David, is a shy bookish high school junior with no friends in school and a college professor father that is still riding him about grades even after his last straight A report card.
Connor is a senior with a crazy look about him and a scar that he's rumored to have gotten while trying to kill his father.
When Connor intercedes on David's behalf when David is being taunted and called a "faggot" by Chuck, a heavyset junior with a chip on his shoulder, David's not sure if he's escaped a tormentor or merely traded up to a deluxe model.
While David can use all the friends that he can get will Connor reconsider that friendship when David levels with him that he really is gay?
When David comes clean and Connor not only approves but kisses him, an unlikely partnership is born. Can the two together weather the bullying of classmates and employers and deal with hefty family issues as well?
You'll have to read the book to see.
In today's culture "Kamikaze" is associated with suicidal but in the original Japanese it translated to Divine Wind. The one that saved the outmatched Japanese from the Chinese Invasion. If this story can save a couple outmatched kids from bullying and other associated pressures, perhaps it should be called a divine story.
Regardless, both characters are instantly likeable and the book has a cinematic feel which suggests that it would make a good movie as another reviewer mentioned.
Personally, I liked the trailer park aspect of the book. More people live in them than we see represented in literature and placing Connor in one helped establish his character for me better than any overly long descriptions might have.
Also I liked the surreptitious nod to Mercedes Lackey in the opening scene and to Stephen King later but was unable to figure out what the third bookish reference was.
I was charmed to see that while David was the more bookishly smart of the two protagonists, Connor was the more worldly and it was endearing & sweetly romantic to see the "sadder but wiser" Conner taking care of David's first times and making sure that their firsts were as good for him as they could be. In a way Connor was taking care of us too... Their first "all the way" sex scene is so well written and romantic and even a bit new. (If that's still possible)
Lest you think that this book is so sweet that it should carry a diabetic warning, be aware that there are some darker parts as well. There is a parental betrayal that I found hard to believe and impossible to forgive and with the involvement of the legal system the book takes on a whole new tenor. But in the end this a romance and..
Connor is a senior with a crazy look about him and a scar that he's rumored to have gotten while trying to kill his father.
When Connor intercedes on David's behalf when David is being taunted and called a "faggot" by Chuck, a heavyset junior with a chip on his shoulder, David's not sure if he's escaped a tormentor or merely traded up to a deluxe model.
While David can use all the friends that he can get will Connor reconsider that friendship when David levels with him that he really is gay?
When David comes clean and Connor not only approves but kisses him, an unlikely partnership is born. Can the two together weather the bullying of classmates and employers and deal with hefty family issues as well?
You'll have to read the book to see.
In today's culture "Kamikaze" is associated with suicidal but in the original Japanese it translated to Divine Wind. The one that saved the outmatched Japanese from the Chinese Invasion. If this story can save a couple outmatched kids from bullying and other associated pressures, perhaps it should be called a divine story.
Regardless, both characters are instantly likeable and the book has a cinematic feel which suggests that it would make a good movie as another reviewer mentioned.
Personally, I liked the trailer park aspect of the book. More people live in them than we see represented in literature and placing Connor in one helped establish his character for me better than any overly long descriptions might have.
Also I liked the surreptitious nod to Mercedes Lackey in the opening scene and to Stephen King later but was unable to figure out what the third bookish reference was.
I was charmed to see that while David was the more bookishly smart of the two protagonists, Connor was the more worldly and it was endearing & sweetly romantic to see the "sadder but wiser" Conner taking care of David's first times and making sure that their firsts were as good for him as they could be. In a way Connor was taking care of us too... Their first "all the way" sex scene is so well written and romantic and even a bit new. (If that's still possible)
Lest you think that this book is so sweet that it should carry a diabetic warning, be aware that there are some darker parts as well. There is a parental betrayal that I found hard to believe and impossible to forgive and with the involvement of the legal system the book takes on a whole new tenor. But in the end this a romance and..
