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Desert Sons (Desert Sons #1)

by Mark Kendrick (Goodreads Author)

3.89 of 5 stars 3.89 · rating details · 491 ratings · 40 reviews

A coming-of-age novel for gay males ages 15-30.

Scott Faraday is 16, gregarious, talented, never been in a relationship, and is out to only a select few. Ryan St. Charles is 17, hot-tempered, has already has been in a long relationship, yet is barely out to himself. Behind Ryan's carefully fashioned façade is emotional scarring from a past he's never been able to reconcile

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Paperback, 340 pages

Published July 3rd 2001 by iUniverse (first published June 1st 2001)

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The Curtis Reincarnation by Zathyn Priest

M/M Books Written By Men

19th out of 570 books — 344 voters

Maybe With a Chance of Certainty by John Goode

Best Gay Romance Featuring Characters Attending High School/College

59th out of 313 books — 503 voters

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Jun 22, 2010 J.J. Levesque rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, books-to-read-over-and-over, favorites

This is hands down one of my favorite books of all time. I discovered it in college one day while hiding in the stacks, and fell in love. I have read it numerous times, and though some of the things are dated (cassette tapes instead of CDs) it is a wonderful book that never fails to draw me in and tug at my heart. Even though I have parts of the book memorized from reading it so often, the characters feel so real that while reading it, I have to check the end of the book to make sure it still en...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Elisa Ramblings added it · review of another edition

Desert Sons and its author Mark Kendrick are probably among the first examples of “not tragic” coming of age gay love story. Not so many years ago, less than 5, it was almost impossible to find a love story among gay teens without any drama happening in it, and most of the time, one or both main characters didn’t arrive to the end of the novel. Yes, I know, I’m maybe a little dramatic, but trust me, especially in the print books world the situation was not really far from what I described. That...more Desert Sons and its author Mark Kendrick are probably among the first examples of “not tragic” coming of age gay love story. Not so many years ago, less than 5, it was almost impossible to find a love story among gay teens without any drama happening in it, and most of the time, one or both main characters didn’t arrive to the end of the novel. Yes, I know, I’m maybe a little dramatic, but trust me, especially in the print books world the situation was not really far from what I described. That is the reason why I mostly stuck to ebooks, it was strange, but in the ebooks world things went different, and the happily ever after was possible.

Maybe due to my “bad” past experiences, I didn’t read sooner Desert Sons by Mark Kendrick, even if this is one of those covers that came often to my notice, and not since it is pretty; Mark Kendrick’s romance novels were among the few you could find in the Gay Fiction department in bookstores, and when you browsed the net, most often than not they came out atop of the search. Other than being mostly tragic, at the time it was also pretty common to have stories about teenagers, don’t know why, maybe since many authors had a not easy period at that same age and they really felt the matter was important.

What I immediately noticed about Desert Sons is that these two teenagers are… teenagers! They are not little men with a teenager body but an adult mind, they are two horny guys who mostly want to experience, and if in the meantime they also find love, well, even better. Truth be told, this is a better description for Scott, Ryan, poor guy, has not an easy life, and he is scared by everything, and being gay is one big secret more that he doesn’t want to reveal, I think since he is afraid that would be another reason for people to shun him. Ryan has not a steady family, he tragically lost his parents and his brother and grandmother are not enough for him to feel safe. He clings to every adult figure he meets, with or without sexual interest: that is the reason why he is friend with Frank, a married man who he sees as the only counsellor he can trust, and why he started an abusive relationship with Crawford, an older guy, 28 years old.

When things got awry, Ryan’s grandmother sends him living with his uncle Howard in the Desert. Here Ryan meets Scott, another gay teenager, even if at the beginning they don’t know about each other; Ryan thinks his entire problem derive from him being gay, and he doesn’t want to act upon it no more. But Scott has other ideas, above all since, as I said, he is gay in a place where there are no other boys like him, and when he meets Ryan it’s like the manna from the sky; it doesn’t hurt that Ryan is cute, but basically Scott wants so much a boyfriend that he would take everyone, and sincerely, at the beginning, I had the felling he didn’t like so much Ryan as a friend, but as a boyfriend he could do.

