Phantom World

Gay Youth Chronicles Complete Chronology #32

by Mark A. Roeder

Toby Riester is sixteen, gay, and searching for his first boyfriend. He discovers many potential candidates--Orlando, a cute sixteen year old boy of Latin ancestry who works with Toby at the Phantom World amusement park--C.T., a blond, seventeen year old who is obviously gay--and Spike, a well-built sixteen year old from the internet. Each boy has his own seductive qualities and each is more than his seems. One of them, however, is far more dangerous than Toby ever guessed. Orlando finds himself a girlfriend at Phantom World, but that's only the beginning of his story. When he meets his girlfriend's twin brother, Kerry, his world is turned upside down. Mackenzie Riester is the athletic younger brother of Toby. He has little respect for his queer big brother and joins with his new found friend, Billy, in playing an elaborate practical joke on Toby that becomes more perilous than he ever dreamed. Phantom World is the story of three very different boys--their triumphs, heartaches, and their search for love and acceptance.

Genres: M M Romance, Gay, Young Adult, LGBT, M M Young Adult

216 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2004

About the author

Mark A. Roeder grew up in southern Indiana - near a small town similar to those that appear in his novels.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was good read and the different stories were woven smartly and concisely. The story moved along nicely. I will say Mark Roeder knows how to write a "villian" with just enough humanity to make them annoying.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mac. was a little snot but I actually came to like him quite a bit. And I can't begin to put in words how EXCITED I was that the boys of Phantom made an appearance in this book.

[Urban Andenius Skeppstedt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very different from the other books

This was a fresh new approach. The other books tend to go in the same theme, but this one doesn’t. I still enjoy all the books but this one’s a really good one.

[Christopher Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of the story was kind of predictable, but was interesting to see the teenage characters interact with each other. Main plot was about bullying and relationships.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

SlashReaders: So, I wrote this review a goodly number of years ago. I just want to add that, while I enjoy reading Roeder's work. I still come away with the same basic hung ups; however, I always go back for more. :)

I had a few problems with this book, it's much more sadistic in some ways than Roeder's other books. However I like it mainly for the fact that it plays with a lot of misconceptions and it works you into them as well then surprise you. The other thing I enjoyed about this book is it wasn't typical love at first sight, head over heels sort of thing it was different. It was also a lot more graphic than I was suspecting which was interesting not bad just not what I'd come to expect from his books. Ummmm.... So far it's the first book out in this set that I know of. There are probably going to be more since it mentions on the front of the book that it's the beginning of a new set of characters with old ones brought in for a bit. So if you haven't read the old books it's a good place to start without reading all of them. Though I would suggest them since they are good books. I also think I like them since they're set here in Indiana, in an area that I know which makes them interesting. Though I had a few technical problems with the book but lol it's all good someone who doesn't live in the area wouldn't notice.