The continuing adventures of Andrew McLeod. Book 12 covers the summer after the end of his first year at university.
Size: 456 KB (88,399 words)
Genre: Coming of Age
Sex Contents: Some Sex
Tags: Ma/Fa, Consensual, Heterosexual, Fiction, Historical, Humor, Military, Rags To Riches, School, Light Bond, Anal Sex, Facial, Oral Sex, Safe Sex, Sex Toys, Menstrual Play
Review by Quasirandom [other reviews by Quasirandom]
Reviewed:
I do like me a good, long coming-of-age story, about a young person coming into their own as a mature grownup. And this novel in many installments is indeed long, has been good so far, and is very much about coming of age.
If you’ve gotten this far in, you have your own ideas, but I at least am still enjoying this novel of an interesting young man—a coming-of-age story in the best way. As of halfway through, it’s on target to possibly become my favorite very long COA on this site—though it’s entirely possible the author will fumble the second half. (I should footnote this: do-overs do not count as COAs—despite some superficial resemblances they are different genres, and that first time through makes a big difference.) And yes, it is a single novel that happens to be split into installments for, presumably, either digestibility or sales purposes. (I really wish the author had continued sequentially numbering chapters, the way he did for the first couple installments.)
One thing that strikes me, as of this point, is how well-constructed the plot is. So many things that, several books ago, seemed to be random digressions of a kid trying out a bunch of stuff to see which is their thing, have come back in plot-relevant ways, or in ways that cast new light on the past and thus future developments.
My main concern at this point is pacing: since Andrew started university, the number of circular, repetitive conversations has continued to rise. Not surprising given how much (at this point in his life) he compartmentalizes, but it does dilute, sometimes significantly, the tension driving the story engine. Even the omniscient narrator’s delightful dry irony cannot make up for that lost impetus.
Nonetheless, I’m continuing on. Feel free to take that, for whatever it’s worth, as a recommendation.
[Note: I started this review when I first read Book 12, at the time the last complete installment, but didn’t finish it until I reread it, to refresh my memory before continuing with the now (almost) completed story.]
