Review: One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva

10 June, 2014 Reviews 7 comments

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Review: One Man Guy by Michael BarakivaOne Man Guy by Michael Barakiva
Series: Standalone
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on May 27th 2014
Pages: 255
Genres: Contemporary
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Amazon Good BooksBook Depository
Goodreads
four-stars

A heartfelt, laugh-out-loud-funny story of romance, family, and self-discovery.

Alek Khederian should have guessed something was wrong when his parents took him to a restaurant. Everyone knows that Armenians never eat out. Between bouts of interrogating the waitress and criticizing the menu, Alek’s parents announce that he’ll be attending summer school in order to bring up his grades. Alek is sure this experience will be the perfect hellish end to his hellish freshman year of high school. He never could’ve predicted that he’d meet someone like Ethan.

Ethan is everything Alek wishes he were: confident, free-spirited, and irreverent. He can’t believe a guy this cool wants to be his friend. And before long, it seems like Ethan wants to be more than friends. Alek has never thought about having a boyfriend—he’s barely ever had a girlfriend—but maybe it’s time to think again.

The only thing you need to know about this book is that it is adorbs. Totally, utterly, sweetly adorable. It will give you all the cute feelings and make you want to hug both protagonists. Anyone who doesn’t agree?

Anybody who doesn’t finish this book wanting to hug everyone involved has no soul. NO SOUL, I SAY!

Do I still have to review the rest of it? I do? Okay. Fine. The writing was fairly good. There were a few times where the characters were stuck having conversations that clearly became lectures from an author mouthpiece. But, you know what? I don’t even care because: adorbs.

The relationship between Aleks and Ethan was intensely sweet and surprisingly physical given the age of our protagonist. And by physical, I mean, I had to stop a couple of times to swoon.

It’s the characters, though, the whole range of them, that’s going to make you love this book. From Aleks himself who is brilliantly written in a teenage voice, to his parents and brother and Ethan himself. I love them all. I just want to HUG them all. Awkwardly. For an indecent amount of time.

 

The richest part of the story is Alek’s Armenian heritage and the foods that are richly described in the story. We actually went to an Armenian restaurant that evening to eat the food because it was described so beautifully in the book.

There’s not much more to say. This book is perfect if you’re in the mood for lighthearted fun and a sweet story.

Kat Kennedy

Kat Kennedy

Co-blogger at Cuddlebuggery
Kat Kennedy is a book reviewer and aspiring author in the Young Adult genre. She reviews critically but humorously and get super excited about great books. Find her on GoodReads.
Kat Kennedy

7 Responses to “Review: One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva”

  1. Jen B.

    You got me to click on the link and read the whole review and now I’m adding it to my Amazon cart. Great review!

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