When Love Comes To Town.

When Love Comes To Town.

Tom Lennon.

Publisher:Albert Whitman & Company.
Publication Date:March 1,2013.
Genre: YA LGBT Romance.
Format|Pages:EBook|304.
Source:Publisher|Goodreads.

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~ARC E COPY was provided by Albert Whitman & Company through Netgalley, for review purposes~

I had always enjoyed books about gay, lesbian relationship, it something different. I haven’t read many male gay relationships before. At first I wasn’t sure how much I was going like this book, mostly due to fact that first few pages started out pretty slow, and it was bit hard for me to get into story at first. When it did pick up, I found myself unable to put the book down. When Love Comes To Town ended up being one of the books that I enjoyed more than I thought I would. When Love Comes To Town was unlike any LGBT book I read before and that’s what was unique about it. I would highly recommend this book. You won’t be disappointed.

 GOODREADS SUMMARY

The year is 1990, and in his hometown of Dublin, Ireland, Neil Byrne plays rugby, keeps up with the in-crowd at his school, and is just a regular guy. A guy who's gay. It's a secret he keeps from the wider world as he explores the city at night and struggles to figure out how to reveal his real self--and to whom.

 

First published in Ireland in 1993 and compared to The Catcher in the Rye by critics, Tom Lennon's When Loves Comes to Town is told with honesty, humor, and originality.

The cover is completely stunning, how can you not want to read the book, by looking at the cover. That was one of the first things that actually captured my attention towards the book, got me curious. Cover and the title. When Love Comes To Town, first it such unique title, it seems like most romance titles are pretty simple these days, and that’s what is so unique about it. After reading the book, I saw how much both the cover and the title fit the story. The cover is pretty colorful too, type of cover that would capture reader’s attention, way it captured mine.


I always enjoyed reading books from male’s point of view. This male point of view was unlike any other novel that I read before. Unlike other male characters, Neil didn’t seem strong like male characters are, at least parts of the books. Most of all he seemed lost, like he couldn’t find a place where he belonged. Neil’s voice was powerful all way through the novel, I found myself being able to feel everything that Neil was feeling: pain, fear, anger, loneliness. There were times that I wanted to hug Neil, to say that everything was going to be okay. Neil’s emotions were all over the place in novel and they were portrayed so well, I felt like I could connect with him, even though I couldn’t begin imagine what he was going through. I was curious how his parents would react to his news, and I got say I wasn’t too happy with them, especially his father. Parents should accept, love their children no matter what. I was glad that at least he had his sister, her boyfriend and some other friends, who actually accepted him for who he was.


I loved that it took place in Dublin, in 90’s, that what was unique about this book. It was unique because it took a place, prior to Internet and I saw the different kinds of entertainment there was there, during that time. I have feeling that it must been even harder on Neil, during that to feel accepted and that’s why he was hiding, his secret. It was why he only told to the people he truly trusted. Considering how he got beat up, when someone found he was gay, I can see why he kept it hidden. That scene was scary, my heart raced while I read it, I was sure that he was going to get killed and sighed of relief when he didn’t.


 Ian & Shane: I wished that Neil had courage, to start something with Ian then Shane, to me it seemed like he was better match for him. Even if Ian didn’t say much, I could tell that he liked Neil, just by way he looked at him sometimes; they had a connection when two of them talked. Now Shane, I have nothing against, I did like him, at least in beginning, the way that he treated Neil at start I was sure that he liked him. But standing him up, then telling him that he’s too young for him, I wasn’t too sure if he cared for him, at least not the way that Neil cared for him. The way that he treated him sometimes around his friends, made me wonder if he was embarrassed by him. To me, it seemed that Neil moved bit fast from crushing to Ian to Shane.

When Love Comes To Town was original, it will make you sad, angry and even make you smile at parts. It’s a book that you won’t regret picking up.