Lis’ Review: End of the Beginning by John Goode

John Goode

End of the Beginning (Tales from Foster High, #2)
Dreamspinner Press, December 7, 2011 | 78 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
Not too long ago, Brad Greymark outed himself to his high school and the rest of the town of Foster, Texas, with a fairly obvious public display of affection. Now what? Brad had thought being Foster’s favorite son wasn’t that important, but when it comes time to choose between high school fame and Kyle, the boy he might just be falling for? It’s not an easy decision, knowing his heart may break either way.

Genre & Keywords:
M/M Romance, High School, Coming Out, Abusive Parents, Friendship, Coming to Terms with One’s Sexuality

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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 1.5 out of 3
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Reviewed by Lis:

A little while ago, I reviewed the first part of this story, Maybe With a Chance of Certainty (here). The End of the Beginning is the continuation of that story. Only this time we get Brad’s point of view, instead of Kyle’s.

The End of the Beginning is entirely different from Maybe With a Chance of Certainty. Not only in the change of POV, but also in character. Brad is very much different from Kyle, but I’ll get back to that later.

The story continues right after Brad openly outs himself to the rest of the school in defense of Kyle and the aftermath of his decision to out himself. It’s clear that while Brad’s thought about it, it was an impulsive act. Suddenly it’s there and it’s big and how on earth is he going to deal with everything? It will only be a matter of time before his abusive father finds out and then what? Plus before he outed himself he was on top of the high school society ladder. Now he just might find himself to be an outcast. How will he deal with that?

Where Kyle is the sensitive but jaded, Brad is ever much the jock. At the same time he is very aware of the world around him and how it is run. He is aware that people just think him a dumb jock and at times he acts the part. In that regard he is very aware of his shortcomings. It’s also clear that he longs to do something about it, but doesn’t know how.

At first glance, Brad is not a very likable character. Not in the way Kyle is. Where, as a reader, you sympathize with Kyle, you just want to smack Brad around for the poor choices he makes. It takes a while for Brad to ‘get it’. However, when we get to see more of Brad and his world, you get a little more insight into why he does what he does.

Overall, this certainly is a good continuation of Kyle and Brad’s story. It’s well written and insightful. I hope we get to see more of Kyle and Brad in the future.
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