Beautiful

Gay Youth Chronicles Complete Chronology #7

by Mark A. Roeder

Cory is the golden boy. He lives a charmed existence. That is until a disturbing revelation and an accident drastically alters his life. Suddenly, he is no longer sure if his friends and teammates will remain true or turn on him if they discover his secrets. From the outside, Cory’s life appears perfect. Only Cory knows that couldn’t be further from the truth.

210 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 4, 2016

About the author

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

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't decide if I really liked this or not. The writing is ok (not counting the numerous errors), the story flowed well, but for most of the book we are reminded on every other page that Cory is beautiful. Yes, the title of the book is Beautiful, but it was a bit much at times. Being gay when I was in school was absolutely "each man for himself", so it was interesting to read about gay kids who (eventually) acknowledged each other and had straight friends who knew they were gay and didn't care.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

I guess I'm not the target audience for this book. It is a gay romance for young adults. At the start I found the book too sweet and idealised and the corny American boy's names a but too much but in the end I enjoyed this book very much and found it very moving.

[Emrys Pendragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mark Roeder has written over 50 books that are included in the Gay Youth Chronicles. Some of the books overlap and many contain characters that appear in other books. Thus, a reader interested in reading more than one book must consider the order in which they will read the books: you can (1) read them in Chronological order, or you can (2) read them by region. Most of the books occur in one of three regions: Blackford, Verona, or Bloomington, Indiana.

A chronological ordering of the books can be found on the author's web page :
https://www.markroeder.com/novels/ind...

I have read the books mostly in chronological order except that, since some of the books occur concurrently, you should not read "Beautiful" until you have read "The Soccer Field is Empty" and "Someone is Watching" because "beautiful" gives away important details as well as the ending to "The Soccer Field is Empty" and "Someone is Watching." I was very fortunate, but completely lucky, to have first read "The Soccer Field is Empty" and then "Someone is Watching" and then the current book: "Beautiful". But basically, all three books occur concurrently and each book provides more information about the overlapping characters and Verona High School (VHS).

So "beautiful" is truly a beautiful book -- I loved it. It did fill in some information about Taylor, and especially Mark, and it was interesting to see them from Cory's point of view. However, "Beautiful" is a terrific story by itself and describes Cory.


The first half of the book is about Cory as a twelve year old boy. He is a talented soccer player, possesses terrific beauty, and has lots of friends and admirers. However, none of these things give him much comfort because he feels that no one knows the "real" Cory because he's gay and closeted. Thus, the admiration feels completely hollow.

Than, an accident changes everything and the book continues three years after the accident with Cory 15 years old and a freshman in high school (VHS). The question that the book then addresses is "Can a boy who appears to have everything find someone to love him given that he is harboring two secrets: he's gay, and he is unable to perform sexually?"

[Linh Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowing Alexander Graham Bell's Quote, "When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."

Cory's life was not going to be the same after a car accident. However, with determination he pressed onward getting rehabilitated, joining a school sport event that his physical ability permit, learning techniques from a tough, rough and difficult senior partner/trainer, and developing strength thru practices and weight lifts.

This is another happy ending story by author Mark A. Roeder. I admit that I've read many of his gay boys of VHS books; sometimes I experienced deja vu b/c of the overlapping of characters in these VHS stories.

[Randy Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yet another great read from Mark Roeder. This is an excellent book with a happy ending. The sex and profanity or at a minimum which I prefer most of the time. The characters are believable and for anyone who has read Mark's novel UGLY, you get to see the story plus more from Cory's point of view.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the finest of Mark's books but still, a worthwhile read and sweet.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A companion piece to Ugly, this book falls second in the Verona Gay Boy Chronicles and tells the story of Cory and Julien from Cory's point of view. It's a quick read and re-introduces the Verona characters in their middle school and then early high school years. I'd still recommend reading The Soccer Field Is Empty first and then backfilling the story with Ugly and Beautiful, both of which contain major spoilers about what happens in the Soccer Field story. Roeder continues to score high marks for presenting gay youth characters realistically, even if the town of Verona is a bit of a fantasy world for the late 70's and early 80's world these characters would have been living in. To my mind, it's the ideal world that Boomer gays wish they had lived in and which Millennial gay do live in, at least in many parts of the country.

[Michael Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great edition to one of my favorite YA series.

I absolutely love Mark Roeder's Gay Youth Chronicles and the Bloomington Boys. And this book, Beautiful, is just another reason why I love his books. And as I've said with so many of the books in this series, Beautiful needs to be in every school library for all to enjoy!