OK, first of all, for anyone worried after seeing the one star review- this is not really an explicit book.  It is a coming of age book, it is about a young gay man, but it is also about rock 'n roll and guitars, and love, and people, and friends.  If you are homophobic you will HATE this book, so do not get it and give it one star.  Otherwise, give it a chance, the protagonist is a charming, loveable kid who will really charm your socks off.

This story (and by that I mean the story as a whole) is slow moving.  It will appeal most to people who really appreciate good character development, get involved in the characters of the books they read, and really love an author who can create flawed characters who you still want to know.  She also includes a lot of technical information about the guitars, the music, and later on about life on the road, putting on a live show, etc.  Cool stuff.

The strength, as I said, is in the character development and in the story progression.  She is also publishing this as a web serialization, and I think it works really well there because honestly it doesn't seem like things ever really resolve.  That's OK, that's kind of real life, right?  The story is the development of sexual identity of a gay man in the 80s, from denial to closeted to partially closeted to ??.  It includes his fear of exposure, the conflicts with his family, telling his friends (not all in this book- most of that comes later).  His first AIDS test.  Heavy emotional stuff.
OK, first of all, for anyone worried after seeing the one star review- this is not really an explicit book. It is a coming of age book, it is about a young gay man, but it is also about rock 'n roll and guitars, and love, and people, and friends. If you are homophobic you will HATE this book, so do not get it and give it one star. Otherwise, give it a chance, the protagonist is a charming, loveable kid who will really charm your socks off. This story (and by that I mean the story as a whole) is slow moving. It will appeal most to people who really appreciate good character development, get involved in the characters of the books they read, and really love an author who can create flawed characters who you still want to know. She also includes a lot of technical information about the guitars, the music, and later on about life on the road, putting on a live show, etc. Cool stuff. The strength, as I said, is in the character development and in the story progression. She is also publishing this as a web serialization, and I think it works really well there because honestly it doesn't seem like things ever really resolve. That's OK, that's kind of real life, right? The story is the development of sexual identity of a gay man in the 80s, from denial to closeted to partially closeted to?? . It includes his fear of exposure, the conflicts with his family, telling his friends (not all in this book- most of that comes later). His first AIDS test. Heavy emotional stuff.