Now, joke aside, I wanted to highlight as this novel really pointed out how these two boys, 16 and 17 years old, are still young, and unsure, and with the whole life in front of them to make mistake; you cannot pretend from them to be comfortable with their own life, they need time to take they own decision, and yes, maybe even take them wrong. But, thumbs up to Mark Kendrick, at least he gave them the chance to do that, and also to learn from their mistake.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0595191304/?...(less)

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Feb 05, 2013 Tom rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: glbt

Protagonists Scott and Ryan could hardly be poster boys for the "It Gets Better" campaign. Their lives in the California desert already are a lot better than the circumstances faced by most American gay teens. They are yuppies with plenty of spending money, they are popular with their peers, and each is athletic and exceedingly handsome. Yes, they are closeted, sort of, but they have family members who are supportive and teen pals who mostly don't care whether someone is gay. One aspect of the p...more

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Jun 22, 2010 Duane rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a very complex love story about two young men who are both coming to terms with their own mental demons. Scott, 16, is trying to figure out how he can go to college for music while his parents demand a much more stable business career. Ryan is finding himself in a new town after being thrown out of his grandmother's place. Ryan struggles from losing his parents and being in a abusive relationship with an older man. Scott & Ryan find themselves thrown together and slowly realize that...more

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May 27, 2011 Mark rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: nsfw-book-club

This book was awful. If it weren't for the book club, there's no way I would have finished it.

One of the questions I posed at our meeting was 'What would you say is the central conflict driving the story?' Most members struggled to come up with an answer!

The basic plot of the book is Scott lives in a small town and is gay and then this new kid Ryan moves to the town and might also be gay (spoiler: it turns out he is gay). But Ryan doesn't want to admit it. Oh and also Ryan had a crappy relation...more

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May 01, 2011 Vladimir rated it 3 of 5 stars

For the downside, in some ways, the book was a little bit fairytale-ish for me. For instance, both characters, Scott and Ryan were instantly attracted to each other the moment they met. They started out mutually liking one another. I guess it was inevitable given that they were both gay and attractive, which was another thing I found hard to believe. Ryan's very smart for his age, being a budding engineer and having a gift for fixing cars. Scott is equally talented with a gift for music, a love...more
For the downside, in some ways, the book was a little bit fairytale-ish for me. For instance, both characters, Scott and Ryan were instantly attracted to each other the moment they met. They started out mutually liking one another. I guess it was inevitable given that they were both gay and attractive, which was another thing I found hard to believe. Ryan's very smart for his age, being a budding engineer and having a gift for fixing cars. Scott is equally talented with a gift for music, a love for rapelling, a wicked hand for frisbee and a very healthy sense of humor. I thought that they were too "like-able" at the very least.

There were also parts that I got a little lost with because of the shifting POV even if the book was written using the 3rd person's perspective. The transitions from one character's thoughts to another were sometimes abrupt, giving me the feeling that the author didn't want to focus on that particular situation very much.

Readers could also see that the author had a love for travel and adventure since almost all the places that the main characters went to were given very much detail ranging from the carpeting used in certain houses up to the type of shrubbery that grew from the forest near Muh's house.

On the upside, while Scott and Ryan were both very handsome and talented, they were each given a set of flaws. Though Ryan was smart and attractive, he had lots of emotional issues from the death of his parents which caused him to make bad judgements when it comes to developing relationships with people. While Scott was good natured and fairly mature for his age, he was a bit self-absorbed and had a hard time understanding people when they don't follow his way of thinking. A major flaw that both characters shared was their lack of wisdom ever present in most teenagers. That's what made it very realistic for me.

"Do you love me?"
"How could you love me?"
"Quit trying to figure it out!" Scott reached behind his head, picked up his pillow, and hit him with it. Hard.
Ryan pushed the pillow back and turned away from him. "It doesn't make any sense after what I did to you last
night."
"Idiot. It's because of last night."
Ryan faced him again. Scott's head lay on the pillow at Ryan's side. His eyes darted back and forth to both of
Ryan's. "Every time I look at you. Every time you touch me. Last night, when I hugged you before I fell asleep.
Just a minute ago when I kissed you.... It's this funny feeling I have, like we're supposed to be together."

