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Breaking Up Point
Brendan Madden is starting his freshman year of college and, although excited, he is sad to say good-bye to his high school boyfriend, Mark. After a rough transition, Brendan carves out a place for himself at school, where he has new friends and newfound independence. With the added strain of distance, however, he now finds it hard to maintain his relationship with Mark, especially due to the fact that Mark still must hide the relationship from most of his friends. Brendan’s college life allows him to be open and honest about who he is. He debates whether he is willing to compromise this for Mark, especially since staying in the relationship means forgoing the possibility of finding new romance at college.
276 pages, Paperback
First published September 14, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 7, 2015
This book is the sequel to BOTTLED UP SECRET, and better enjoyed if the books are read in order.
To sum up: Brendan came out to his mother, one of his five sisters and his cadre of friends seven months ago. He has a closeted boyfriend, Mark, who is a senior in high school--though Brendan is just entering his freshman year at Ohio State University. Mark and Brendan had shared some intimate experiences in the previous book, and Brendan is not eager to move things farther as he's rather set on saving his virginity for marriage, but he's not happy keeping the secret of Mark from their mutual friends, or in general.
As Mark begins his new life away from home he is open about his sexuality--to everyone, with positive results. He joins a musical theater group and slowly makes friends. At times I felt the prose dragged. For teens, this may seem like a roadmap regarding the initial college experience, but it was too telling, with little advancement. I struggled to emotionally connect with Brendan until the second half of the book.
Brendan does come out the rest of his family in this book--with mixed results. Three of his sisters are cool with it, two are NOT cool, bordering on homophobic, and his mom is on the fence. She still thinks his "situation" is a phase. I really began to engage with the book when all this started happening. Brendan's interactions with Mark show advancement in terms of physicality, but not emotion. They are separated by distance, and different objectives. Brendan gets the (accurate) sense that Mark will never "come out" and he fully acknowledges that Mark had only dated girls before him.
As Brendan flails in his relationships, his new friendships thrive. In particular, Andres--a project partner from his business class--becomes a close confidante. It turns out that Andres provides very good counsel, and helps Brendan through the rocky issues with both Mark and his family. I liked Andres quite a bit. He's a little older, and more mature than Brendan, but very compassionate and fun.
There are two sexy scenes in the book that are a little more graphic than fade-to-black, but they are not hot-and-heavy. Mark is exploring himself, and his boundaries. He talks a bit about the physical features of guys he likes (most specifically penis features), but this seemed in keeping with the character's age and did not feel inappropriate for the audience. (Straight teen guys get graphic about the female body features they enjoy after all...)
I think I did enjoy this book more that the first, but it ends on a more bittersweet note. It explores the morass of coming out, and dealing with disapproving friends or family. It felt very honest, if a little naive. Brendan certainly owns his feelings regarding his family's response to his news--and this was very engaging. The writing, at times, seems a little clunky, with stilted dialogue and too much description of stuff that was not central to the plot. That said, I do like Brendan, and I am intrigued about his future.
I received a review copy via NetGalley.
To sum up: Brendan came out to his mother, one of his five sisters and his cadre of friends seven months ago. He has a closeted boyfriend, Mark, who is a senior in high school--though Brendan is just entering his freshman year at Ohio State University. Mark and Brendan had shared some intimate experiences in the previous book, and Brendan is not eager to move things farther as he's rather set on saving his virginity for marriage, but he's not happy keeping the secret of Mark from their mutual friends, or in general.
As Mark begins his new life away from home he is open about his sexuality--to everyone, with positive results. He joins a musical theater group and slowly makes friends. At times I felt the prose dragged. For teens, this may seem like a roadmap regarding the initial college experience, but it was too telling, with little advancement. I struggled to emotionally connect with Brendan until the second half of the book.
