Know Not Why: A Novel
Five plus stars!Thank you Plainbrownwrapper,Tiya Rosa,and Julesmarie, for being the reason I read this right away. This book is amazing and anyone who loves M/M humorous romances needs to read this. It's funny, smart, sweet, romantic, everything wonderful. The characters are interesting and fun. The story is completely believable and one of the sweetest romances I have ever read.
For the first fourth of the book, I laughed out loud at least once per page it was that funny. I laughed a good deal later but the story became a little more poignant. It was a feel-good novel through and through and near the end I wasn't sure if the relationship would last but it didn't matter because it was still a happy ending. What I mean is that the romance isn't the only part that is important or gets worked through. Howie coming to terms with his sexuality is equally important.
Yes, Howie is somewhat of a jerk a couple of times but it's completely understandable given the short length of time in which this book takes place. Coming out is hard and he does it really fast considering. And while Arthur is mostly wonderful, he isn't a saint, either. In fact, at one point he is incredibly blunt, I would have left if he had been talking to me. Howie stayed and it was good but Arthur was not at all sensitive during that scene.
There's no sex but that's good because it wouldn't fit. I think this would be a great story for any questioning teen to read even though this is very much a book for adults.
The book is long, longer than it needs to be but I didn't mind because it was so entertaining. The end dragged a tad but it as mostly because I was waiting for something (that didn't actually happen). But it was a great ending. One of the things I liked best: mild the two groups of friends got to know each other but they stayed separate groups, which is realistic.
I loved the literary references and the jokes about ignorance. I loved the complexity of Mitch and even his roommate. The author has excellent taste in music (I love all the bands Howie does--go Femmes!). I particularly loved his observations about grammar.
In short (well, medium), I loved this book to death.
Read it.