Customer Reviews

True Blue

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a really sweet, sexy, romantic story, which at times is also heartbreaking. Just from reading the synopsis of the story, it doesn't seem like there would be a whole lot of depth to it. Two boys at a prep school fall for each other; one a loner and one a soon to be popular jock. Sounds kind of corny, right? This story is so much more than that and I devoured it completely in one sitting.

The story starts with Heydn Case, a blonde haired blue eyed Texan stud showing up at Acton-Pieerce Academy at the end of summer break only to find he's been roomed with a rather cranky Blue Barclay. At first site, Blue looks like your typical Goth wannabe; dyed black hair, dark clothes and eye liner around the eyes. He keeps to himself and has no interest in having a half witted jock rooming with him. Heydn is not to be deterred and his friendly attitude along with his ability to banter back and forth with the snarky Blue makes these two fast friends. Friendship turns into something more after a night of drinking and anime, which includes a little hentai and a splash of yaoi. Of course, it's the yaoi that really gets these two going and it's not long before the two are "taking care of business" in front of one another. Blue quickly falls for the beefy Heydn but it's not long before trouble starts to brew for these two. Since this is a prep school and they are in their senior year, both boys are only 18. Blue is a virgin and only now figuring out through his feelings for Heydn that he might be gay. Heydn is quickly recruited for the track team and realizes that a track scholarship may be his only way to afford college. Because of this, he is reluctant to admit what he and Blue have is anything more than just two guys fooling around and with further pressure from his teammates it is not long before he tosses Blue aside. When Heydn realizes his mistake, can he put peer pressure aside and try to get Blue back or will it simply be too late?

There is a lot going on in this story; first love, betrayal, homophobia as well as unrequited love. As the story went on I found that I really couldn't predict how it would end. There were times I loved Heydn and times I really hated him. I fell in love with the character of Blue, who you realized is really a lot more fragile than he portrays and only wants the chance to fall in love and be accepted for who he is. That being said, he's not the whiney weepy weak willed uke that you may expect him to be (say that five times fast!). Although it has its sad moments it is a story with a happy ending for at least some of our characters. This story took me on an emotional rollercoaster and I'm actually sad it's over.

The book is 9"x 6" and has 257 pages of actually story. I like the cover as it has our two main characters, Blue and Heydn, illustrated and very much reminds of a yaoi title. In fact, I would actually classify this as a GloBL yaoi novel and not as gay fiction. I feel the sex scenes are written more with women in mind than men. Speaking of the sex scenes, did I mention this book is full of them? (They are horny high schoolers, after all) If you're looking for a hard yaoi novel, this is definitely it. I love the way the sex scenes are written. They're not corny; just really steamy and you can feel the lust and, at times, love just pour off the page.

So was there anything that made me raise an eyebrow? Well, it does have a few of the traditional yaoi trappings when it comes to plot. Falling in love rather quickly and having that terrible something that happened in your past that only gets revealed later and you can almost hear the violins playing. Plus, at the end of the book there is an epilogue that takes place ten years in the future. It recaps where everyone is in life and although not everyone got a perfect ending, it seemed that the success ratio of the various graduates was pretty high so that did make me chuckle a bit. However, none of these things made for a bad read; they are merely things that came to mind as I was reading the story. Sometimes it just can't be yaoi without love at first site and a happy ending, right?

If you are looking for a romantic and at times tragic love story that is sexually charged and still ends on a happy note, then you'll definitely find it in True Blue.

Plot = A
Sex Scenes = A+
Characters = A+

Overall Grade = A+

This novel is a mix of "Beverly Hills" or "Gossip Girl" fiction that meets Yaoi World; I have the feeling that the author loves both.

In a American prep school where all people seems to have a double surname, Heyden is the black sheep; it's not clear but probably his divorced parents decided that it was better for him to go to boarding school, since his mother works in Japan and doesn't have time to raise a kid. But Heyden is middle class, not even near to the old wasp wealth of his fellow schoolmates. When he first meets his future roommate he only tries hard to make a new friend.

Blue is pretty and almost feminine, and all the school thinks he is gay, but Blue has really no experience regarding sex. He prefers to spend his spare time alone in his room, watching yaoi anime on his laptop. Yes, probably Blue is gay, but he has never had the chance to be sure.

