Tim O’Leary joined us in April this year. Listen to his interview here! Episode 055: Five Stars Are Better
REVIEW
A short (20 pages) and funny book about practising safe sex, aimed at LGBTQA teens. Featuring a story within a story, about Adrian and Jesse, friends who fancy each other but haven’t had the opportunity to even kiss, let alone make out or do any more. Then Adrian’s mother has to go away for the night, and the perfect opportunity presents itself.
The awkwardness of a first sexual encounter, between two friends and fellow gamers, is hilariously yet sensitively told via their avatars, fighting the One Eyed Snake (stay with it…) with sheathed swords (safer, but just as fun….) There’s a lot of frat boy humour, yet the language isn’t too crude, just boys being boys. It doesn’t seem patronising, or too simplistic, just a fun read (even if you’re not a gamer) with a serious message which it doesn’t try to ram down the reader’s throat.
Not everyone has liked the story within the story, but I did because it saved the excruciating embarrassment that some (most?) teens feel when launching into sex for the first time. I’d recommend this book to any LGBTQA teen with a sense of humour, especially if they have an elven fetish.
