Pictures of You (’90s Coming of Age #1)

Title: Pictures of You (’90s Coming of Age #1)
Author: Leta Blake
Publisher: Leta Blake Books
Release Date: September 19th 2016
Genre(s): Contemporary/New Adult
Page Count: 316 pages
Reviewed by: Lili
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Blurb:

Growing up gay isn’t easy. Growing up gay in Knoxville, Tennessee is even harder.

Eighteen-year-old Peter Mandel, a private school senior—class of 1991—is passionate about photography. Peter doesn’t have many friends, preferring to shoot pictures from behind the scenes to keep his homosexuality secret.

Enter Adam Algedi, a charming, worldly new guy who doesn’t do labels, but does want to do Peter. Hardly able to believe gorgeous Adam would want geeky, skinny him of all people, Peter’s swept away on a journey of first love and sexual discovery. But as their mutual web of lies spins tighter and tighter, can Peter find the confidence he needs to make the right choices? And will his crush on Daniel, a college acquaintance, open a new path?

Join Peter in the first of this four-part coming of age series as he struggles to love and be loved, and grow into a gay man worthy of his own respect.

This new series by Leta Blake is gay fiction with romantic elements.

Book 1 of 4.

Warning! These books contain: New Adult fiction, ‘90s gay life, small city homosexual experiences, Southern biases, sexual exploration, romance, homophobia, bisexuality, and twisted-up young love. Oh, and a guaranteed happy ending for the main character by the end of Book 4.

Leta, Leta, Leta,

You’ve been-

At first glance you know this is the coming of age story of Peter and Adam. Peter’s isolated at school and keeps his homosexuality a secret. In comes the new guy, Adam, who sweeps Peter off his feet. Easy, right?

This book put me through the ringer. I’m going to post a few images of what I felt like while reading it.

Adam,

Peter,

I feared for my iPad while reading this. I even thought to myself- there’s no way this book is getting high rating because-

Nothing higher than 2 Stars! It was such a hard read at times and made me crazy. But you know what some things you can’t ignore.

For example:

-Great plot
-Excellent characterization
-Awesome pace
-And an ending that left me wanting more. I mean, what’s going to happen? How’s it all going to work out?

So, as much as this book drove me insane and gave me high blood pressure- I have to give credit where credit’s due. Leta Blake is an exceptional writer. All those emotions she wanted her readers to feel- she accomplished. There was also that part of me that understood why Adam and Peter did the things they did. Teenagehood is such a confusing time. How could I stay mad at them and not sympathize? You evil genius, you!