Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  Poz

SERIES:  The Lives of Remy and Michael #1

AUTHOR:  Christopher Koehler

PUBLISHER:  Harmony Ink Press

LENGTH:  200 pages

BLURB:  

Remy Babcock and Mikey Castelreigh are stalwart members of the Capital City Rowing Club’s junior crew, pulling their hardest to earn scholarships to rowing powerhouses like California Pacific. Just a couple of all-American boys, they face the usual pressures of life in an academic hothouse and playing a varsity sport. Add to that the stifling confines of the closet, and sometimes life isn’t always easy, even in the golden bubble of their accepting community. Because Remy and Mikey have a secret: they’re both gay. While Mikey has never hidden it, Remy is a parka and a pair of mittens away from Narnia.

Mikey has always been open about wanting more than friendship, but Remy is as uncomfortable in his own skin as he is a demon on the water. After their signals cross, and a man mistakes Remy for a college student, Remy takes the plunge and hooks up with him. After a furious Mikey cuts Remy off, Remy falls to the pressure of teenage life, wanting to be more and needing it now. In his innocence and naiveté, Remy makes mistakes that have life-long consequences. When Remy falls in the midst of the most important regatta of his life, he can only hope Mikey will be there to catch him when he needs it most.

REVIEW:  

Oddly enough, I had just finished a book by Christopher Koehler, and was bemoaning the fact that I didn’t have any new books of his to read, when I saw this book pop up on our giant list of books that should/could/can be read. So good timing that. 😀

This book is basically about Remy figuring his shit out and growing up–the hard way. He is no stranger to hard work–because even reading about all the stuff he has to do for crew makes me exhausted–but like most teenagers he is a bit self-centered. All those hormones…they really do make you a bit stupid. So when his advances on his friend Mikey get shot down he goes a bit off the rails. Ok, mainly he just figures he might as well be getting laid somewhere if Mikey does not want him. Not exactly a new concept in teenagerhood, but one that he seems to embrace with reckless abandon. Emphasis on the reckless. But despite feeling invulnerable, Remy sets himself up for some pretty big consequences, and even if he can get his shit together there is every chance it might not be enough.

The fact that I kinda adore Koehler’s rowing books won me over into reading this, despite the fact that it is YA. Though where I grew up isn’t far from Sacramento, there was not a whole lot of rowing going on–and even if there was I would hardly be a prime candidate–but there is something about the sport that I find intriguing. That may or may not have to do with all the hot fit men in constant risk of getting all wet. Anyways…I really like reading about rowing, and I love reading about the area I grew up in.

Especially the Davis-bashing. I don’t know if anyone who didn’t grow up in the area will get nearly as much joy as I did from this book because of this, but it is practically a requirement of living around here. Especially in my hometown. Even if you love the town you are kind obligated to point out how ridiculous it is sometimes. And if I had a dime for everytime I almost died because some biker thought he was king of the world…

Er…I guess that is neither here nor there right now.

I never really felt the romance between Mikey and Remy…mostly because I don’t think that his book was really about them as a couple. I mean, Mikey was gone from the scene for a good portion of the story, so it’s hard to feel something for someone you hardly know. But at the heart, this was more about Remy (who is in like with Mikey, yes) but who is mostly just trying to figure life out. Sometimes really really badly–but at least he is trying, right?  The scenes with the two guys were really cute, and there were some definite sparks there, but because of the way the story is handled, those sparks are not given a lot of time to grow to full force. Which probably makes sense for these guys, right now, but I would have loved to have a bit more love going on between these two.

The story, and all the facts and research behind it, was interesting. I don’t know all that much about the details of HIV, but I like how the information was given here. There were a few times where it felt like info dumping, but it always make sense to the scene, and it never went on for too long. I only felt as much lectured-to as Remy did, which was good. And since this book is geared towards a younger audience, I think intent behind this was very good.

There were parts where I kinda wanted to start banging heads together, but that is pretty common for me. I have a very short limit for stupidity–mostly because a lot of the things Remy does in this book, I have myself done, and know just how monumentally idiotic it is–but I do recognise that most teenagers are idiots whenever hormones get thrown into the mix. Which is like 90% of the time. I just don’t normally have the patience to read about it. However the way it written, intercut with rowing and just normal everyday stuff, made it a bit easier to bear.

I’m kinda at an impasse when it comes to the rating of this book. Personally it was something like 4 stars, but I think that for the target audience (teenagers) it would be closer to 4.5 stars. So I’m going to go with 4.25 stars (even though we don’t really have a graphic for that) just because I can’t make up my bloody mind. Plus, I have every intention of reading the rest of this series when it get written, so I can’t say I really disliked it all that much.

RATING:(more like 4.25 stars)

BUY LINKS:

Harmony Ink

Amazon  

Amazon.UK  

ARe