Why I bought the book: This is a recent acquisition and I think I got it because it sounded a cute read. Plus I generally like Chris Owen's books.Plot: The story is a gentle meandering tale of three boys who become friends at school. One, Tal, is very definitely straight, one, Silas, very definitely gay and the third, Warren, just not interested in anything other than his studies. The story follows the boys through their years together and finishes during their final year of College. There's romance but it's a very gradual one which takes an unusual angle. Often in m/m books there's attraction, lust and finally love. In Prove It, the love comes first: firstly the love of strongly bonded male friendship and then much more as Silas comes to realise he's in love with Warren and sets out to prove his love. I liked this approach and it made the book one of the more effective friends to lovers stories that I've read.
Characters: Although the romance aspect is strong, especially towards the end, the fun of this story for me is in the relationships between the three friends. They all have very distinct personalities and yet complement each other completely. There's lots of banter and joking around, but also some serious discussions. Another plus for me was in the strong supporting female characters, especially Warren's mother and Tal's girlfriend, Olivia. These women are a real showcase as to how to get a female character right in an m/m book. Both are positive and affirming but also willing to offer advice without every crossing that line into interfering. There's a warm humour which infuses the story, mostly in the characters of Silas and Tal whose quick wit and vivacious personalities bring out the fun in the very serious Warren. I really liked these guys.
Overall: The way that the story is quite slow moving and mostly character based may not appeal to everyone, but I was charmed by the story and the characters. It was one of those books that caught me quickly and I was so engrossed I didn't notice the time passing. There's a realism in the way the characters behave and it's just as much a coming of age story, especially for Warren, as it is a romance. In fact the only niggle I had was that I wished the story had been a little longer. There's a satisfying epilogue, but the romantic relationship between Warren and Silas is only really getting going when the book ends and I wanted more! I get the feeling I'll be reading this book again when I'm in the mood for reading something that makes me smile and which reminds me how good m/m romance can be. Grade: Excellent.
Buy this book HERE.
That's a good point. I did really like Olivia. She was great and it was nice to have a girl who didn't freak out because her boyfriend had gay friends, or as you said try to interfere.
ReplyDeleteSlow would be accurate but I did enjoy getting to know the kids as youngsters, it did flesh out their personalities more. I enjoyed it as well.
*adds to "must-read" list*
ReplyDeleteTam: I'm glad you liked it too, Tam. It's a steady read but I liked that about it. It was a nice change of pace from all the fast paced, slightly angsty books I seem to have been reading recently.
ReplyDeleteChris: I'm glad I've persuaded you! Some of the GRs reviewers haven't liked that quite a lot of the focus of the book has been on the friendship between the boys/men but I really liked that about it.
Oh, I do like the sound of this. And it's the friendship angle that has me the most interested :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I so hear you on the wanting more :)