Brendan does come out the rest of his family in this book--with mixed results. Three of his sisters are cool with it, two are NOT cool, bordering on homophobic, and his mom is on the fence. She still thinks his "situation" is a phase. I really began to engage with the book when all this started happening. Brendan's interactions with Mark show advancement in terms of physicality, but not emotion. They are separated by distance, and different objectives. Brendan gets the (accurate) sense that Mark will never "come out" and he fully acknowledges that Mark had only dated girls before him.
As Brendan flails in his relationships, his new friendships thrive. In particular, Andres--a project partner from his business class--becomes a close confidante. It turns out that Andres provides very good counsel, and helps Brendan through the rocky issues with both Mark and his family. I liked Andres quite a bit. He's a little older, and more mature than Brendan, but very compassionate and fun.
There are two sexy scenes in the book that are a little more graphic than fade-to-black, but they are not hot-and-heavy. Mark is exploring himself, and his boundaries. He talks a bit about the physical features of guys he likes (most specifically penis features), but this seemed in keeping with the character's age and did not feel inappropriate for the audience. (Straight teen guys get graphic about the female body features they enjoy after all...)
I think I did enjoy this book more that the first, but it ends on a more bittersweet note. It explores the morass of coming out, and dealing with disapproving friends or family. It felt very honest, if a little naive. Brendan certainly owns his feelings regarding his family's response to his news--and this was very engaging. The writing, at times, seems a little clunky, with stilted dialogue and too much description of stuff that was not central to the plot. That said, I do like Brendan, and I am intrigued about his future.
I received a review copy via NetGalley.
October 12, 2015
I really wanted to like this book. I rated the first of the series four stars and since it had been a while I reread the first book just to get back in the mood. And yea, Bottled Up was a good YA novel. But let's just say I want be rereading this book. Why?
First, I like HEA books. This wasn't ! I even like a HFN, this wasn't ! Bittersweet ? I would call this just bitter !
And since this is told in Brendan's POV, I really need to understand Brendan . And it would help if I liked the character. But no way could I understand this guy, much less like him!
This is just my opinion but, Brendan was a selfish, hypocritical , arrogant , self centered , did I say selfish?, confused person!
It was all "me,me,me" with this guy ! And yea, he's a teenager but still. I loved Mark and it sucks that Brendan just did the poor guy wrong!
Not a fan of bittersweet. So I'll pass on future books in the series unless we can have a HEA book about Mark that doesn't involve Brendan.
First, I like HEA books. This wasn't ! I even like a HFN, this wasn't ! Bittersweet ? I would call this just bitter !
And since this is told in Brendan's POV, I really need to understand Brendan . And it would help if I liked the character. But no way could I understand this guy, much less like him!
This is just my opinion but, Brendan was a selfish, hypocritical , arrogant , self centered , did I say selfish?, confused person!
It was all "me,me,me" with this guy ! And yea, he's a teenager but still. I loved Mark and it sucks that Brendan just did the poor guy wrong!
Not a fan of bittersweet. So I'll pass on future books in the series unless we can have a HEA book about Mark that doesn't involve Brendan.
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September 16, 2015************** ARC provided from net gallery in exchange for an honest review******************
I have decided not to put up a star rating, simply because I DNF'ed the book at 45%.
I am a big fan of the M/M genre so it hurts me to say this. It was a real struggle for me to even reach 45% in this book.
First and foremost, it is necessary to inform the reader that it would benefit them to have read the first book in the series. I wasn't aware it was a sequel, because of this, there were a lot of references to things I wasn't familiar with.
Furthermore, the story is more descriptive than anything else, which is unnecessary for the "storyline". It use the term storyline loosely since it didn't feel like there was one. Lastly, I didn't feel any connections to any of the characters. They didn't have any depth unfortunately.
I have decided not to put up a star rating, simply because I DNF'ed the book at 45%.
I am a big fan of the M/M genre so it hurts me to say this. It was a real struggle for me to even reach 45% in this book.
First and foremost, it is necessary to inform the reader that it would benefit them to have read the first book in the series. I wasn't aware it was a sequel, because of this, there were a lot of references to things I wasn't familiar with.
Furthermore, the story is more descriptive than anything else, which is unnecessary for the "storyline". It use the term storyline loosely since it didn't feel like there was one. Lastly, I didn't feel any connections to any of the characters. They didn't have any depth unfortunately.
September 14, 2015
Brendan Madden is starting his first year at college away from home and is looking forward to the possibilities. He feels like the fresh start will provide him the opportunity to be open about who he is--and his sexuality--without needing to worry as much about what his family or his friends from home might think. Here, he won't need to hide his relationship with Mark, his closeted boyfriend from back home, either. But college also provides many opportunities to see what one's life could be like, to interact with and learn from other people, and to pursue one's passions. And Brendan finds himself wondering if hiding himself--any part of his life--is holding him back from truly living. What if Mark decides to never come out? What if Brendan can't tell his sisters that he's gay? What if they react poorly? And what if he meets a guy on campus, there's a mutual interest, and he wants to know what it's like to be in a relationship that doesn't need to be kept a secret? Perhaps, in his first year of college, Brendan will be forced to answer all of those questions and more.
I really enjoyed reading this. Brendan's narration is a unique and authentic voice, one that I found really helped me get into the mindset of someone in his situation. There is so much that I think is relatable for anyone who has been through that similar life transition of getting to college and immediately feeling like they can be more open about various aspects of their lives. And the way Brendan approaches the situations he faces came across as very true to someone with his life experiences.
This is a sequel, though I didn't really catch onto that until later in the book when I found myself wondering if some of the references being made might have more to them. That said, I don't feel like not reading the previous book stood in the way of my enjoyment of this one (though, as with all sequels, it probably helps to have read it). This is also definitely a new adult text, both characterized by the age of the main character and also the fact that some more adult themes do come up in a couple of places.
This is definitely worth a read. It's quick and entertaining, while also having some real depth and emotion to it at the same time.
[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I really enjoyed reading this. Brendan's narration is a unique and authentic voice, one that I found really helped me get into the mindset of someone in his situation. There is so much that I think is relatable for anyone who has been through that similar life transition of getting to college and immediately feeling like they can be more open about various aspects of their lives. And the way Brendan approaches the situations he faces came across as very true to someone with his life experiences.
This is a sequel, though I didn't really catch onto that until later in the book when I found myself wondering if some of the references being made might have more to them. That said, I don't feel like not reading the previous book stood in the way of my enjoyment of this one (though, as with all sequels, it probably helps to have read it). This is also definitely a new adult text, both characterized by the age of the main character and also the fact that some more adult themes do come up in a couple of places.
This is definitely worth a read. It's quick and entertaining, while also having some real depth and emotion to it at the same time.
[Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
January 26, 2016
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with this ebook
I had to DNF this after reading 40 % of it, but since it only got gradually worse and worse, I just can't take anymore of it.
The main problem with this book is that the plot is way too thin.
It's about a guy who starts college and tries to make friends, while he is in a long distance realationship with his boyfriend who still lives in their hometown.
That's it.
And it's SO boring! There's no other way to say it.
If only the writing had been good, it probably wouldn't have been so boring, but the writing was the opposite of good. The writer had many problems with telling instead of showing, just to mention one thing. Also, 50 % of the dialogue was totally unnecessary. A lot of the descriptions of the main character - Brendan's - days were completely useless. Nothing interesting ever happened.
Another thing is that none of the characters seemed like real people. They were described in a really flat way, and I never felt like getting to know them, since it didn't seemed like there was anything to get to know. I didn't feel like I even got to know Brendan or his boyfriend, Mark. It was also weird that it didn't seem like any of them were actually in love with each other. Brendan kept talking about how hard it was for them to be apart, but when they finally got to be togehter, it was still really boring. It just didn't seem like they were in a relationship, and they didn't have anything to talk about except from when they were arguing.
I'm definitely not going to buy this book when it gets published.
I had to DNF this after reading 40 % of it, but since it only got gradually worse and worse, I just can't take anymore of it.
The main problem with this book is that the plot is way too thin.
It's about a guy who starts college and tries to make friends, while he is in a long distance realationship with his boyfriend who still lives in their hometown.
That's it.
And it's SO boring! There's no other way to say it.
If only the writing had been good, it probably wouldn't have been so boring, but the writing was the opposite of good. The writer had many problems with telling instead of showing, just to mention one thing. Also, 50 % of the dialogue was totally unnecessary. A lot of the descriptions of the main character - Brendan's - days were completely useless. Nothing interesting ever happened.
Another thing is that none of the characters seemed like real people. They were described in a really flat way, and I never felt like getting to know them, since it didn't seemed like there was anything to get to know. I didn't feel like I even got to know Brendan or his boyfriend, Mark. It was also weird that it didn't seem like any of them were actually in love with each other. Brendan kept talking about how hard it was for them to be apart, but when they finally got to be togehter, it was still really boring. It just didn't seem like they were in a relationship, and they didn't have anything to talk about except from when they were arguing.
I'm definitely not going to buy this book when it gets published.
August 7, 2015
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.
My first impression is that I very much enjoyed this book. Using the first person narrator from Brendan's perspective, I felt made for a stronger storyline. I felt that I could hear his voice and picture him as a person as I was reading.
I strongly recommend that readers pick up "Bottled Up Secret" before reading this book. I was unaware of the other novel and there were times I found myself confused by certain events as the book makes frequent reference to Brendan and Mark's backstory (as laid out in Bottled Up Secret).
I did find myself wanting to know a little bit more about Mark and his family life and history. I realize the story is told from Brendan's perspective and so the reader is only privy to what he (Brendan) emphasizes, but I couldn't help but think that we should see more of Mark's family life. It is possible, however that this is explored in the first book.
The reading level felt a little immature at points for the frankness of the subject matter, but that is easily overlooked, and may be more appealing to younger kids struggling with their own sexuality.
I will definitely look for books by the same author in the future.
My first impression is that I very much enjoyed this book. Using the first person narrator from Brendan's perspective, I felt made for a stronger storyline. I felt that I could hear his voice and picture him as a person as I was reading.
I strongly recommend that readers pick up "Bottled Up Secret" before reading this book. I was unaware of the other novel and there were times I found myself confused by certain events as the book makes frequent reference to Brendan and Mark's backstory (as laid out in Bottled Up Secret).
I did find myself wanting to know a little bit more about Mark and his family life and history. I realize the story is told from Brendan's perspective and so the reader is only privy to what he (Brendan) emphasizes, but I couldn't help but think that we should see more of Mark's family life. It is possible, however that this is explored in the first book.
The reading level felt a little immature at points for the frankness of the subject matter, but that is easily overlooked, and may be more appealing to younger kids struggling with their own sexuality.
I will definitely look for books by the same author in the future.
August 23, 2015
I really enjoyed Breaking (Up) Point. I felt the characters were well developed and the situations certain display a lot of the challenges than young gay men must face as they come of age.I think books like this are good for readers struggling to find their own way, especially when different avenues are explored in a nonjudgmental way, as they are here.
Coming out is difficult for most people. This is true for Brendan and Mark, even though they personally have different challenges. Many 'coming out' and 'early relationship' issues are explored through this story... long distance relationships, trust and acceptance issues with religion, family and friends; and most important-- accepting and being able to be yourself.
The publisher has tagged this book towards teens and young adults. There isn't any of what I would call graphic sex in this book but sex is part of the story line. This may be helpful in deciding if this book is right for some younger readers.
I received an ARC copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
Coming out is difficult for most people. This is true for Brendan and Mark, even though they personally have different challenges. Many 'coming out' and 'early relationship' issues are explored through this story... long distance relationships, trust and acceptance issues with religion, family and friends; and most important-- accepting and being able to be yourself.
