Altered Realities

Gay Youth Chronicles Complete Chronology #31

by Mark A. Roeder

Marshall only wanted to help his friends, to undo the pain of the past, but a few moments of thoughtless action changed everything. Altered Realities is the tale of a changed world. All bets are off. Nothing is as it was and what is to be is transformed too. Mark, Taylor, Ethan, Nathan, Brendan, Casper and nearly the entire cast of the Gay Youth Chronicles come together in a tapestry of tales as they all try to deal with the consequences of Marshall's actions.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

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

532 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

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

Reviews

[Eloquent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was by far the most tragic book Ive ever read, because Ive fallen in love with the characters and to see them put in these situations was just depressing.

[Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, you should read the books before this one to completely understand and appreciate the importance of the events in this novel. If not, you will be completely confused and get lost easily.

Second, if you, (like me), have enjoyed the other books and fallen in love with the characters of Ethan, Nathan, Brendan, Casper, Sean, Skye, etc. this will be a difficult read for you.

This book is hard to read and you might find it heartbreaking. However, it is a good read. I am a huge fan of Mark's books and I found that, once again, he had not let me down with this novel. I was on the edge of my seat and felt like I was feeling everything the characters were.

This is a great read, but prepare yourself for a story unlike the others.

[Carl Webster · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been really enjoying this series, and I've enjoyed this book too, however I found this one the hardest to read so far, not for the writing but to see characters you've come to love over the last 15 book, to watch them grow and rise, and then to see them fall so far, was heartbreaking. I would highly recommend you read the series from the start before reading this book as you would appreciate this one a lot more. Right onto book 17 :-)

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of hardcore Roeder fans did not really like this book. I, however, loved it. I enjoy angst and this book was so deliciously dark. I really enjoyed the fact that Mr. Roeder showed that sometimes things are just meant to happen, no matter how much you try to change something.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. A little predictable. I liked the theme of"everything happens for a reason". It is a nice message that even though things seem bad there is always a new day coming. I don't know if I needed 500+ pages to make that point of the ranting of religious zealotry over and over or taking the extremes further than necessary to have cinematic moments. Overall this book has some poignant moments and is worth the read, if nothing more than escape into Roeder's fictional world where there are familiar "friends" to make an entertaining story

[Dale Bay · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't read all or most of the books in Mark's GYC, that is if you don't know the principal characters, this book won't make much sense. Read the books in order. However if there is any one book you might consider skipping--this is the one.

Altered Realities could easily have been called Twisted Realities. There is considerable violence. It is a very dark tale indeed.

[Urban Andenius Skeppstedt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a horrible book but,...

Without writing spoilers I will just observe that everything and everyone who should be good is not or die. Everything you like about the the world of Mark’s books is crushed, destroyed or going to hell. But it is an interesting journey to follow.

[Michael Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

O. K. After reading several reviews, I walked into this knowing that as a devoted follower of "The Gay Youth Chronicles" series I probably was not going to rate this book high on my favorites list. However, my intentions are to read every book in the series since I have enjoyed reading each of Mark Roeder's beautifully written stories in the past.
True to my intentions that brings me to "Altered Realities".
I would have titled it "Morality Amuck"!

I will repeat the fair warning that I did not heed: If you are a fan and avid follower of "The Gay Youth Chronicles" ...BEWARE!!!

I felt as if I was reading a nightmare in the making. I was wishing desperately for that HEA ending I'm accustomed to in the series. Wanting to complete the book asap in order to wake up from this nightmare storyline.( I'll let you decided if you like the ending).

I rate every book in the series up to this book 5 stars. This one gets a 3.
Honestly, I would have rated the book at least a 4...IF I hadn't read the prior books in the series. Nightmares certainly aren't pleasant to experience and are just as unpleasant to read.

I'm Mark Roeder's biggest fan but I want be rereading this story any time soon. My nerves are shot!