Trix

I started the book under the assumption Mark (and it took me 1/4 of the book to realise I was calling him Rick instead, no idea why) wasn't as self aware as he appeared so I lost any faith in what he said, did or thought. I stopped empathising with him and found myself emotionally distanced. Then Mark is passed around like a blow-up doll for all the gymnasts. 3/4 into the book we learn the focus of the story was for Mark to hook up with another 'alpha male' in the making, all with the help of benevolent and oh so, so charming Adam.

Just when I was able to move past the way too descriptive paragraphs of what the boys looked like and was starting to actually pay attention to the social and psychological patterns that were allegedly forming within the group, the author jumps back on the sex-marathon wagon and ends everything with a VERY explicit DP scene (Loederkoningin will know what I'm talking about). So while I was on the verge of moving to 2.5 stars, that final scene killed the thought. With "a maneuver so impossible the Kama Sutra had not even devoted a page to it" I wonder how I could find it in me to resist the story's allure?! (I'm being sarcastic here)

Perhaps I set out reading this hoping to find a happily ever after and 'love conquers all' at the end, when clearly that is not the case [Spoiler for the ending ahead] (I mean, Mark mentions in the epilogue that he's almost certain he and Dan will eventually break up and that he will never fall head over heels in love with anyone). Half the cast of gymnasts was barely included in the action of the story other than the repetitive paragraphs praising their good looks, the author mentions at the end that he left them barely fleshed out in the hopes of editing the story for publication later on. Add to all that bad grammar and spelling and a twist in writing at the end (from a journal-like writing style throughout the story, the epilogue is written as an addressed letter to a third party character that never made an appearance in the story).