Name: Charlotte Nelson 's review of One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva
Item: One Man Guy
Rating: 3
Author: Charlotte Nelson

Michael Barakiva

"When Alek's high-achieving, Armenian-American parents send him to summer school, he thinks his summer is ruined. But then he meets Ethan, who opens his world in a series of truly unexpected ways"--

One Man Guy

Charlotte Nelson 

Tiffany Robinson

I thought this was a fast read and a very sweet story.

Luka Tomasevic

Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Why bother, when their home cooking is far superior to anything "these Americans" could come up with? Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek's parents announce that he'll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshmen year of high school. He never could've predicted that he'd meet someone like Ethan. Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. When Ethan gets Alek to cut school and go to a Rufus Wainwright concert in New York City's Central Park, Alek embarks on his first adventure outside the confines of his suburban New Jersey existence. He can't believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he's barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it's time to think again. Michael Barakiva's One Man Guy is a romantic, moving, laugh-out-loud-funny story about what happens when one person cracks open your world and helps you see everything—and, most of all, yourself--like you never have before.

Beatriz Berbert De Carvalho e Silva

Its good! Really good! But a little…Meh, so i don’t think 5 stars would be a good rating.. but I do recommend it! 
Its super cute how they run away to NY but it pisses me off when they had the last fight, so yea

Ariel Himboi

I'm still fluctuation between the result but I think I will settle on a 3.5.

There was a lot to like about this book. Specifically speaking the best part of this was learning a new culture and look into the mind of a family with their own head-strong ideas of tradition, rules, religion, principals and history. We mainly focus on our MC Alek whose trying to navigate the summer after freshman year as he tries to please both his parents and figure out his feelings for a classmate. 

In the beginning, I was howling with laughter at our witty protagonist, who's a little frustrated with his family for mostly dictating his every action. This is common in some cultures, and in families in general, where a child is brought up around a family who decide that they know what is best for their child and control there every move. This isn't necessarily an awful thing to think about, and I enjoyed that Alek was able to branch out to see who he really was on his own, but it was all very cliche. 

I felt like our MC, Alek, was taken out of every book I have read. I'm not saying he wasn't terribly original, and in the beginning, I was very interested in seeing where this story went, towards the middle I felt a slack in character motivations. It felt like reading a meet-cute, which I felt it was, in the way that it was very soft. However, there wasn't far enough risk or edge to the story that kept it as interesting as it could have been.

For example, we have the best friend who's in love with their confused, questioning -turned-gay friend who gets upset when their feelings aren't returned- only for them to make up as easily as they fought. This continues to show up throughout the book, and I'm bothered by how awkward it is introduced into the plot every time. It didn't feel comical or witty, it just felt uncomfortable for her, Becky, to bring it up.

There are a lot of things to like about this book, but I often felt bored or disinterested in a lot that happened. And sometimes the writing felt off-kilter with the overly descriptive choice the author made for the narration. I felt like the author was trying to describe New York as something we've never seen before, but in all our heads we are bound to see the same thing, and it comes off as fairy-tale-ish. 

I liked the portrayal of family and love and the importance of character but I definitely didn't like how it all played out. It felt off. Not bad, or horrible, and not amazing. It was fun, harmless, cute and definitely, a summer read to me. I found myself laughing, learning and loving but it didn't leave a remarkable feeling in my chest. Instead, I felt rather perplexed as to why I didn't like it as much as I thought I should have. Maybe it was just me, the mood or maybe I didn't get a hang of the writing style, but it wasn't life-changing. However, I can say that others might like it more than I and that anyone should give it a try.

b.andherbooks

**Reviewed from a free copy received from the publisher.

Actual rating 3.5 stars

Super cute story of Alek, a 14 year old Armenian-American who's being forced into summer school by his over-bearing (and oh so loveable) parents in hopes of earning a place in his high school's honor program. Of course, most of the summer school attendees aren't of the over-achiever variety, and surfer hair Ethan is no exception. Immediately drawn to him, Alex surprisingly realizes that he wants more than friendship, and Ethan does too. Cue romantic NYC date-montage, some steamy make-outs, and of course, a parental walk-in moment. Can Alek's tradition parents accept Alek for who he really is?

Pretty fantastic handling of a boy meets boy romance. Refreshingly, Alek never had an identity crisis after discovering he likes boys. He simply rolled with it, and found a great romance. I also was pleased by the depiction of Alek's relationship with his parents. They felt like true part of the story, and acted like real parents. Their surprising (and also refreshing) handling of the entire situation was simply amazing. The exploration of Alek's Armenian heritage and the Armenian Genocide during WWI will also be enlightening to many who are unaware. Also, great descriptions of Armenian food - left me hungry. 

A great book to recommend to young teen readers; I wouldn't necessarily recommend this to adult readers of YA as it did at times feel like an after-school special and was a bit twee for my jaded self.

Charlotte Nelson &
One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva

Reviews

Join the club

Charlotte Nelson &One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva

Reviews

Join the club

Charlotte Nelson &
One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva