better than the first Desert Sons. Desert Sons, although an excellent read, was an erotic novel more than anything. Into This World We're Thrown offered great insights on the ups and downs of gay teen relationships. An excellent and clearly a must read after Desert Sons. I gave it 4 stars, only because the book, in my opinion, was too good and perfect. Nothing like the reality.

I liked this book a lot... but Preston was freaky. It was bad enough that he cared little about the boys that he seduced, but his obsession of Scott creeped me out (especially when he succeeded in seducing him). I seriously thought that I would have nightmares. It seemed like rape to me. Whenever I read the book now, I'll be skipping past a lot. Other than that, it was a very well-written book.

Joe, that redneck jerk, was a wonderful villain and portrays perfectly ignorance and prejudice; he seems the right person to hate.

I liked Scott's friends, Doug and Jill, among them. They were just so wonderful and supportive! Despite that I have that with my family and I've seen much of it, it's just a joy to read and see how accepting and sweet that people can be.

The tensions between Scott and Ryan seemed a bit unrealistic to me, but, at 19, I've yet to have a relationship, and I'm much calmer, I suppose that it does happen in a lot of relationships(romantic and otherwise). The ending was especially thrilling! I just hope , whomever my love will be, that we will be just as lucky as Scott and Ryan.

Desert Sons and its sequel Into this World We're Thrown are excellent books. I was totally drawn into the two main characters, seeing what they saw, feeling what they felt, being in the desert with them, loving with them. These books are about budding Love and budding sexuality, self-discovery and growth, and struggling with "coming-out" (with being Gay) to themselves and to others. These books are about young people dealing with real life problems of mental health, coping, grief, anger, rejection, teenage suicide, sexual abuse, denial, and so on. The author quickly brought me into a desert town, connecting me with all of the characters. For a short while, I was able to replace my own traumatic teenage years, with the story spun by this author. The author has a good understanding of of how a young mind works and develops, and a deep understanding of what it is like growing-up gay. This is indeed "a great coming out and finding your way in the world book". I do not understand why anyone would describe the characters as superficial and staged, the dialog as corny, behavior which is unbelievable, and scenes as ridiculous. Teenagers do not always think and behave as you would expect in an adult. The opposing "thought verses behavior" is typical of a teenager, as well as confusion and uncertainty, lack of experience in handling problems, and self-centered behavior, all of which are part of growing-up. These characters are believable, the plot line is believable and true to real life. Some have complained about the quantity of sex in the books. But I felt that the tone and quantity of sex fit naturally into the basic truth of what the relationship would be like, given the parameters set by the author, and real life. This author paints vibrant and detailed descriptions, without being boring. The only disappointment I felt was when I got to "The End" and did not want the experience to end. If this story had been told in a ten book series, I would have gladly purchased them all.

The sequel to Desert Sons is truely a great read and follow-up. I couldn't put it down. The turmoil the main characters, Scott and Ryan are thrown into tests not only their love for each other, but their value as human beings. They rise to the occasion, in more ways than one, to beat the odds. The other new characters are great as well. Very well done, Mark my hat's off to you! I am surprised no one has approached you about making a film about these characters. I'm sure it would be great!

This book is a continuation from Desert Son. I highly recommend you read this book but first you might want to read Desert Sons. Mark does a wonderful job of having you look at both Ryan and Scotts lives. Both of these books are worth the price you pay for them. Read both of them trust me you will enjoy it. I am looking forward to reading more of Mark Kendricks novels.

Really more four and a half stars, and I cannot quarrel with a five star rating. The boys are as adorable as in the first book, but they have some really difficult issues to deal with in this one: infidelity, mental illness, gay bashing, etc. I love the boys and their families and I believe the author did an excellent job of dealing with some really difficult issues for teenagers to deal with. Well worth a read, and would be worth a sequel some years down the road to see how the boys deal with finishing the process of becoming adults and trying to keep a love affair together. Good job.