From the Bookshelf of Baltimore County Public Library Summer Reading BCPL SRC …

With or Without You

Brian Farrey

Start date: July 9, 2012

Finish date: July 9, 2012

Why we're reading this: again, this is another book that caught my attention from the stonewall awards. but unlike A + E 4ever, t…more
[close] again, this is another book that caught my attention from the stonewall awards. but unlike A + E 4ever, this one was not all that great.

EVAN is the main character in this story. he just graduated high school and has his sights set on leaving with his best friend DAVIS. but evan also promised his secret boyfriend ERIK that he'd move away with him. you'd think that's where the plot would thicken but it actually thins out. evan was such an annoying character that i could not get into his story. i was more involved with davis' and erik's side stories and trying to imagine how they were feeling. i liked every single character better than evan. but seeing as he's the main character, the novel just does nothing for me.

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Jan 26, 2012 Doug Beatty rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen

I did enjoy this book. I will try to post the review with little spoilers because there are some major plot points that need to be kept hidden, so that they will surprise the reader when they get to them.

This is the story of Evan Weiss, who has an interesting "friendship" with a childhood boy named Davis. They go to high school together, are both gay, and have the unfortunate condition of getting beaten up by the local high school jocks. Evan's home life is interesting, he has a sister who is co I did enjoy this book. I will try to post the review with little spoilers because there are some major plot points that need to be kept hidden, so that they will surprise the reader when they get to them.

This is the story of Evan Weiss, who has an interesting "friendship" with a childhood boy named Davis. They go to high school together, are both gay, and have the unfortunate condition of getting beaten up by the local high school jocks. Evan's home life is interesting, he has a sister who is constantly praised and talked about and his parents remain indifferent to him. This really is not explored in the novel, and Evan's parents are not clearly defined, so it is hard to imagine the reason for their feelings. They live above their parents grocery store. Davis has a distant father and his mother has been taken into psychiatric care. Davis has what Evan calls "Boing" moments, that appear to be manic episodes, followed by depression, but that is never clearly stated. Evan feels that he must protect Davis and help him get out of Madiscon Wisconsin, and they plan to move to Chicago together. Plans chagne when Evan meets Erik, a college nursing student who is also a volleyball player and a sculptor. (though I like Erik as a character, he is really too good to be true. He could have been toned down just a take to make him a bit more realistic.) Evan is terrified to let Erik know about his parents, his sister, Davis, so basically shuts Erik entirely out of his life until Erik becomes more persistent. Davis on the other hand begins to make new "friends" and starts to go down another path entirely and this puts Evan in the middle and leads you to the major plotline of the novel.

I do like Evan, but I find that in many cases, teen novels fall into the "I am unsure of who to tell about my problems so I am not going to tell anyone and fix them myself." I unserstand that some teens may use this strategy but it seems like it is almost a constant in novels as of late, and you want to smack the main character and get them to open up. Here, Evan has had a boyfriend for a year, and refuses to tell him anything. He refuses to talk to the woman who runs the gay and lesbian youth center. I would think you would open up to someone, but alas, no. And some of his decisions are unfortunate, and you really see this weakness of character, that makes you like him a little bit less than you once did. At least that was the case for me. There was also the case of something happening that goes unpunished that left a sour taste in my mouth after reading the novel.

I do like the descriptions of the characters and Evan's growth as an artist. I also like the character of Erik, and even his sister Shan becomes a little more realistic when she arrives on the scene. And there is a sense of catharsis for Evan, so there is emotional movement in the novel. And it does tackle issues that young people need to know about , so I will give it that.

All in all a good read. Defnitely for an older teen, though, as some of the content is pretty serious. ...more

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Nov 03, 2011 Zeke rated it liked it

Shelves: glbtq, ya

Jul 06, 2012 Kaitlyn Pfister rated it really liked it

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