Put together two eighteen years old pretty boy with not real worries in their life, and it's quite obvious what will happen. The only thing that let me perplexed is Heyden's experience with gay sex; it would be not so important if it was only an hand job, or even a blow job, but full sex experience is something quite important that in the book is not really explained.

Anyway, Heyden and Blue get along well since they are only two half of the same halves, but when they need to interact with the rest of the school, things are not so simple. Heyden is aiming to a full scholarship for sports merit and the jocks circle is not so accepting of gay in general, and of Blue and his friend Peyton in particular. And the other hand, Peyton, who has a little crush on his friend Blue, is not so accepting that Blue is suddenly pairing with one of the same jocks they understimated only the previous year.

Heyden and Blue's relationship gives Blue the courage to finally admit who he is and what he wants, and with that he is blossoming to his newfound seductive power. The new Blue can't stay confined in their room, and Heyden is both jelaous and afraid to be pointed at as gay. Heyden and Blue draw apart, and both of them have the chance to experiment a different type of love, something that maybe could be make they reconsider what they had.

The story is a nice coming of age, in a rich man world very few people could live on. From my perspective it's unreal, but I don't doubt that somewhere in the world there are schools like this one; and then, maybe the setting is richer, but the problems are the same: the desperate needs of the misfits to be part of a group; the need of a lonely boy to be loved, doesn't matter who loves him, only that there is love; the prejudice against who is not like all the others, maybe he is more clever, maybe he is better in sport, maybe he is gay.

There is a lot of sex in this story, the type of careless sex only very young boy could do. At eighteen yeard old the concept of exclusivity is something lame, but Blue tries to be faithful to himself; his body knows who he loves even if his mind maybe in that moment is a little clouded. And then, even Heyden in his little, isn't a saint, and you have to consider that he was the first to betray Blue when he hadn't the courage to claim his love for him. But they are so young, that you can only forgive them for all, and enjoy the fairy tale ending.

Nice supporting role for Peyton, the best friend who always see things in the right way, the Jimmy cricket who no one wants to listen to since his words are too true. It's a really good character considering that he would have his reason to lie to Blue, to finally have a chance with him.

True Blue reads like the best of the yaoi fiction genre, only set in an American boarding school for wealthy boys. Yet they always come across as real and have the same troubles as the rest of us. This book deals with gay love, homophobia, being in the closet, denial and all sorts of issues, but never weighs down the story with these messages. They're just part of the lives of these young men. The romance is satisfying, the sex is hot and doesn't sound awkward at all. Overall the story is a deeply enjoyable read that any lover of gay romance or yaoi will enjoy investing their time in.

Blue Barclay liked his space and doing his own thing, when Heydn Case came knocking on his dorm room door, he just didn't disrupt Blue's solitude he made sure Blue's life would never be the same.

Heydn seemed to always be the new guy at school; attending the upper scale Acton-Pierce Academy was no different. Heydn hoped he didn't have a problem fitting in with the privileged students of the prestigious prep school, but when he met his roommate he wasn't so sure.

At first Heydn and Blue didn't know what to make of each other but despite their differences a friendship neither was expecting blossomed into so much more. Afraid to acknowledge his feelings for Blue and even more afraid to be shunned by the more popular students on campus Heydn allows fear and peer pressure to destroy what he and Blue found. When Blue turned to someone else for comfort Heydn realized he made a mistake letting Blue go.

True Blue is a wonderful ensemble story of young love, first love. Blue is an enigmatic but lovable character. With the life he's led it's amazing that he is such a sweet guy in comparison to the others in the story who are the typical spoiled rich boys. I had mixed feelings for Heydn and part of me was rooting for his rival Astor, a fellow student at Acton-Pierce who also had strong feelings for Blue, to win Blue's heart. Heydn really had a lot of redeeming to do before I found him to be worthy of Blue again. The other students of Acton-Peirce fit perfectly to make this a very well written and very enjoyable story. As I was reading True Blue I kept thinking to myself `this would make a great movie'. I even had actors for some of the roles picked out in my head. True Blue is a very enjoyable story and I'm certain others will love it as much as I do.

Ley
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed