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liza5326's review
4.0
This is an exceptionally beautiful story of hope and love. The young adults in the story are so true to life and real that I could feel everything that they were going through. I was moved to tears more than once. Taking place in the farm and backwoods of West Virginia, you really could see and feel and the location and the desperation of being gay teens in the Bible Belt. This is young love, but the discovery of self and how you can move forward into the future. Things aren't always sunshine and roses, but they aren't a Greek tragedy either. The ending was REAL.
katebrarian's review
3.0
This was a cute book. I imagine I would have connected with it more when I was the same age as the protagonists and not out, so I definitely would recommend this book for young queers - especially young queers who may feel intimidated or alienated by the queer community as seen in the media, which is usually flamboyant and always overwhelmingly urban. There are a lot of narratives that involve young queers who suffer in the middle of nowhere and then life improves when they go to the big city to find themselves. What I like about this book is that, while there is a "big city" with an open-minded university and queer community, our protagonist Travis is always thinking about getting land in the country and settling down with a farm outside of the city. I also really like that this story doesn't wrap-up. We don't really know what happens with Travis and Mike after the events of the book, and I think that adds to the charm of it.
I can't say I really like the way the dialogue was written...I got tired of hearing about Mike's "scrumptious butt" after a while, and there was something stilted about how the characters spoke to each other that I didn't really like, but overall, this was a lovely story.
I can't say I really like the way the dialogue was written...I got tired of hearing about Mike's "scrumptious butt" after a while, and there was something stilted about how the characters spoke to each other that I didn't really like, but overall, this was a lovely story.
apostrophen's review
5.0
In a word, Cub was superb.
The vast majority of small-town gay young tales generally involve the city as the goal. In Cub, you won’t find the typical gay kid desperate to escape the farm for the bright lights of the city. Instead, you meet Travis: someone not at odds with his rural upbringing, a poet and a passionate young man who isn’t like any youth I’ve read in gay young adult literature before.
Travis is gay, yes, but he’s also worried that his unfulfilled penchant for kink might mean he’s on the path to becoming a sociopath. He’s burly and hairy and strong, not smooth and slim and toned. He longs to have power over others and yet terrified of never finding someone to protect. He’s angry, horny, frustrated and confused, and well aware that the world doesn’t want him the way he is.
In other words, he’s seventeen.
I can't praise the psychology of this book enough. There's such a visceral reality to the thoughts and feelings in Travis. Added to the layer of "otherness" all queer kids face is his yearning for the rough/tender world of BDSM, and his intensity is brilliantly handled. This is Mann at his finest, and the potential relationship that builds in Cub is deftly handled.
Lyrical and possessing that raw honesty, Cub should be the next gay young adult bestseller. Most importantly, with Travis, Mann has given a voice to youth who haven’t found themselves in the gay young adult books that have come before.
The vast majority of small-town gay young tales generally involve the city as the goal. In Cub, you won’t find the typical gay kid desperate to escape the farm for the bright lights of the city. Instead, you meet Travis: someone not at odds with his rural upbringing, a poet and a passionate young man who isn’t like any youth I’ve read in gay young adult literature before.
Travis is gay, yes, but he’s also worried that his unfulfilled penchant for kink might mean he’s on the path to becoming a sociopath. He’s burly and hairy and strong, not smooth and slim and toned. He longs to have power over others and yet terrified of never finding someone to protect. He’s angry, horny, frustrated and confused, and well aware that the world doesn’t want him the way he is.
In other words, he’s seventeen.
I can't praise the psychology of this book enough. There's such a visceral reality to the thoughts and feelings in Travis. Added to the layer of "otherness" all queer kids face is his yearning for the rough/tender world of BDSM, and his intensity is brilliantly handled. This is Mann at his finest, and the potential relationship that builds in Cub is deftly handled.
Lyrical and possessing that raw honesty, Cub should be the next gay young adult bestseller. Most importantly, with Travis, Mann has given a voice to youth who haven’t found themselves in the gay young adult books that have come before.
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