Silver Boy

... in Love #2

by Daryl Leonardo

Andrew is a jock, tall and attractive with eyes you could float away in. Though, despite seeming to have the qualities that would make for a romantic love interest, he's never been in a relationship. Why? Because he's in the closet. Being gay isn't exactly suited to a guy like him.

Marred with a tendency to compare himself to others - particularly to his overachieving older brother - and having witnessed a less attractive classmate score the man of his dreams, Andrew figures it may be time to start dating. And shortly after his eighteenth birthday, he resolves to do just that.

But how does a "Guy Seeking Guys" go about finding "Guys Seeking Guys" while keeping it separate from his everyday life?

The answer: Online.

Genres: Coming Of Age, Queer, Young Adult, Gay, Romance, M M Romance

397 pages, Paperback

First published March 11, 2022

About the author

Daryl Leonardo is an independent writer. Born in the Philippines and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, he began writing in order to create roles for himself whilst pursuing a career as an actor. He now resides in Los Angeles, California with his husband and two dogs, where he continues to take roles in independent projects and local theatre.

Reviews

[J.R. Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow Book 2 was just as amazing as book 1. I love how it brings in a character from the first book and tells his story. I'm also very glad in this book to see Andrew and his best friend Riles come back together as friends after Riles finds out Andrew is gay and comes to accept it. Daryl Leonardo captures a lot in his two books. Such an awesome Author.

[Pablito · Rating 3 out of 5]

Daryl Leonardo once again has written a realistic tale this time of an unlikable, clueless high school football player who thinks he wants a boyfriend. To have a boyfriend though one needs to be a friend, and Andrew's horniness seems to be the beta blocker here. Or maybe he really does want a relationship but a little too desperately for the average joe on dating apps.

The writing style is effortless, casual, completely in-tune with its high school virgin narrator, and on occasion funny. We know Andrew and we come to feel for him. Kudos for the realistic portrayal of how it feels to lose your virginity to a sex partner. And for how it feels period. Kudos for capturing the range of emotions a closeted high school jock goes through.

[Anthony Carrasquillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drown was one of my top reads from last year, and I was so excited to get to read the next book in this series. Truth be told, I though that Andrew was a d**k in the first book, because well, he was. This book made me love him.

I saw a lot of myself in this character (which I guess means that I’m kind of a d**k), but I feel like anyone who reads this book would do the same. It’s a unique and very realistic story that isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. I often read YA and get the impression that the stories are forced, but not this time.

This truly is one of the best books that I’ve read in a while. Daryl does a fantastic job bringing this amazing character to life and adding to this storyline. I highly recommend this book to all.

[Edith Pawlicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully crafted, hot mess of a story

I love Leonardo's style - it has wonderful flow that lets me get lost for hours. Just like in drown, the characterization feels so real that I would totally believe it was a memoir. Andrew has a bit of a hang-up with language which I absolutely loved - in the middle of very serious scenes, he would crack me up with his non sequiturs. ("English is weird.") I think this is a valuable story, especially for a teenager or someone navigating online dating. Heads up - there's dating but this is not a love story. At least, not a love story between people - it is about coming to like oneself. That's a tough call in this book, because Andrew, the first-person narrator is not likable - he's rude, crass, and petty. But in some ways, his behavior and his thought process in understandable. He doesn't feel liked or loved, and can't love himself, so he's a jerk. It's hard to look away from his hot mess of a life, and I found myself really wanting him to come to terms with himself so he can be nice. And he does - actually, he's the shallow and rude guy he's been all along, but he learns how to apologize, how to reach out. That instead of blaming others for not connecting with him, he connects with them instead. Some content warnings: profanity (including gay slurs), underage drinking, drug references, and sex. Overall, go into this prepared for drama, but I think this insightful and well-crafted book is one that you will remember for a long time - I know I have thought of it many times since finishing!

[Calvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, so I’ll be honest - Andrew wasn’t my favorite character in drown and I wasn’t expecting a book about him, but this book made me appreciate Andrew as a character. I’m even glad there was a book too expand on Andrew’s complexities as a character. I loved Andrew’s growth in the story and the ending was so satisfying.
I truly enjoyed how Daryl developed Andrew’s story and how the book turned out. I found everything relatable with Andrew’s story and I didn’t think I would. From growing up, to figuring out yourself, and to even building the relationships around you as you figure out your own identity. If you have read Drown, then you definitely need to read this book and if you haven’t - well you still should because it’s a great book! There’s not much you’ll miss out on if you didn’t read Drown, and I think this is a book everyone should read.
Congrats Daryl on releasing a great second book!

[Carla Z · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the author’s first book, Drown, and it was funny, relatable, and very well written. This one does NOT disappoint. It’s another LGBTQ coming of age story, this time one of the other characters from Drown, Andrew, and we get to see him navigate through his young life. I love that the author chose to focus on Andrew because I was always curious about him in Drown. I felt like there was more to him that we needed to see. This truly is a great read. It ties in certain elements from Drown so that you know it’s from the same “world”, so to speak. Another fantastic job by a fantastic author.

[Larry · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great Sequel

I am very glad that I came across book 1 in this series, after book 2 had been published. That way I could read 1 then 2, and now like all of us who have read these book, we wait for book 3. I really liked reading about Andrew. There were so many things that he did in book 1 that made me scratch my head. It will be great to see who book 3 is about. There is still an unfinished story about Andrew. Great book. I really like the character development. Makes everyone real.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Star!!! Knocked it out of the park!

Author Daryl Leonardo did it again writing another great book. What a story teller! This book was SO well written and SO relatable I found myself just drawn to the book. Telling Andrew’s story runs you through all the emotions. Most of all, I could empathize with Andrew and relate to his story.

Another good one here! Highly recommend this book to readers. 5 Stars!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the overall telling of this story. My only problem was with the MC. He came off as very shallow (which I can somewhat forgive because of his age - he’s 18 and just finished his junior year in high school). I kept waiting for him to redeem himself, but that never happened. Still, I appreciate the author’s writing style and look forward to reading more of his work.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished Silver Boy. As much as I loved the first book, Drown, I loved this one even more. Nice humor in this one too. Great story. Great characters. These two books are so well done and polished, I can’t believe these are Daryl’s first two published books. Can’t wait for his next book!

[travis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think this book worked for me. I understand what it was trying to do, how it was about how Andrew needed to figure himself out and experience life and do all that before he ended up in a relationship, but it just sort of fell flat for me. Andrew's relationship with Rudy gets the most focus, and they have some sweet moments together, but it ends up Andrew calling it quits and Rudy blocking him, and there's no real closure to their relationship and it just feels frustrating to read. Plus the strained relationship with his brother could have been interesting, but it doesn't get a lot of focus and is resolved a bit too quickly and cleanly. I did like Andrew's friendship with Mackenzie, but overall the book itself just didn't work for me.

[Steve J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the author’s first book, Drown, and was looking forward to this one. However I didn’t really enjoy this book as much. I guess I didn’t identify with or feel that invested in the main character, and none of his efforts to find a gay relationship worked out. I guess the usual plot of a m/m romance is that despite a struggle, in the end true love wins, but this didn’t happen here.

[Lacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

“So, you wanted to be the golden boy for once?”
“Pretty much,” I say, as casually as I can manage.
Rudy looks at me curiously for a moment. “Now, why would you want someone else’s title?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if your brother is the golden boy, you should have a title of your own. You could be like… the Silver Boy.”
“Silver Boy? I like the sentiment, but silver’s not gold.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.”

I was so excited when Daryl said he was returning to the Drown Universe (of which I will forever comp as a gayer version of Mean Girls thank you very much 😌). Regina George Andrew gets to shine as the Silver Boy in his own coming-of-age story. To me, this book reads like a diary format. It was a bit different from drown but definitely fits Andrew's personality. I was really rooting for a particular relationship to develop but unfortunately it never did. We kept getting flickers of hope but they would fizzle out every time. I wish we could have gotten a Rudy pov or maybe a little more about him. I don't like not having closure. Though, I do understand why Daryl took the story in that particular direction. Even if I didn't like it. Even when it's probably for the best. The moment Andrew chose to walk away, was the moment his character development really hit me. And I think that's one of the best parts of storytelling. As far as the writing goes, I'll read anything and everything Daryl ever writes. But I feel a little anticlimactic as I close Silver Boy.

[Jeffrey G · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is framed as a coming out story. It does an abysmal job with that storyline, neither appreciating the negative consequences to a popular high school athlete nor dealing with the main concerns for a boy in that situation: the locker room and the gym showers. Although the character is an athlete, the author avoids everything associated with athletics: practicing, playing sports, working out, watching diet, etc.

Fortunately, this is mostly not a coming out story, but something else entirely. There is a trope...I don't know what to call it...but I will call it the "auditioning boyfriends" trope. In this trope the mc goes out on a bunch of dates with a goal in mind (eg get a date for homecoming). That's basically what this is. As such, it's easy to read and not boring, but it's also not very satisfying. The main love interest is fairly inscrutable.

A few things I really love about the book:
The mc is very confident in his looks. He is not consumed by anxiety. He is active, not passive. He does stuff rather than waiting for stuff to happen. The mc is also somewhat politically incorrect. His attitudes towards race and his general misogyny are who he is...the author is giving us a portrait of a particular 18-year-old boy, and he does not feel the need to hedge. In this sense, the tone of the book is a breath of fresh air and a welcome change from what one usually reads in this genre.

Would I recommend reading this? Yes, with limited expectations.

[Peter Cloutier · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with it

I finished it, and the writing is good, but there were a lot of things about the character development and plot I did not like…almost stopped reading several times.
M/C was very unlikeable to me. Not a very kind brother, or friend. Acted more like a 16 year old than a 18 year old. Not knowing much about gay sex? Wonders who is the man and who is the woman? I’m sorry, being gay was not a new realization to him, and the internet has a TON of info on all things for teems coming out. Just not believable.
I also didn’t understand his relationship with McKenzie. Doesn’t know her name after meeting her several times? Gravitating to her when he says repeatedly “i hate you”?
Finally, the whole situation with Rudy baffled and frustrated me, as long as the M/C. I just didn’t get it.
Sorry to be a downer, but I just didn’t enjoy this. Too many holes in it.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must read book 1 to figure out this character and his friends. Not as good as book one but not bad. More of an awakening story than a love story. It should of been on kindle unlimited but was not. I would read a third book if it went somewhere. Little over priced for the story but I am not returning it. So not bad.

[Pakano Arahashi · Rating 3 out of 5]

- The main character is a side character from Drown
- Expect to read a romantic story but it's a COA story
- Passable

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5. Not an easy read and one about the journey. And the happy ending for Andrew is with himself, not any other person. Raw and honest and messy and frustrating, but so very human and beautiful.

[Steven J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a feel good read. It made me smile a lot. Completely relatable and it left me wanting to know what happens in next in his life.