Trailer Trash

by Marie Sexton

It’s 1986, and what should have been the greatest summer of Nate Bradford’s life goes sour when his parents suddenly divorce.

Now, instead of spending his senior year in his hometown of Austin, Texas, he’s living with his father in Warren, Wyoming, population 2,833 (and Nate thinks that might be a generous estimate). There’s no swimming pool, no tennis team, no mall—not even any MTV. The entire school’s smaller than his graduating class back home, and in a town where the top teen pastimes are sex and drugs, Nate just doesn’t fit in.

Then Nate meets Cody Lawrence. Cody’s dirt-poor, from a broken family, and definitely lives on the wrong side of the tracks. Nate’s dad says Cody’s bad news. The other kids say he’s trash. But Nate knows Cody’s a good kid who’s been dealt a lousy hand. In fact, he’s beginning to think his feelings for Cody go beyond friendship.

Admitting he might be gay is hard enough, but between small-town prejudices and the growing AIDS epidemic dominating the headlines, a town like Warren, Wyoming, is no place for two young men to fall in love.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Friends To Lovers, LGBT, Coming Of Age

340 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 19, 2016

About the author

Marie Sexton lives in Colorado. She’s a fan of just about anything that involves muscular young men piling on top of each other. In particular, she loves the Denver Broncos and enjoys going to the games with her husband. Her imaginary friends often tag along. Marie has one daughter, two cats, and one dog, all of whom seem bent on destroying what remains of her sanity. She loves them anyway.

The absolute best way to stay up-to-date on my books is by joining my FB group. You can view livestreams about Oestend, Coda, and the Heretic Doms Club. I also give away books on a regular basis. NO DRAMA ALLOWED!!


Or, you might want to check out these pages:

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Visit my website/blog at http://www.MarieSexton.net

Reviews

[Judith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm gushing and fangirling and twirling big time here.I read this in a day.
Was it perfect? No but that didn't stop me giving it all the stars because I absolutely LOVED this story.

Teenage angst at it's best....


1986...



Two young boys from opposite ends of the track.One was comfortable with his sexuality,the other was confused,scared and all the time with the threat and uncertainty of Aids hanging over them.Two sets of parents and their struggles to do what they could,what they thought was right for their sons.

I'm gravitating more and more to YA stories these days.These boys were friends first before attraction took over.It was sweet,sad,heart breaking at times as they navigated their way through a small town homophobic existence.


I'm very late to the party here.There are some great reviews out there....check out CC's HERE because she's said it perfectly.


Highly Recommended.

[Optimist ♰King's Wench♰ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I stewed over this book for a couple days, wavering between 4 and 5 hearts, finally settling on 5 mainly because I can't remember being as affected by a book since Rattlesnake, one of my favorite reads of 2015. I'm not sure if it was a case of the perfect storm of our current political climate colliding with these characters or if it was simply Sexton's deft crafting of this story that did it for me, but I had a bad case of The Feels reading Trailer Trash.



Told from both Cody and Nate's perspectives, set in late 80s Wyoming right in the middle of the AIDS epidemic that was largely ignored by the US govt. thereby making being gay tantamount to a death sentence and fueling the fires of homophobia and grotesque bigotry.

"Serves them all right if they die, if you ask me."

Nate has moved to Wyoming with his father after his parents split and he is not happy about going from Austin to Podunk, WY, pop. 2,833. Thankfully he meets Cody almost immediately and latches on to him. I loved all the characters to varying degrees, but I latched on to Nate. He's never really thought all that much about his sexuality. He just figured he'd meet a girl one day that did it for him and they'd get married, blah blah blah yada yada even though he's never been attracted to a girl when most of his friends are already having sex and/or have girlfriends already. He knows he likes being around Cody so he just... keeps being around Cody and they become friends.

Until school starts.

Hope was dangerous. Hope would make him bleed like nothing else in the world could.

Cody is from the wrong side of the tracks and, yes, there is a Pretty in Pink thing happening. He and his mother live in the poorest area of town and he is the epitome of loner. In a lot of ways his mother is a failure as a parent, but she supports and loves her son in her own way. She's not going to win any parenting awards, but she won me over.

To save Nate from being tainted by association Cody withdraws leaving Nate to fit in with one of the cliques-the Grove kids, the Mormons, or the cowboys. Only Nate doesn't fit in with any of them. The Grove kids are rowdy; they have sex and do drugs and get hella drunk and set fields on fire and all of it scares the ever loving shit out of Nate. He tries with the Mormons but that's not quite right either. And he's a prep at heart so no way are the cowboys going to work out. But none of that really matters because he can't stop thinking about Cody. Missing Cody. Wanting to be with Cody.



So he does and promptly freaks.

Nate thought of all the words he'd heard people use. All the cruel slurs tossed around. Homo. Queer. Faggot. Pansy. I can't be one of those things!

Nate's innocence spoke to me. All of his reactions felt natural as did Cody's and many of secondary characters, even the malevolent ones played their roles, but Nate... there is a scene where he's wrestling with the realization that he's got romantic feelings for Cody after having epically failed at het sex, he starts to cry and tries to blame it on Wyoming. Just how alone he felt in that moment was so palpable that I had a visceral reaction. Cody's no less riveting. He feels trapped in a town that's dying where everyone hates him and he feels less than all the time. He has one friend-the most popular boy in school, Logan.

Logan does not give one flying fuck what anyone thinks and everyone is either jealous of him, wants to get with him or thinks he walks on water because of it. He needles the hell out of Cody, stink eyes Nate and generally tells it like it is to both of them in an effort to get one of them to make a move.



The plot twist in the middle gutted me and, honestly, cast a shadow over the rest of the book but it finally brings them together.

"I only see you."

There are some intimate moments between them but I wouldn't categorize this as sexy or erotic and, shockingly enough, I really appreciated that. I wanted the romance between them and Sexton delivered with homemade mixed tapes.



Slow dancing in candlelight.



Sweet nothings that turned me into a mushy pile of goo.

"You should know by now there's only one thing in the world I want anyway."

And planning their escape from Wyoming by using the library! Because no interwebs! *gasp*



Trailer Trash isn't an easy read but it is hopeful. Nate and Cody are good kids who are divided by something as arbitrary as socioeconomic status and societal prejudices that shouldn't be foisted on anyone, really. All too often society dictates what is and is not acceptable for everyone and going against the grain is daunting for anyone which is part of what makes their choice to be together in the midst of an epidemic with the deck stacked against them all the more poignant. Their perseverance in the face of adversity is a message I can get behind. Things don't always go according to plan. Life throws them curveballs but how they keep working together to find solutions, finding the silver lining in even the most dire situations and not giving up on the people in their life that aren't entirely supportive of their relationship is the sort of optimism and fortitude that has advanced the LGBT cause to where it is today.






An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

**** 4.5 Stars ****

Trailer Trash is a moving story. Needless to say that it packs a mean punch of angst, the kind of drama I really appreciate.



I had moments where I was drowning in the angst, my heart beating in the same rhythm as Cody's, totally connected with his pain, suffocated by small-town prejudices and all the unfairness that comes along with it. Not to mention the heaviness of not having a future ahead. The oppressiveness of it felt very real.



But then we meet Natan, a breath of fresh air and in the end, hope. I just wish his mother had no part in this story. It was a bit too much. She was disgusting and I don't even want to go there.



The atmosphere created, representing a small tow in the 80's was incredibly well done.




This is my second book by this author and I really need to dig in since she has tons of others out there.

Thank you, Jude, for taking me out of my miserable state. <3

[Kaje Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although most of this author's books are adult M/M, this one is fine for YA readers. Set in 1986, this is the story of two high-school seniors trying to make it through their last year of school. For Nate, it's part of a painful change, with his parents divorced and his father moving them to a dead-end little Wyoming town. Nate's friends were left behind, the sports he enjoyed are impossible - the school not only doesn't have a swim-team, the town doesn't even have a real pool. Nate feels betrayed and marooned in a dead end.

Cody was born in that dead end, and doesn't see a way out. The son of single mom who barely scrapes by waitressing, Cody is an outcast at school for both his poverty and as the local gay kid. When he spots Nate, one day near the end of summer vacation, he sees the chance to have someone to talk to for a little while. Nate doesn't know how town works-- the cliques and power structures he'll have to choose between once the school year starts. For a few golden weeks, Cody has a friend. But he knows their friendship can't last past the start of school.

The 1980s setting flavors and informs this story. The onslaught of AIDS, just beginning to loom as a threat to young gay men, is part of the reality these young men have to deal with. But at the same time, the main issues are timeless. This is far more about class and wealth, about social status and rank, than anything unique to the 80s.

Nate's not rich, but his dad has a solid job with the town police force, and he has never really gone without anything. Cody is dirt-poor, choose-between-worn-out-shoes-and-the-electric-bill poor. And Nate's experience is such that he can't imagine or comprehend how that works. Cody hides his poverty, because it's one of the several strikes against him in town. But Nate is also blind to the level of insufficiency that is possible. He can't picture not having a coat when it's cold, and he can't understand the desperate pride of the really poor that makes a gift that can't be repaid feel like a hand-out. Much of the tension in the story comes from the two guys' disparity of experience and expectations.

There is also homophobia among the locals, which contributes to Cody's outcast status, but the overriding issue is the life-draining effect of poverty. Everyone in this town is trapped, with jobs leaving, houses for sale, opportunities declining. The rich kids are bored and engage in petty mischief, and the poor ones are scrabbling for opportunities that are disappearing. Nate's dad is an example of someone who would consider themselves fair and well-meaning, but who is clearly influenced by how much money someone has.

The boys' relationship is a slow burn, a gradual awakening on Nate's part, and a slow willingness on Cody's to let Nate in. There is a painful center to the book, and a sweetly hopeful end. Sadly, the issues of grinding poverty, prejudiced law enforcement, and class disdain, are still contemporary. AIDS is still with us, although less of a specter than in this era. Homophobia clearly still exists, although it's getting better. And working your way through college is now a pipe-dream. Our modern world differs in the details, but the heart of this story is still true today.

[Sheziss · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great book, but strangely enough, I'm not referring to the love story.



The love story is sweet and I enjoyed every bit of it. It's true there is a rich boy/poor boy premise here. And that sounds typical but in truth I honestly don't care how typical or not a book is as long as the author writes it well and builds it into a solid shape. And that's exactly what happened here. It's not that the love story is not beautiful, because it is, it's just that I loved the surroundings much better: the time, the place, the conflicts, the local "society's" unsaid rules. How the people is segregated like in an apartheid, how they can't mix together, what happens if you ever dare to shatter the status quo. Prejudices are so strong, whereas solid principles and sense of humanity are so scarce.

All in all, the display of how a tiny town in the deep America works. How you are born there, how people dream of a better future, and how they get stuck and become hopeless, seeing life pass by whereas they get old in the exact place they had been dreaming about escaping from.

That's the part I liked the most.

I also loved how the 80s are portrayed here. It's not exactly my time, but somehow it holds a romantic aura for me. When I think about the 80s I think about the crazy fashion and cassettes. I think about all the awesome movies that were simple yet effective. I think about music, about Queen and Mecano, I even think about Cat Stevens, even though I know he belongs to the previous decades. I think about landlines and the lack or Internet. Not important events, because I overlook politics, economics and social events, but somehow, the 80s are special to me, even when I haven't lived those years. I could feel the atmosphere here, it's expertly developed. In a subtle way with each casual mention, but the nostalgic feeling never totally faded.

It was a mix of...

...and...


Of course I'm kidding.

There is one issue that upset me here. It happens in the hospital. For me, it was too much to handle not because it's not real but I think it dramatizes the situation in the era of paranoia about the brand new (un)awareness of the HIV and AIDS even more: The nurse is going to cure Nate's face after the beating, and she's going to do it barehanded. Then she's called by another nurse, they talk, throwing suspicious glances towards Nate. Then the nurse comes back, looks for some latex gloves that were hidden somewhere (meaning, not close by in case they need them and I guess they need them very often because it's a damn hospital and ER and damn, have you heard about hygiene and germs and infection?) and once she puts them on, she begins working. It's like, really? So when someone is bleeding and you need to cure it, you don't use gloves, but if he's homosexual you do? This makes me shiver, I can only think about this hospital having a higher morbidity/mortality ratio among heterosexual patients than the homosexual one due to this exact reason. They didn't use gloves in the 80s? Seriously? Now I'm really worrying here. I'm aware it was while ago in fact it was only... yesterday!

The resolution of things met my expectations. It gave a believable closure to the story, and a beautiful HEA, one both characters deserved.

***Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.***

[Nazanin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

"When it’s dark enough, you really can see the stars."

This story is about two teenage boys, Nate & Cody. Nate’s parents are divorced. He lives with his father and his father has decided he needed a new start in a new town, a very very small one! They live in the good part of the town. But he hates this town and he blames his father for everything. Now, he met Cody. A really poor guy who lives in the most terrible part of the town, Trailer Park aka Hole. Cody lives with his mother. They can barely afford their bills. Cody is gay and doesn’t have any problem with it but on the contrary, Nate thinks he must like girls, so when he notices his attraction toward Cody, struggles so hard to deny it. And let’s don’t forget about this that this story has taken place in the 80’s and apparently at that time being gay wasn’t something good and don’t expect mobile phones or CDs…

Well, the story started so good and I enjoyed it but after the first half it became a bit boring. I liked Cody’s character. He was so strong, I liked his confidence so much. For Nate, at first I had a little problem with him (his insecurity) but at the end I liked him too. Liked his support for Cody. The story is a bit slow. Told in dual POV, 3rd person. It’s a stand-alone novel. I liked it but not as much as I expected and hope you enjoy it more!

[Papie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What a heartbreaking and beautiful YA romance. Such a vivid portrait of the 80s, and of what it meant to grow up gay and poor in a tiny dying town. AIDS fear, homophobia, bullying, kids having nothing to do but drugs and sex, divorce and absent parents. It’s a harsh portrait of society, and it was very difficult to read at times.

Yet I found myself reading most of the night, unable to put the book down, wanting more of these boys. More of their love, their hope for a better future. I adored Cody and Nate. I also loved Logan. Everyone should have a Logan on their side.

I highly recommend it, if you are not scared of heartbreak and angst. My only complaint: I wish it was longer, and I wish it had an epilogue. I needed a bit more happy times with Cody and Nate. A few more smiles.

[Sheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impact.
Yes, this story left a resounding mark on me.
It's been a few months and I still think about it.
I was in grade school during the eighties but I will never forget Ryan White and how AIDS shattered so many lives. I don't think you need firsthand experience of the '80s to feel the power of this book. Actually, there's probably more of a need for you to read it if you were born after this wild and wacky decade.
So much has changed, yet so much is still the same.
I don't often read YA or NA but I found myself captivated by their growth and acceptance. There is a unique beauty in witnessing an awakening of one's true self.
Life isn't always easy. Sometimes it's downright impossible. And I loved watching them emerge on the other side of their battles.
Nate's world was flipped upside down when his parents divorced and he moved with his dad to a barren town in Wyoming. He had everything he wanted in Texas...or so he thought.
Cody's world has been a constant slip 'n slide, born on the wrong side of the tracks. For a boy who grew up with very little, he's always had a huge heart and a natural drive to never give up.
Their connection began tentatively and gathered strength as they slowly fell in love. But sometimes, love isn't enough. Or is it?
The ending was my favorite part. Full of love and endless hope.

*4 unexpected-treasures stars*

[Lyn❤Loves❤Listening to Real Voices Only!!!!❤️&#x1f3a7;&#x1f4da; Addict ON HIATUS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio - 5 stars
Story - 3.75 stars

This was a great story and I can see why it received so many 5 star ratings. I personally found it mostly depressing, and would have appreciated an epilogue.

[LenaRibka · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 stars.


I was VERY close more than once to give up and to DNF it.

But the author convinced me with her story and her writing style at the end, even if it wasn't a love from the first sight. My problem has never been Cody, a trailer trash, my problem was
Nate
an overdosed melodramatic plot
awkward sex scenes


But still it was something in this book...something human, touching, that was stronger than all my eye-rolls, stronger than my inner skepticism, something that kept me on reading.

And at the end, I can just say-- I'm happy I didn't give up.
This book has a lot of issues, IMO, but it has still a lot of good things to enjoy.

Recommended.




*Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

[R.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

have to get these words out now, before I walk away from the world I was just in. I know this sounds weird, but I just this second finished reading this book and I didn't want to leave the world inside the pages. I know the words in my head will all disappear and I'll end up writing just *I loved it* and hell, this needs much more than that.

Not only is this the most beautiful story I have ever read, it is gut wrenching, heart breaking, and stunning. I cried ugly tears, I smiled, I cheered, I didn't know what to do with myself.

If you read one book this year, try this one. The world Marie creates... I just felt like I was right there with Cody and Nate.

Just stunning. And like I just typed to Marie in a private message; I have no words, stunning.

So highly recommended I can't even begin to rate it. Possibly my most favourite MM book ever.

See. I think this book has broken me.

[MarianR · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.2⭐
I said to myself "I'm going for something light and easy" and of course I ended up reading the opposite. And i'm glad I did. Heartbreaking. Anguish. Hopeful.

“You’re in hell, Nate,” he said without a hint of humor. “This place will eat your soul.”

Nate (18 years old) has just moved to Warren, a town in the middle of nowhere, where most of them stay and never leave. He meets Cody (17 years old), a boy who spends his time mostly alone and barely manages to survive with his mother. They start a friendship, and although this is a love story, it is not all. I was absorbed by everything else that was happening as well.
The atmosphere in the 80s is good. The author did a great job with the details to make us feel there. The conflicts. The social stigmas for being poor. Bullying. People without work. AIDS and how it was spreading. The lack of information about it. Fear. Homophobia. How people criticized homosexuals and being one of them immediately turned you into a mockery and marginalization factor because of AIDS.

"When it’s dark enough, you can see the stars.” Nate tried to smile back, but failed. “I only see the dark.”
“Me too.” Cody nudged Nate’s knee with his own, and this time, Nate did manage to smile a little.
"Guess it gives us a reason to keep looking up.”

The path for Nate and Cody to be together takes time, it can be frustrating, sometimes I felt that way, in many situations it seemed too complicated for something that could be solved by talking, but I kept reading, and it all seemed so real that it was worth it.

"When it’s dark enough, you can see the stars. And I think I do.”
Nate shook his head and kissed Cody again. “I only see you.”
🤧❤️
The same happened to me with the characters.
Nate his whole life thought that at some point he was going to find a girl and get married. But why can't he stop thinking about Cody? The discovery of his sexuality was slow. He has his flaws, as do many other characters but I couldn't find myself not liking him. Also like Cody's mother, at first I jugded her, but as the story goes on, you get to know the character, and although her mother is not the most loving, affectionate and communicative... She worked to give Cody a roof. And she had his back when Cody needed her.

"You’re a good kid who’s been dealt a bad hand. You’re the only decent thing I’ve ever managed to create. You’re better than you know, Cody. You’re better than this whole goddamned town, and if you have a ticket out of here, you take it. You take it, and you run as fast as you can, and don’t ever, ever look back.”
😭❤️
Now the one who has no salvation is Nate's mother. Fuck that woman. Sorry but not sorry. 🤷‍♀️

There are no explicit or penetrative scenes, but there are beautiful and intimate moments between them. 🥺💛

Logan. The best friend that everyone needs. I absolutely adored it. My favorite character. 😭❤️
Christine. Everyone considers her a slut because she sleeps with the guys she wants. But when guys do it is common and they are not judged. Fuck that. It's something that's still going on and it sucks. We have the right to be free without being judged. 😤

I wish the beginning of Cody and Nate's friendship at the beginning was a little longer.
And an epilogue. 😭





My niggles with spoiler.
⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️DO NOT READ IT IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SPOILER YOURSELF⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
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His mother was missing for days, and Cody really didn't think to report it? at least try it, right? I don't know. It really bothered me.
Hmm, does Nate tell Cody that his father is in jail? I do not remember. 🤔
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⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️




I highly recommend it! 🤗

[Jewel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trailer Trash is Marie Sexton's first YA novel. Set in the mid-1980's, it really took me back to my own high school years (I am a year younger than the MC's, who were in their senior year of high school during this book). Honestly, I'm not terribly nostalgic for the 80's. I like a wide variety of music from that era, but the hair and the clothes...let's just not think about that, shall we. None the less, Marie Sexton captures it all perfectly.

The main thing to remember about the 80's, though, is not the ridiculous dress code, or the nonsensical song lyrics, but that it was when AIDS first came onto the public scene. There was so much stigma and misinformation about transmission and risk and with so many gay men and intravenous drug users dying, AIDS was often referred to as God's punishment. Politically, I don't remember much compassion being served up, either. I remember watching the news and being horrified by all of it. And I doubt that there are many people that haven't been touched by it, in one way or another. And I thank all of the scientists out there that have made such strides in HIV education and treatment that it is no longer the death sentence it once was.

So, anyway, coming to terms with being gay in a small town in the 1980's during the initial surge of the AIDS epidemic is where Trailer Trash is set. Teenagers of any era have their own challenges when it comes to figuring out who they are and who they want to be. There are often internal conflicts as well as external, and it's not an easy time for most people, even though looking back on it makes it all seem so trivial. But if you're different than what everyone else considers the status quo, then you're automatically singled out for ridicule. The 1980's was undoubtedly a tough time to come out as gay, especially in a small town where everyone is expected to be a certain thing and secrets are hard to keep.

Nate is new to Warren, Wyoming (population almost nothing), having been raised in the much larger (and less wintery) Austin, Texas. There's lots of unwelcome change in Nate's life -- his parents split up, he gets moved to a podunk little town in the middle of nowhere, there's little to nothing to do and he doesn't even have the sports he enjoyed in Texas to look forward to. To top it off, the new school is so small and very cliquish and not at all what he had. Right when he moved to Warren, though, Nate met Cody at the gas station and they started hanging out.

Cody warned Nate that once school started, Nate wouldn't want to be friends anymore. Where Nate lives in the more affluent part of town, Cody lives at the lower income end of the trailer park. They're worlds apart. Cody is a loner, but not necessarily by choice. He's different and he's learned to not give a damn about anyone's opinion about him. Cody knows who he is and he's more or less comfortable with that.

Nate and Cody dance around each other for months. And a lot of that is on Cody, who preemptive started avoiding Nate so that Nate wouldn't feel obligated to reject his friendship. Cody has had more than his fair share of ridicule from his fellow classmates, so he figures that it's inevitable that Nate will move on. But Nate takes a bit of time to come to terms with his feelings, as well, since he is just figuring out that he's gay and that his feelings for Cody go beyond friendship.

Being a YA book, there isn't much steam (and I'm more than ok with that considering the MC's are 17/18 during the course of the book). They both go through so much during their senior year and discovering themselves and each other is only a part. I enjoyed the story quite a lot and only cried once - and it wasn't even caused by either MC, so that's a win. All in all, I'd say Trailer Trash is a solid four stars and I do recommend it!

[NicoleR.M.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I apparently never wrote a review for this book.
I’m re-reading on audio, John Solo narrating. I like listening to him. Forgot a lot about the book, so in a way it will probably feel like a first reading ☺️

In some ways it felt that way, like this was a new story. There were parts I couldn't remember, and other parts sounded familiar.
I always enjoy listening to John Solo, for some reason his voice is one that gently leads me through the story. The story itself was one that felt like an accurate representation of being queer in the 1980's in a small, conservative town in the US. It was the era where fear of AIDS was real, specially in the beginning, when there were so many rumours and false information and it was so much harder to get information at all. People were very much depending on newspapers, magazines, radio and television, but when you realise how most media and the government wanted to stay clear from the problem as far as possible, it must have been extra tough to find accurate information, which added to the fear.

Nate moves to a small town in Wyoming after his parent's divorce and finds it hard to find his place and make new friends. He accidentally finds a friend in Cody, a boy who doesn't belong to any group and is considered outcast because he lives in a trailer park. And if that wasn't enough to avoid him, he doesn't deny the rumours that he is gay. But a friendship develops, and when Nate realises he feels more than friendship for Cody, there is a lot they have to work through before they can even think of finding happiness together.

I really loved the 80's vibe in this story, it was my coming of age era (yes, I'm that old) and it felt very familiar to being a teen right then. The music, the cassette tapes, the magazines, I could relate to everything! It wasn't even difficult to imagine being gay at the time and the effect AIDS had when becoming sexual active. It was a scary time and I think the author did a good job weaving that into this story.
But there's more: there's grief, there is loss of a friend, there is poverty and all the ugly means to try to get some food on the table and to be able to pay the bills. There is the abandonment of a parent, the homophobic slurs and homophobia in general. So if those are sensitive subjects to you, you might not want to read this book. If they are not, and you are interested in the 1980's, and specially being a teen in that era, this might be a book you could enjoy. I did.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Loved Nate and Cody together 💖

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s 1986, the year I left college and the world was waiting for me to take it by the horns – lol! It’s funny to think that a story written in this period can now be classed as an historical – AAARGH! That’s why I haven’t labelled it here in my review as I’m feeling old enough already without having to state the fact in the genre listing – lol! This was a trip down memory lane, Falcon Crest, Dallas, shoulder pads, Rubik’s Cube, trim phones, Yazoo, Culture Club, OMD, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, the list is endless. However, the one thing that will forever leave a stain on the 80s was AIDS, people living in fear and ignorance. Little known about it, I remember the public information commercial on the BBC that use to scare the living bejesus out of me. It’s a wonder I even kissed anyone at all as a teenager, let alone if you thought you were gay. Then it seemed for a lot of people you were already condemned to death before you had even done anything if you were gay.

It is in this all too familiar backdrop that we meet Cody and Nate. Teenagers living in a town that is now desolate, unemployment sky-high, the whole town a pit of depression and despair. Anyone growing up here would not have it easy. Two boys that couldn’t be more apart on the social class scale if they tried. Cody is trailer trash his mum hardly making ends meet. Nate has recently moved to town with his dad who is a cop, are comfortable financially, but by no means affluent . Even though they couldn’t be further apart in this respect a chance meeting at a gas station leads to a love that not even they saw coming at first. The one thing they both have in common is that they are both teenagers from broken homes with single parents.

Cody hasn’t been dealt a good hand in life and despite all this he is still not a bad guy. Never lies or cheats, is never violent, just accepts his lot. This in itself was for me so tragic, oh my, how I wanted to comfort him. He’s almost resigned to the fact that his life sucks, the town sucks and there’s very little he can do to change it. Nate on the other hand lives on the other side of town. The side regarded as wealthy and having money. So Cody not ever really entertaining the thought that their friendship through the summer holidays would last once the start school.

Once school starts then I loved how Marie Sexton portrays your typical high school, all the teenagers in cliques according to their social class and background. But thinking about it it would be like this as teenagers will gravitate to their own kind. Cody is almost an outcast with everyone, Nate gets invited by the more middle class student’s to parties, etc. but even he doesn’t “feel right” in their company. This whole book was a wonderful study in class and society and its many attitudes. Just because of where Cody lives and who is mother is, he is immediately stamped as being no good. Even today I still can’t believe how people make assumptions based on your background. But for me Cody was like a lotus flower. Sometimes the most beautiful flowers will rise from the muddiest and darkest waters. I fell for Cody hard - big time!

But this is a time for sexual experimentation. Cody already knows and accepts he’s gay, so just another thing to be chalked up on his list of trailer trash stereotypes. Cody just found out and accepted it earlier than Nate. But no doubt had the same insecurities at first. Nate however, has feelings he can’t explain, he is attracted to Cody, knows what it is really but has to come to terms with it himself first. Nate’s first encounter with a girl had me smiling like a loon as YES, I WAS THAT TEENAGER and YES, THAT WAS EXACTLY MY FIRST EXPERIENCE TOO!!!! Right there written on page. It was like I was reading my biography all over again as to what that little encounter was concerned and all the other feelings I was having at that stage as a teenager too. Society telling you that’s the way you have to live but deep down knowing you are different. That the love you feel is not what is expected. You try to conform but you know it’s never going to work until you accept your lot, come to terms with yourself and the rest be damned. Well done on that one Ms Sexton. I don’t know how or where you get your information and empathy from but that was spot on!

You could really feel and understand the teenage emotional turmoil, the feelings and hormones running high, hopes dashed but then dreams to live for. The love that develops between Cody and Nate is so sweet and tender at first. Cody not letting himself believe that this could be happening as nothing good ever happens to him. But Nate has to first defy all odds to convince Cody of his love. That he’s not using Cody or it’s just a phase, that he truly loves him. Of course it takes a while and quite a few teenage dramas to get there, but it’s all too real. Cody needs Nate, he needs someone to show him that he can be loved, his background be damned. Someone that can offer a better future than the one he can see for himself currently. And in the middle of them coming to terms with all of this, being gay in sh** hole of a town is the onset of AIDS! Hanging over their heads like the proverbial Sword of Damocles put there by the press, disinformation, fear and scaremongering is rife. Oh I could so relate to this. Why? Because I was there!

Once again Ms Sexton has delivered an emotional drama, full of teenage hopes and fears, times where I had a tear, times where my heart just burst for joy. It’s always the stories where love wins through against all the odds that get me every time. This one is no exception. I guess the only small thing for me personally was I felt the ending was a little rushed. After all the build up getting Cody and Nate to a safe place, it just seemed to pick up pace a little too fast for me. I just felt their time apart until they met again could have been fleshed out a little more. But nonetheless a wonderful story, that took me back to my own formative years as a teenager with all its familiar things like, cassettes and Walkmans, E.T. and Back to The Future, the list is endless. So if I can remember it then I’m not calling it an historical – lol!

4.5 Stars rounded up to 5.

[Ami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes a book needs to gather (virtual) dust on your hoard before you finally get the chance to be engrossed on its goodness. This what happens with me and Trailer Trash . In attempt to do a little cleaning of my mountain-like to-read folder, I decided to pick it up yesterday. Boy, did I make a good decision.

I thought this was a wonderful, WONDERFUL, read. Set in the 1980s, in a dying town of Warren, Wyoming, it's a story about two young man from opposite sides of the track who find each other and well, work on their happiness, in the midst of growing AIDS epidemic.

Nate is the rich kid, coming to Warren with his dad after his parents' divorce. Cody is the trailer trash, living with his mother, trying to make ends meet, as well as a school pariah because he's poor and well, a fag. But they become friends during school break, although that's definitely changed when school starts.

I LOVED Cody so much -- it's pretty easy thing to do. You can feel his pain, his embarrassment when having to go with Nate to buy clothes from second-hand shop, his desperate need to escape the town but at the same time resigned of the fact that he may never will.

His friendship with Logan, the school quarterback who doesn't care for Cody's sexuality, breaks my heart (it is a source of one very angsty moment later that is responsible for me getting teary eyed). I want to hug Cody (and his mother) so bad.

Nate ... well, there's a moment when I think he acts a bit cowardly. Nate is navigating his social status, not exactly fitting in with the Grove's middle class kid, but not sure as well about being a homosexual.

He hurts Cody in process, and I probably would like to see him grovel more if I don't remember that he's still young. Besides, when Nate finally decides he wants to be with Cody, he's quite determined about it. He finally shows his spine :).

For secondary characters, I loved Logan, most definitely. I also loved Cody's mother. Nate's father proves that he's not a bad guy, he takes time to get there but maybe, considering the timeline, his concerns are justified.

All in all, I'm so happy to finally read this...

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been on a YA m/m kick so have been re-reading a few of my favourites ...

4.5 stars

This was just lovely and perfect if you're looking for a YA story of two boys making it against all odds. As a child of the 80s (although I think I was a few years behind these guys), I particularly enjoyed all the 80s references ... like the preppy kids who need to wear a bunch of swatch watches and dress in labels like esprit and guess?! And then the smoking on planes ... WTF?!? I can't believe that actually occurred during my life time!

But, of course, this was also the time when AIDS was front page news and misinformation about it was rampant. I thought the author did a great job of showing the impact of this on two teenage boys in small-town America.

I recommend this to anyone who likes YA m/m romance and coming of age stories, especially those who would appreciate the 1980s small-town backdrop. The romance is on the sweeter side and mostly non-explicit which was very appropriate to the story.

One thing that I really wanted here was an epilogue and I'm hoping the author plans on giving us more of their story in the future.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG, this was so good. I got very emotional reading this and that's not easy to do; I'm pretty tough. :) But this one, it got me right in the feels. Cody's mom, I wasn't sure about her in the beginning, but she is possibly one of the best mothers I have read about. She is far from perfect, but her love for Cody is absolute, and she did whatever was needed to take care of him, even going without. The moments with her and Cody are what made me want to cry. She was so down and out of luck, my heart broke for her and the life she was living. It wasn't what she wanted, and at the end of the book she tells Cody he deserved better than he got in the parent department. That's true for his dad, but Cody lucked out in the mom department. I can't even tell you how much seeing her love Cody, even though it wasn't demonstrative or even shown much. What I did see was everything.

Nate's mom at first gave the appearance of being a great mom. We never meet her, exactly, and she doesn't play much in the story. But her role too is important because Nate loves his mom, and doesn't understand why his dad moved them away. When Nate finds out the reason, and then later when his mom finds out about Cody, Nate's mom is no prize. She would never have done what Cody's mom did for him. Never in a million years. And that's not love. Nate is loved by his Dad who WOULD do whatever was necessary to make Nate happy and safe.

It's funny how the parents of both kids mirror each other in a way.

As for the story between Nate and Cody. It was beautiful. I am not much into "historical" lol (yep, the 80's are historical), but aside from not having cell phones, this didn't really read as a non-contemporary. AIDS played a part but more from a research standpoint; there wasn't really a big plot point around AIDS.

I loved these guys together, and feared for their future. So many times I was worried this would have a sad ending, and I feared turning the next page. But thankfully they get their HEA and I was stoked! And Cody's mom even has a good ending. I hope she has a good life finally.

I highly recommend this and hope you enjoy it like I did. 5 stars all the way

[Trio · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh that was so much fun! I loved all the 80's references... David Lee Roth and parachute pants, Sony walkmans and record players, that was awesome. And the story was a-dor-a-ble!

Did the audio version and John Solo was just incredible.

[annob [on hiatus] · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!

Absolutely wonderful story about first love between two young men in their late teens, set in a rural US town in the mid 1980s.

The historical details were spot on, the era before internet and mobile phones existed. The AIDS pandemic is making headlines in the newspapers, stirring up fear in the two young men. There's a lot of angst in this story; about being gay, about AIDS, about school bullies, about peer pressure, about expectations from parents, about having little control of your teenage life as you're still dependent on the adults, and for one of the two boys, no hope that life will ever get easier.

To contrast the angst there was equal amounts of wonderful in this story; the wonder of first love, the wonder of figuring out your identity, the wonder of getting an unexpected close friend and confidant when all others avoid you, someone who stands by you when times are rough. Hope renewed.

I loved everything about this story, and my only very silly complaint is I would have loved an epilogue set a few years later, just to see the boys doing alright.

[Pixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that I would have never read had it not been rec’d to me for a variety of reasons and it turns out those reasons were exactly what made the book so great.
The first boy I ever cared for (I refrain from saying love cause I just think we were too young) I met while in 6th grade living in Waynesville, MO in 1990. There were a whole host of things I noticed about him as it became apparent he noticed me but…. Waynesville was a very racist place at the time. We shouldn’t have been dating because I was black and he was….so very, very poor. This book kind of reminded me of sitting in a truck with no power steering in a field because we had no other place we could be seen together. Talking about when we could get out of our shitty lives, hiding from our abusive drunk fathers, fumbling make out sessions and just….having something in a world that’s given you nothing.

I thought this book did that right. It was brutally honest in its depiction of what being poor can be like. What being a kid on the verge of adulthood can be like with no real resources to answer the questions you have. No parents to talk to because they are busy just trying to make it. Pre-internet & smartphones, reading Time magazine and school library books to try and figure out how to safely exist in a world that appears to not only hate you but also be afraid of you. All the things going on outside of these boys who throughout the book are just two very young, very inexperienced kids trying to figure it all out.

I typically don’t like YA because I honestly don’t want to read a book labeled YA that actually is trying to target adults by showing a lot of on page sex. This book handled that side perfectly. While you find out the boys do start to have an intimate relationship…it’s kept very much how I would expect it to go for two inexperienced boys. I won’t go into how AIDS played into the story because I was too young to understand how that impacted people at the time and while yes its part of the story I didn’t think it was THE story. Strangely enough, while it’s there, I also didn’t feel as if the boys being gay was THE story either. This book felt very Romeo and Romeo to me. Two people who on the surface seem very different yet…

I cried repeatedly through this book. Nate reminded me a bit of my husband. It’s funny the things you just blindly accept. I was raised a certain way and when I met my husband I was living that way. I remember having a conversation with him…him all whispered insistence that life “did not just have to be that way” and looking at him and just thinking…”that must be nice”. I thought him naïve at the time. I remember being Cody and thinking what must it be like to live in a world where no one hurts you, people try to provide for you and to just not really be on your own. I remember this guy presenting me with a plan, one that included not me changing my circumstances but US changing them. I thought he was crazy as fuck…turns out he was right. This book reminded me of that, how meeting a person so randomly can change your entire life.

[Fabi NEEDS Email Notifications · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and moving story of two young men finding themselves, and each other, in a time when it was terrifying to do so.

Get ready to have your heart pummeled because Marie Sexton put her boxing gloves on for this one.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 plus stars

Fuck you, and fuck David Lee Roth too."

This was my first Marie Sexton. And I loved it.

Closing the book, I was filled with '80's nostalgia and craving a cigarette (and I don't even smoke). Sexton captured perfectly the land of 1980's high school in small, rural, white America (trust me I know - though I have to concede my school wasn't to the extreme of Walter Warren High). From the swatch watches, Sony Walkmans, Converse, Levi's 501's, Benetton sweaters, Depeche Mode references, the rise of MTV and declarations of love via mixed tape - I remember it all. A school experience without internet and cell phones and how walking was your only option if you found yourself stranded without coins for a payphone. I was never a kid to sneak a smoke during lunch period behind the gym (or literally across the tracks at my high school), but those kids are memorable too. And though I was only 8 in 1987, I do remember AIDs being a constant headline. I probably didn't fully grasp the impact of the disease until years later, but I remember its ever looming presence in the news and awkward Health class lessons. No one knew anyone with AIDs, but we were all being scared stiff that it spread like cooties and was just as socially alienating. I'm sure those in high school during that period of time probably have a clearer recollection, but I can attest elementary school at that time wasn't spared ignorance to it.

For me, Ms. Sexton captured vividly a lot I could relate to in this book and I was as fond of the trip down memory lane as I would be reminiscing with an old friend. However, she also captured very well a lot I couldn't relate to, but in the recesses of my mind was well aware of even at that age.

Poverty. Despair. Prejudice. Though these are often themes in coming-of-age stories, Sexton conveys them with a raw brutality more comparable to What's Eating Gilbert Grape than a John Hughes film. After stating that, I would like to add that there is an HEA in this and despite the somber mood threaded through most of it, hope lingers amidst the pages as well.

For anyone wondering this is not a GFY, Nate isn't gay for Cody, Nate is eighteen years old and struggling with the realization that he is gay. Cody just happens to be the object of his affections. It is a coming-of-age. A friends (who by the rules of the social jungle should be enemies) to lovers tale despite all odds being against them. This is not a tear-jerker, though an incident in the book blind-sided me as it did Nate and Cody, but if anything felt genuine to those stark moments in life.

This is a five star story, but it is getting four from me. I am going to admit to doing something that I don't normally do - I took away a star because of the editing. I paid full price for this book on the day it came out. This is a professionally published work. And yet as I read it, I highlighted every few pages grammatical errors, typos, malapropisms and two instances where a word was simply missing from a sentence. It took me two days to read this book with a full schedule of real life; an editor should have proof read this in a matter of hours - if they actually did, they should be ashamed, because there are some sloppy errors that were allowed to slide to print. Though this is a Riptide published book, this is a trend not contained to their books. I have purchased a number of books - coincidently (???) from primarily M/M publishers - and have sat and highlighted all the errors an editor missed throughout them. I am not understanding why sloppy editing or lack of proof reading is an upward trend in this genre currently. Personally I haven't had the same experience with books in other genres, though maybe it is everywhere. Sexton's book I greatly enjoyed and for that would easily give the story itself 4.5 to 5 stars. But I was so annoyed at reading "is" where "in" should have been and sentences such as: "Anything you've craving?" (location 4093) or "He said I can drive it Iowa." (location 4366) that it has propelled me to this little rant. The errors weren't glaring and didn't disturb the conveying of the story, they are trite in the grand scheme of this book - but still, ... professionally published book.

All in all this is a five star story which I wish the editing of it had allowed me to give it. Typos aside, I highly recommend this book. Especially to fellow Generation X readers who won't miss the cultural references of growing up in the '80's.

[Gabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

And I thought I was in a MM slump. No, it turns out I just need to find the right books for me.
Loved it! ♥️

“[…] You’re better than you know, Cody. You’re better than this whole goddamned town, and if you have a ticket out of here, you take it. You take it, and you run as fast as you can, and don’t ever, ever look back.”

[Jenny - TotallybookedBlog · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 STARS

‘When it’s dark enough, you can see the stars.’

Set in 1986, in the time of home-made cassette tapes and the growing AIDS epidemic is a beautiful coming of age love story. A friends to lover’s story with an ugly and painful setting – violence, poverty, ignorance and judgement.

Trailer Trash had such a strong element of realness and was very character driven. Beautifully written with a melancholy yet hopeful tone of voice from two lads who came from very different sides of the socio economic divide. We remember the 80’s well and connected to so many parts of this story, little things like making a cassette tape for the one you loved with poignant songs on it that explained how you felt. We remembered when MTV was actually about the music. We read as our own memories bombarded us yet we stayed engrossed in the story of Cody and Nate in an environment so foreign yet so vividly drawn.

“Nothing good can live in this town. It all gets stomped to dust in the end.”

Nate arrives in Warren, Wyoming with his Dad after a family situation forces them to do so. It really was a heart-breaking story that brought us tears. What awaits Nate is quite a life-changing discovery in so many ways. Nate is at a crossroads in life, a life he just doesn’t know how to fit into. Although at times Nate came across quite naïve and somewhat childish, his heart was big and he just wasn’t emotionally equipped to deal with what becomes his reality and the self-realisations he was facing in regards to his friendship with Cody.

‘Homo. Queer. Faggot. Pansy. I can’t be one of those things!’

Cody’s never had it easy and everything about him and his life broke us. He lives in ‘the hole’ the worst part of the trailer park with his Mum who really was quite an enigma until she came good. She really peeved us off through the majority of this story, however, we never really thought she had a bad heart and she proved us right when it mattered. Cody knows who he is and all this lad wants is to get out of the hole he lives in and be left alone. But does he? He’s so used to people letting him down or using him he likes to stay under the radar. That is until Nate moves into town.

‘It wasn’t that his mom didn’t try, but he suspected she’d learned long ago to do what he was doing now: killing everything inside. Locking away any dream of a real life was the only way to survive. There was no such thing as hope. There was just this moment, bleeding into the next, and into the next….’

Nate and Cody’s friendship was a bit fairy-tale like to begin with; the modern day prince and the pauper but it became so much more and it really did both break our hearts and make them soar equally. Being ‘different’ is never easy no matter how or why under any circumstance. Survival and happiness being unaffordable luxuries. Strength perseverance but ultimately the beauty of love can truly make the difference that lifts the human spirit in adversity.

“The only thing you’ve ever done is had the bad luck to be born to two lousy parents in a place that can’t accept you for who you are.”




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[BevS · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars from me. Hells Bells!! I can’t get used to the fact that the 80’s is now regarded as history, groans. Reading stories like this one, which take you back to those times and reinforce what it was like for young teenagers in the back of beyond, who basically had no knowledge whatsoever about AIDS/HIV and were reliant on newspaper articles, was a very unwelcome reminder of just how clueless most people were. The frightening stories that were 'invented' and told, and the rumours that were circulated; how it was spread and were there any preventative measures? To basically find out just how to stay alive and safe...well, I can tell you a good few tears were shed in this house. I remember how the supposedly enlightened guys in that amazing film, The Normal Heart, struggled to deal with it, and they were so much older than these two poor young souls.

Marie’s writing was excellent. The subject matter was at times downbeat and depressing, and by that, I mean the area, the people that were forced to stay put when the jobs dried up and they couldn't afford to move, and just the general apathy that existed.

I was so in tune with Nate, the privileged but clueless kid from Texas, dumped against his will by his policeman father in the Twilight Zone of Warren, Wyoming, and Cody, the trailer trash kid with no hope…of a job, of a life, of anything, stuck in that godforsaken place. Their hopes and fears, their anguish and their pain, and yes, their growing attraction and love for one another. I wanted to throttle Cody’s mum several times during the story, and then I thought ‘you know what, she’s just doing what she has to do to help Cody and herself survive this misery’, I didn't like it but that’s just the way things were.

And the ending?? Is this Heaven?? No, it’s Iowa…a suitable quote from one of my favourite ever films, Field of Dreams. Yay!!

[Mir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy fuuuuck this was good.

I don’t typically read YA and I won’t read it by choice in the future either. I picked up this book based off a Reddit recommendation but by the time I realised it was YA I was so attached to the characters and wildly in love with them that I just couldn’t stop reading.

This is so incredibly well written and so damn emotional. Cody and Nate’s happy ending is so hard fought for and so rewarding. Extra shout-out to Cody’s mom cuz she was amazing.

[Jennifer☠Pher☠ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars = It was ok.

I’m just going to go with the standard “it’s me and not you” about this book.

I just didn’t get it.

I didn’t feel it. Well, that isn’t true. There was a lot I did feel but the majority of that was the secondary stories and not the story I think I was supposed to feel.

I feel like the relationship between these two boys was off the page more than it was on the page and I never really understood the connection. They spent the Summer together but we got only a slight glimpse of that. Mostly I felt I was told they connected over the Summer. I needed to hear the conversations and see the interactions in order for me to get them.

Then they interacted. Then they were apart again. Then there was a look that I guess spoke volumes. I needed more conversation.

I felt more for the relationship between Cody and Logan than I did for Cody and Nate and I don’t think that was what was supposed to happen. I got to see why Cody and Logan were friends. I was invested in their relationship. Totally.

I never understood why Nate’s Father moved there in the first place. The place was horrible and dying. It never made sense to me. In this big old US of A that was the only job as a police officer he could find?

For as angsty as the story tried to be it all just seemed too easy at the end of the day. Fairy Tale easy. I just kept thinking wow, that is lucky! It’s like the book wanted to be dark and stormy but then got confused and decided to be rainbows. I got whiplash. All the things that were going on in the book were pretty serious topics. Everything was desperate. I am the first to tell you I need a HEA in my books but to me this was not a realistic one or one that fit with the rest of the book.

Nate’s Mother is a fucking bitch. I hate her.

The eighties. I liked that but sometimes I forgot. It was like there were little hints here and there to remind me when it took place but really, a Member’s Only jacket mentioned would just make me say oh yeah, the eighties.

Anyway, really, I think it was just me. This just didn’t work for me. I didn’t get it. I didn’t connect. It happens.

[Debra ~~ seriously slacking on her reviews ~~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marie Sexton did a great job with the setting and feel of the 1980's (yes I remember it well - too well if you ask my husband and daughter), the fear of AIDS and the panic that ramped up the homophobia and the timeless story of teenage cliques and small town class divides.

The romance between Cody and Nate is a slow build. The two have such different points of reference for almost everything. Nate is just discovering his homosexuality while Cody is quite comfortable with his. Cody is living in poverty while Nate lives comfortable. Both now living with single, well-meaning parents, their upbringings couldn't be more different.

This book was painful to read at times but I was always fully invested. Marie Sexton doesn't sugar coat their relationship, there's plenty of teen angst and pretty low steam level. I may have shed a tear or two but I was very satisfied with the hopeful ending for the boys.