Unlike other "coming of age" novels that portray characters as having a deep perspective in life that just seems quite unbelievable for teenagers, this book portrayed its main protagonist as naive with confusion rousing from their minds whenever faced with situations they never dealt with before especially in the case of Scott when he had to deal with Ryan's suicidal tendencies and his initial denial about being gay. They were both reckless, short tempered, said things out of impulse and handled situations like normal a teenager would. The character development became very endearing because of this, allowing Scott to seek advise from parental figures like his Aunt Cin, his brother Steve and his friend Frank, which ultimately allowed him to understand Ryan better. Ryan in return was able to deal with his grief and found a healthy emotional support through Scott that finally made him realize that not all the people he loved would leave him.

Having the book written in "Teenage speak" is, I think, the author's way of exploring adult issues in a true teenager's perspective, which I appreaciated. The last paragraph was perhaps, my favorite, because it was so vivid I could almost feel I was there.

Muh said good-bye for the thirty-ninth time and waved at them as Scott turned the Jeep around and headed down to the end of the drive. He stopped and hesitated longer than seemed necessary. Ryan gave him a questioning look since there were no cars coming in either direction. Scott opened the glove box and pulled out the 5x7 photo that he had put there earlier. He looked at it briefly then at Ryan sitting next to him. He shut the glove box, reached out to take Ryan's cap off him, and stuck it on his own head. Grinning, he stuck the photo above his visor, adjusting it so that he could just see Ryan's face looking out at him. He shifted into first, pulled out onto the road, and headed south.

In the end, I think the author wanted to send his readers the simple message that "You either eat life or life eats you" and that sometimes life is about the journey and not the destination. I truly feel this book is in need of a sequel, don't you think?(less)

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May 22, 2009 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book and it's follow up have got to be two of my favorite books of all time! Mark Kendrick has the ability to draw you into these characters from the first page and doesn't let you go until the end. Even then he leaves you wanting more. These are characters that a reader feels like they know. WIthouth your knowledge you become so invested in these boys story, it is almost as if you are experiencing every turn they take throughout the book.

The writing is top-notch, without taking itself too...more

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May 26, 2012 Mandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

I personally think it's a good book so far. Some of the stuff is a bit random and crazy like when they just suddenly pull off the interstate but I like it. I just wish it focused more on the emotional side of the relationship than the sexual side. I don't really like how they have sex every time they see each other and the author doesn't go into more detail about the making out and foreplay beforehand. Besides all that though, I started reading and was hooked from page one. I love the character...more

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Dec 06, 2009 Griffbluedog rated it 1 of 5 stars

I'm embarrassed to admit that I read this pathetically written "account" of teen horniness. Can I take it back? Not that I have anything against the intensity of carnal desire in the teen years, it's just that some measure of articulate and engaging storytelling would have been appreciated. What the reader gets instead is rather badly written erotica--isn't that the definition of pornography? No, because pornography is supposed to be arousing. Left me completely cold.

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Aug 19, 2012 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book up until the last 1/4. I don't know what happened but I felt like the author turned this cute coming of age book about two teenage boys into a travel guide for Northern California. Page after page of description of the trees and the fog and I felt like Ryan and Scott got lost in there somewhere. I flew through the first half of this book and then struggled through the last 1/4. I'll read the sequel, however, and hope the author has returned to form.

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Jun 03, 2012 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book. The two main characters and their stories were very genuine. To me, the story dragged just a bit in the middle, we had this build up, we had an idea of what was coming toward the end, but the action in between seemed a bit too much for a bit too long. The author does a great job in dealing with some delicate issues (not saying any more, read it).

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Oct 02, 2012 Anita Rivera rated it 2 of 5 stars

Decent story... Decent characters... BUt I felt like it was horribly written. It needs to go through the grinder when it comes to editing. Not a lot of useless paragraphs but holy spelling errors. It felt like it was written by a Freshman in high school during creative writing.

