High school is an awkward time for everyone, but Charles Stewart, the main character of Drew Ferguson’s novel, manages to cope by masturbating continuously and fantasizing about every other senior male at school. Told through Charles’s diary, the book takes the reader through the first few months of his senior year, dealing with his parents’ rocky marriage, being openly gay to his soccer teammates and dating the hottest and richest guy in school.
He finds comfort with his best friend, Neil ‘Bink’ Binkmeyer, whose family is reminiscent of the Weasley family in J. K. Rowlings’ Henry Potter series. They are numerous, quirky and a big support system for Charlie as he struggles with the pitfalls of being gay. Bink is straight but loves and protects Charlie like a brother. Bink’s mother is adorable as she stumbles around trying to find upstanding gay role models for Charlie, but ends up thinking of the most flawed. But Bink’s girlfriend Dana remains mad at Charlie for most of the book because she blames him for ruining her back-to-school party.
It’s at this same party that Charlie meets Rob Hunt, the new senior in town. He’s hot, loaded and falls head-over-heels for the tall, gangly, big-nosed and big-eared Charlie Stewart. Their open relationship creates some interesting dynamics at their high school since they go to the homecoming dance as a couple and they share a room when the soccer team travels to an out-of-town game. But as typical, the good-looking rich kid is left alone while the lesser one (Charlie, in this case) takes the brunt of his classmates’ homophobia.
Despite their differences, they become lovers with Rob teaching Charlie the joys of sex. When Rob’s mother dies, the two boys are drawn closer together, until some questions are raised about the circumstances surrounding her death.
Rob does a one-eighty on Charlie, accusing him of withholding information which he believes indicates that his mother’s death may not have been due to natural causes and his father may have been involved. Even taking into consideration a young man’s grief over the untimely demise of a mother, Rob’s extreme reactions seem a bit far-fetched especially with the brutal beating of Charlie so soon after the prom.
For the rest of the book, I hoped that Rob would come around after realizing his cruel and inhumane treatment of Charlie but I think Ferguson handled the ending well without disappointing the reader with a cop-out or a ‘happily ever after’. When Rob does come around after Charlie narrowly avoids a serious head injury during a soccer game, the damage has been done, but there is a glimmer of hope for Charlie.
I enjoyed reading Charles the Second but sometimes his attitude got a bit too sarcastic. Very, VERY sarcastic. Also his propensity to masturbate pushes the envelope when he has to ‘disappear’ for a spell during the viewing at the funeral home. Does death turn him on that much? Creepy.
Although, Charlie lacks the innocence that many of us had during high school, he is an enjoyable character. It’s his flaws that ultimately make us like him and cheer for him through his senior year.
He finds comfort with his best friend, Neil ‘Bink’ Binkmeyer, whose family is reminiscent of the Weasley family in J. K. Rowlings’ Henry Potter series. They are numerous, quirky and a big support system for Charlie as he struggles with the pitfalls of being gay. Bink is straight but loves and protects Charlie like a brother. Bink’s mother is adorable as she stumbles around trying to find upstanding gay role models for Charlie, but ends up thinking of the most flawed. But Bink’s girlfriend Dana remains mad at Charlie for most of the book because she blames him for ruining her back-to-school party.
It’s at this same party that Charlie meets Rob Hunt, the new senior in town. He’s hot, loaded and falls head-over-heels for the tall, gangly, big-nosed and big-eared Charlie Stewart. Their open relationship creates some interesting dynamics at their high school since they go to the homecoming dance as a couple and they share a room when the soccer team travels to an out-of-town game. But as typical, the good-looking rich kid is left alone while the lesser one (Charlie, in this case) takes the brunt of his classmates’ homophobia.
Despite their differences, they become lovers with Rob teaching Charlie the joys of sex. When Rob’s mother dies, the two boys are drawn closer together, until some questions are raised about the circumstances surrounding her death.
Rob does a one-eighty on Charlie, accusing him of withholding information which he believes indicates that his mother’s death may not have been due to natural causes and his father may have been involved. Even taking into consideration a young man’s grief over the untimely demise of a mother, Rob’s extreme reactions seem a bit far-fetched especially with the brutal beating of Charlie so soon after the prom.
For the rest of the book, I hoped that Rob would come around after realizing his cruel and inhumane treatment of Charlie but I think Ferguson handled the ending well without disappointing the reader with a cop-out or a ‘happily ever after’. When Rob does come around after Charlie narrowly avoids a serious head injury during a soccer game, the damage has been done, but there is a glimmer of hope for Charlie.
I enjoyed reading Charles the Second but sometimes his attitude got a bit too sarcastic. Very, VERY sarcastic. Also his propensity to masturbate pushes the envelope when he has to ‘disappear’ for a spell during the viewing at the funeral home. Does death turn him on that much? Creepy.
Although, Charlie lacks the innocence that many of us had during high school, he is an enjoyable character. It’s his flaws that ultimately make us like him and cheer for him through his senior year.
1 comment:
I absolutely LOVE this book! It was not what I expected at ALL when I bought it... it's way better than I could have ever imagined! Read it!
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