Tigers and Devils (Tigers and Devils #1) in Queereaders

Oct 09, 2009 Nancy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: shelf-inflicted, romance, sports, gay, e-books, favorites, outlaw-reviews

Posted at Outlaw Reviews and at Shelf Inflicted

Declan Tyler is a famous, but closeted, football player. Simon Murray is a film festival director. These two very different men meet at a party that Simon is forced to attend by his best friend, Roger, and his wife, Fran. Declan and Simon hit it off instantly, but they are in for many difficult times ahead.

Because of Declan’s fame, both men have to deal with lots of media attention, which eventually casts a spotlight on Declan’s sexuality and creat ...more

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Oct 26, 2011 Stephen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook, sports, gay-jocks, gay, z-read-in-2013, 9-audiobooks-on-pc, gay-pg, gay-aussies

I read this back in 2010 shortly after it first came out and really enjoyed it. I recently found a copy in Audiobook form (It's not available on Audible in the US for some reason) I thought I'd post a review here in case anyone else might be interested, and I have included a few observations that authors considering creating audiobook versions of their own works might hopefully find useful.

First a short plot synopsis...
Simon Murray is an out and proud gay man and the director of an Australian in I read this back in 2010 shortly after it first came out and really enjoyed it. I recently found a copy in Audiobook form (It's not available on Audible in the US for some reason) I thought I'd post a review here in case anyone else might be interested, and I have included a few observations that authors considering creating audiobook versions of their own works might hopefully find useful.

First a short plot synopsis...
Simon Murray is an out and proud gay man and the director of an Australian independent film festival in Melbourne. But the thing he's proudest of (and most ashamed of) is that he's an avid lifelong Richmond Tigers supporter. (Australian Rules Football for us non-Aussies) When he meets superstar footballer Declan Tyler at a party, the two are smitten with each other (despite Declan's playing for the rival Tasmanian Devils) and despite Simon's being a bit of a surly misanthrope.

The two main characters are well-written, likable guys who just happen to be gay. But as with most guys, when it comes to talking about emotions you sometimes just want to smack them. Both of them have good friends who are supportive and caring, and just the kind of people you'd like to have in your life as well.

But the life of a sports celebrity, particularly one who's breaking new ground is not always easy. A good deal of this book deals with the problems surrounding what happens when a sports star comes out under the scrutiny of the media and the paparazzi. Adding to the appeal of this story for me is the novelty of the language. The book's set in Melbourne Australia and the footy language and the antipodean variations on the Queen's English were at times entertaining and at other times a bit thick for this Midwestern Yank to understand.

The first gay novel I ever read was The Front Runner and since both deal with the hyper-masculine worlds created around sports, there are some similarities. But many years have passed between the two and it's good to see the kind of progress we've made.

This story is probably not for everyone as the sports aspects and the closeted celebrity aspects do take up a good deal of the book's focus but this is at heart a romance and a good one.
It's also much more than just an excuse for the few relatively tame sex scenes that are mild enough that no one should feel uncomfortable reading them. It's even educational on some level... This Yank had never heard of the pencil-nosed Aussie Children's TV character Mr. Squiggle until a barman in the book suggested he'd take a blowjob from him.

I loved it.

Listening to the audiobook version of this as narrated by Paul Morey was a bit of a letdown. Morey does an OK job with the narration and clearly differentiates the two main character voices but this audiobook could have really benefitted from having an Aussie narrator. The Aussie accent is so distinctive and is such a part of the ambiance that I associate with Australia, that hearing a book that is this enmeshed in all things Aussie read by anyone else meant settling for something less. Hearing arse-hole frequently malpronounced was nettling. I'd not say that it was mispronounced but it sounded oddly "wrong" every time I heard it. Also, the deeper stoic voice that he uses for footballer Declan seemed a bit too sedate and not always reflective of what my inner voice thought the lines should sound like.

This re-read also allowed me to re-evaluate just how much my attitudes about the closet had changed. Given that the story is a tale about the romance between a nationally renowned sports star and an openly gay man, this book deals a lot with being closeted and the sacrifices forced upon those in the closet. Being openly gay in professional sports has come a long way in the last decade.

Also, the audiobook adaptation somewhat mishandles a series of news clippings that were better handled in the text version.
Ending on a high note...
It was still laugh-out-loud funny when hearing about how Simon's own mom thinks his boyfriend's out of his league. By all means, I'd recommend the tale, although I think it might be better to read it than to listen to it. ...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Kelly (Maybedog) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: how-hardcopy, what-male-protagonist, what-lgbtqia, where-grr-mine, what-mm-read, why-favorite-mm, what-mm

Beautiful book, just like everyone said. I hate sports books and I missed a little because I had no idea what they were talking about, but this is a love story and the sports stuff is secondary. This was very well written, the first page very literary. I don't like how it started in that it was slow and about stuff before the main story, but the whole thing was so good, I completely forgot almost right away.

Happy ending? (view spoiler) ...more

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Feb 07, 2019 Josh rated it really liked it

Shelves: gay-lesbian, read-in-2019

When I bought this book a number of years ago at a large used book sale, I had no idea that it was the first book in a series. I just thought it sounded interesting and different. I also didn't realize that it was from Australia which I just figured out this year when I finally plucked it off my bookshelf to read. I was able to get all the Australian slang and cultural references, so that shouldn't be a reason not to read this book. For me, I wasn't ready to read this novel until now; it's pull ...more

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Aug 17, 2011 LD Durham rated it liked it

Shelves: gay-fiction

This was a good book, but it went on a little too long. The oomph was lost and I ended up wandering away for over a week, forgetting that I was reading it. But I enjoyed the main characters (the side characters got a bit annoying and interchangeable), the setting, and the situation.

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