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Nov 11, 2010 Jessie Blackwood rated it 5 of 5 stars

a very good read at the moment. Its keeping my interest and I am liking the main characters. You can tell, subtly, that this is written by a man, or a woman who writes very convincingly. I find it intensely interesting to compare those books I know are written by women to this one. There is a difference in texture to the tale, a difference in outlook somehow.

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Jun 20, 2010 Marvin Bernardo rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this as a young teen, and it was a fantastic read from what i remember from it. I put the book down with satisfaction for the story, it never felt contrite. I haven't read the book since then, but i recommend the book to most young readers.

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Apr 26, 2010 DarkHeart "Vehngeance" rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: m-m, young-adult, 2010

3.5 Stars

I really wanted to like this book more than I ultimately did. Scott and Ryan both initially seemed like quite interesting characters, but I didn't feel there was enough development of them for my liking. To be honest, I ended up not liking Scott a lot of the time as I felt his attraction to Ryan was purely superficial and sexual and he had no real interest in getting to know Ryan and the demons that plagued him. I also felt the sexual content was a bit excessive and overshadowed the sto...more

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May 21, 2013 ELoisa R rated it 3 of 5 stars

Le quise pegar a Ryan muchas veces por ser taaan denso...y Scott era demasiado despistado en algunas partes...pero fue entretenido y me gusto la personalidad aventurera y el amor por la naturaleza de Scott

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Jan 03, 2011 John rated it 5 of 5 stars

I thought this was a great read! It was more focused on character development than anything else. I enjoyed the internal conflicts of the characters, and the trials of forming a relationship.

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Jan 20, 2013 Kade Boehme rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of my all time favorites :) Read it back when I was 17 and have read it a dozen times since. Guess you could say it was my gateway drug to my full on M/M addiction.

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Sep 18, 2011 Indie Reviews rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: indie-reviews, favorites, fiction, lgbt, young-adult

My review of Desert Sons and its sequel Into This World We're Thrown can be found at Indie Reviews.

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Mar 30, 2013 Kristofer rated it 1 of 5 stars

One of the worst books I've ever read. Painfully slow and boring. I would put the writing style close to TJ Klunes... Slow and boring.

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Mar 03, 2013 Charneen rated it 5 of 5 stars

a look at what it meant to be gay when AIDS was first coming into play. how kids reacted to being gay and what they went through.

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May 26, 2012 KR rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one I re-read annually. I love how the author deals with coming out, depression, and young love. The situations are realistic.

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Dec 19, 2011 Jen Wilson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love this book and cannot wait to read "Into This World We're Thrown". Scott and Ryan crack me up but my heart goes out to Ryan. Great Book!

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Dec 20, 2011 Renee rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: nsfw-book-club

New Subgenres in Fiction Workshop book club selection.

This was just so difficult to read. The author spent way too much time explaining insignificant details such as driveways, tents, and door entrances. Not necessary! The story was okay but needed to be about 200 pages shorter.

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Jun 09, 2011 Lola rated it 4 of 5 stars

uhhh...it's alright. I don't really like any of the characters but......read it anyway....

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Aug 17, 2009 Ferdinand Gonzalez rated it 5 of 5 stars

is an amazing book, its romatic and funny. about to boys coming out and there journy to love

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Feb 02, 2013 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Love this book. Read it with the one direction album on loop. Lol

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Aug 21, 2012 Christina Wilder marked it as to-read

Shelves: glbt

Holy shit, this cover. (STARES)

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Jul 13, 2011 Katelin rated it 4 of 5 stars

An amazing book following the struggle of Scott and Ryan. I loved seeing how they over came the problems thrown at them, even when things got tough, they stuck together.

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May 03, 2011 Sandy Malone rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: mm-romance, mm-butt-virgins, series-books, read-2011, my-favorites-2011

Loved this book!

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About Mark Kendrick

(Mark Ian Kendrick)

I wish I could say I come from a long line of creative types, that creative endeavors were encouraged, that creativity was a hallmark of my family. Alas, I'm the outcast... and DAMN proud of it.

In fact, I'm the only gay member of my family on both sides for generations. I know. I did our family's genealogy on computer a decade ago just to find the others. No gays. No painters....more

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Into This World We're Thrown (Desert Sons #2)

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Desert Sons (Desert Sons #1)

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