The publisher has tagged this book towards teens and young adults. There isn't any of what I would call graphic sex in this book but sex is part of the story line. This may be helpful in deciding if this book is right for some younger readers.
I received an ARC copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
January 17, 2016
(Thankyou to Bold Stroke Books and Brian McNamara for an arc)
I always enjoy reading these sorts of books. Laid back, relaxed reading with amusing plots and relateable characters. Having read the first book in this series (which I didn't know was a series) I already knew about the characters within this book however since it had been quite a while between reading both books, I had forgotten most of what happened in the first book. Therefore if you haven't read the first book and want to start here, you'd probably find it just fine.
In many ways I found the book really very similar to my own life and I must admit it made me realise a few things that I need to have a serious think about, which I wasn't expecting. Enough about me however, the book was really brilliant. The right amount of feelings, fun and a couple of sex scenes too (Don't worry, they don't get too bad.) A quick read but an enjoyable one, with characters I wished exsisted where I lived, if only.
I always enjoy reading these sorts of books. Laid back, relaxed reading with amusing plots and relateable characters. Having read the first book in this series (which I didn't know was a series) I already knew about the characters within this book however since it had been quite a while between reading both books, I had forgotten most of what happened in the first book. Therefore if you haven't read the first book and want to start here, you'd probably find it just fine.
In many ways I found the book really very similar to my own life and I must admit it made me realise a few things that I need to have a serious think about, which I wasn't expecting. Enough about me however, the book was really brilliant. The right amount of feelings, fun and a couple of sex scenes too (Don't worry, they don't get too bad.) A quick read but an enjoyable one, with characters I wished exsisted where I lived, if only.
August 16, 2015
Brendan is now at college and is happy that he doesn't have to hide his sexuality any more. He's frustrated that Mark isn't out and that parts of their relationship still have to be secret. Breaking Up Point is a better written book than its predecessor, Bottled Up Secret. But... two graphic scenes squarely move it into the New Adult territory and make it hard to have in a high school library. The angst and decisions Brendan goes through and talks through make the novel one that would be welcome for teens dealing with these issues. It's too bad the author didn't make the book more accessible to teen audiences.
October 27, 2015
**I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Alright so at first I didn't think I was going to like this book. It took me forever to get into it but then somehow today it hooked me. I really do like how this book dealt with LGBT issues. These issues were looked at from various sides and it was very well written and explained. There was a bit too much talking about sex and stuff that I found unnecessary to the plot but other than that I enjoyed this book.
Alright so at first I didn't think I was going to like this book. It took me forever to get into it but then somehow today it hooked me. I really do like how this book dealt with LGBT issues. These issues were looked at from various sides and it was very well written and explained. There was a bit too much talking about sex and stuff that I found unnecessary to the plot but other than that I enjoyed this book.
November 5, 2015
3.5 stars
I read this as a stand alone. I liked it. it was a meandering tale of a Brendan's first year at college. Here is why it wasn't a higher rated book: the conversation is stilted, especially at the beginning. There are a lot of fact dumps, loosely disguised as conversation. this improves as the novel moves on, but is still a problem. I would recommend this book, with the caveat of having to ignore this issue.
I read this as a stand alone. I liked it. it was a meandering tale of a Brendan's first year at college. Here is why it wasn't a higher rated book: the conversation is stilted, especially at the beginning. There are a lot of fact dumps, loosely disguised as conversation. this improves as the novel moves on, but is still a problem. I would recommend this book, with the caveat of having to ignore this issue.
September 25, 2015
I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had read the first book. It was good, but kinda dry and got old after the first few chapters. The characters were hot as hell though and i like how the main character accepts himself even though his family dosent right away.
February 27, 2016
I liked this book better than the first one by far. Brendan had a lot more going on with his family which was really interesting and then Mark and his college friends as well. Definitely a great follow up to the first one!
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