Bold Strokes Books
Published September 18, 2012
216 pages
Buy here.
A work of LGBT young adult fiction, Andy Squared tells the story of seventeen-year-old Andrew Morris as he goes through significant changes in his life after the catalytic arrival of new classmate Ryder Coltrane. Ryder, who is gay, opens up to Andrew and helps Andrew realize just what it is that he has failed to understand about himself: that he too is gay. While Andrew adjusts to this revelation and begins a relationship with Ryder, he must also deal with the challenges of his family and friends adjusting to it as well, particularly his twin sister, Andrea.
I found this to be a delightful coming-of-age and coming-out story. I love the characters (and occasionally love to hate them), and I like that many of them, not just Andrew, are so dynamic in fairly dramatic ways. Andrea, for example, goes through her own transformation of understanding her relationship with her twin after he comes out, and, as the title of the book suggests, she is as main a character as Andrew himself. I actually found the Andrew/Andrea relationship slightly more intriguing than the Andrew/Ryder one, despite Ryder being the initial cause of all the change. I think this is because Ryder seems to act mostly as a guide for Andrew, and their relationship ironically allows for Andrew an easy transition that balances the resulting conflicts in the other aspects of Andrew's life. Just as important to the story, but definitely not as painful as Andrew's relationship with Andrea.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The writing is wonderful (especially in the more physical scenes...tasteful yet steamy!), the dialogue feels genuine, and the characters and their motivations are believable. This is Lavoie's debut work, and I very much look forward to reading more by her in the future!
Rating: 4/5
Published September 18, 2012
216 pages
Buy here.
A work of LGBT young adult fiction, Andy Squared tells the story of seventeen-year-old Andrew Morris as he goes through significant changes in his life after the catalytic arrival of new classmate Ryder Coltrane. Ryder, who is gay, opens up to Andrew and helps Andrew realize just what it is that he has failed to understand about himself: that he too is gay. While Andrew adjusts to this revelation and begins a relationship with Ryder, he must also deal with the challenges of his family and friends adjusting to it as well, particularly his twin sister, Andrea.I found this to be a delightful coming-of-age and coming-out story. I love the characters (and occasionally love to hate them), and I like that many of them, not just Andrew, are so dynamic in fairly dramatic ways. Andrea, for example, goes through her own transformation of understanding her relationship with her twin after he comes out, and, as the title of the book suggests, she is as main a character as Andrew himself. I actually found the Andrew/Andrea relationship slightly more intriguing than the Andrew/Ryder one, despite Ryder being the initial cause of all the change. I think this is because Ryder seems to act mostly as a guide for Andrew, and their relationship ironically allows for Andrew an easy transition that balances the resulting conflicts in the other aspects of Andrew's life. Just as important to the story, but definitely not as painful as Andrew's relationship with Andrea.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The writing is wonderful (especially in the more physical scenes...tasteful yet steamy!), the dialogue feels genuine, and the characters and their motivations are believable. This is Lavoie's debut work, and I very much look forward to reading more by her in the future!
Rating: 4/5
Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the book and wrote an honest review. I greatly appreciate it!
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