-
1 of 1 members found this review helpful.'Michael Dearest"
“Good story, rather interesting, if flawed, characters/lovers, quite disfunctional family. Michael takes his new boyfriend home to meet the family and ends up taking him to meet ALL the family when they have to go to a funeral (his great aunt). His lover, Dan, is a bit of a stereotype: military, the soft-spoken, strong, almost silent type (think of a young Gary Cooper with lots of muscles), good sense of humor, sexy, great bod, etc. He also loves Michael (at times I had to wonder WHY?!), even when Michael is unlovable, and he stays as close to his lover as he can, MOST of the time.
An amazon user wrote this on 2008-02-02.
For the middle half of the book, I wondered whether I would like Michael at all by the end of the book. He was petulant, selfish, "weak," whiney, gratuitously insulting, wouldn't assert his feelings nor accept any responsibility, abusive toward his siblings and young cousins, dismissive of his lover, in short, a real prick. He sort of compensated and apologized by the end of the story, getting away with such behaviour because of the grief he and everyone else was feeling, and, I suspect, because that was not his usual behaviour pattern.
Some sex (reasonably well integrated into the plotline) and some romance, lots of character development in Michael (and some in other characters). I'd give it about three and a half to four stars. Good read, but I wish Snyder had written it to make Michael somewhat more likable.” -
3 of 3 members found this review helpful.
Wonderful Gay Love Story !
“I loved this story! Easy to read. Smooth transitions to different subjects. Great story of the bumpy road of a gay man coming out to his family at almost the precise moment of a death in his family that affects everybody. It tells the gradual and unfolding story of how these two men in love overcome emotional problems of Michael within his family and leading up to the funeral. A very touching moment is the chapter dealing with Stephen who revealed a life long unspoken love of Michael since they were children and how that revelation also affected Michael and his relationship with his lover Dan. The book also showed the deeply flawed relationships that Michael has with his family and how Dan tries to help him overcome or at least deal with them. The characters are not perfect and the personal problems are not resolved overnight, which is more realistic. A beautiful love between Michael and Dan and a sad love between Stephen and Michael. Beautiful physical love between Dan and Michael did not disappoint either. A great read!”
An amazon user wrote this on 2006-12-09.
