REVIEW: “The Epic Love Story of Doug and Stephen” by Valerie Z Lewis
ABOUT:
A comedy about a bisexual mechanic turned model who aims to get the man of his dreams and save the world as soon as he finishes smoking this joint. R for language and implied sex.
REVIEW:
Quite possibly the SINGLE funniest book I’ve read in a very long time. I often giggle internally at books and then write “LOL”. But it’s not really a true LOL. This book…LOL’s ALL over the place. I was on an AIRPLANE…emitting sound like a lunatic at some parts…a symphony of chortles, giggles, guffaws, and barks. It is HILARIOUS.
Doug is a model working for a queer lifestyle magazine. He was a former mechanic, a straight, undiscerning, active lover, and umm…not so smart. Stephen is an editor at the magazine, bristly (at best), angry, mean, hates people, hates Doug. Doug suddenly decides he’s in love with Stephen, which then makes him bisexual, and despite all Stephen’s efforts to ward him off, he’s adament they are meant to be together. Oh yeah…and a whole lot of marijuana.
It sounds like an awfully sterotypically m/m premise…the kitchen sink of sorts. And it is…it feels a bit satirical of everything you find in m/m books today. It’s not subtle…over the top in everything. And it worked…for a bit.
All that being said, the book was too long, too drawn out, too unedited, too overdone. And that’s the biggest crying shame of all…because it’s HYSTERICAL. It’s also doggone sweet at times. It’s also surprisingly charming….but again, just too much. The characters eventually crossed the line into caricatures of themselves and the story lost it’s fun.
Too many flashbacks to Doug’s past that didn’t always work when trying to connect it to the present day. Too little plot. And what may be to the dismay of some, everything sexual is off-page. (though some of the kisses were so charming and sweet, I swooned)
So, I’m conflicted. It’s one of those highest highs, fairly low lows books. It had the potential for GREATNESS, real flashes of it, actually. But when all the dust settled, and the last page turned, it ended up a somewhat memorable and fairly enjoyable book with some of my favorite zany lines.
I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, no-brainer read…
RATING: 3.5 STARS
OTHER OPINIONS:
Sue – 2 stars
Ami – 4 stars
BOOK INFO:
Title: The Epic Love Story of Doug and Stephen
Author: Valerie Z. Lewis
Publisher: self-pub
Pages: 219
Release Date: April 11, 2011
Purchase Links: Amazon
Hmmmm – I might check this out. Great review Susan.
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