AMOS LASSEN:
Kelly, Wade. “My Roommate’s a Jock? Well, Crap!”, Dreamspinner Press, 2013.
Coming Out…Again
Amos Lassen
Cole Reid became a shut in at age fifteen because he had been outed by his high school basketball team. This caused his behavior to change and he has become hard, sarcastic and obsessive-compulsive. This caused him to lose friends and to drive people away from him. Everyone hates him because he is gay and he seems himself as repulsive and he gives up on happiness. When he gets to college he is a loner all the way and anal-retentive to boot. He has no problems with it until his roommate finishes school, graduates and leaves. He is replaced by Ellis Montgomery who just happens to be gorgeous, straight and a jock. Interestingly enough the two become friends and Cole begins to get a new look at life and he learns something about friendship but he also hopes that something more than friendship will develop between himself and Ellis.
I really enjoyed the characterizations. Cole comes across as cynical and neurotic but then he seems to come into his own and this shows us the importance of friendship and caring. Ellie is a good guy from the very get-go and he is responsible for Cole’s return to life. When we first meet Cole, we are not sure of how to take him. I found something in him to like but probably because his own experiences reminded me a bit of my own. The way he does things might seem excessive but he is alone and Kelly explains why. The moment that he feels that first pang that someone cares about him, he begins to change. He gives us his story as he sees and lives it and when someone else takes over the narration, the story flows nicely. Ellis doesn’t say a lot but when he does, he is worth paying attention to and I love the way his character developed. Ellis’s friends, Rob and Russell also have something to say and are very funny. I also like the idea that Ellis never even considered himself to be gay.
I have left a great deal of the plot out and I did not say that this is a love story which it is. That should give you some idea about what happens but without me telling any of the plot. I really enjoyed this and I think everyone who reads it will agree.
REVIEW
There are so many things about this book that I like. It is strong from beginning to end. And I say this even though I wasn’t happy with some of the events that go on.
Out first impression is of Cole, a self admitted control freak with OCD tendencies. We are in his POV for the majority of the book so if Cole rubs you the wrong way then that could hamper your enjoyment of this story. For me, though, I found him to be just the right balance of charm and nuttiness. (I have a little control freak in me so I can relate.) His methods are a little over the top sometimes, but is written in such a way that works. For all that he is trying to stay in the shadows, he has A LOT of fire!
The reasons for his behavior are explained well. His background experiences are hardly new or original, but instead of dragging it out, it is presented in a way that says “this is it, I’ve dealt with it, so should you, let’s move on.” I think it would have been fine for his history to have taken up more page time, but by limiting the past, there was much more room for developing more original here-and-now content.
I knew I should throw out any preconceived notions as soon as the first kiss happened around the 11% mark on my kindle. I’m always worried when the couple gets together too quickly. Either the rest of the book turns too fluffy for my taste, or they go through hell and back to earn their HEA. MRAJ?WC! has given me a third option. There were so many things that happened in this book and none of them felt rushed or incomplete or over dramatic. Every event had it’s own space. (Kind of fitting for a book about a control freak 
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Another thing I was not expecting but worried about as soon as it presented itself was religion. I find a lot of the religious content of MM books to be heavy handed … either in a nasty, bigoted way or by preaching to the choir. Not so in MRAJ?WC!, at least not in my opinion. A supporting character is religious. His views are discussed and other characters are free to disagree and there is no harm or ill will, no drama, no hidden agenda. Religion happens, that’s about as worked up as anyone gets over it.
POV and timeline a huge sticking points for me. As far as I could see, the timeline was pretty tight. MRAJ?WC! is paced well and written clearly. The POV threw me a couple of times. Cole is the dominant POV, but there are 5 other characters that share their POV at one time or another. 4 POV changes are from supporting characters. Each one brings something necessary to the story even though they originally confused me. The first time it happened I went back to re-read the book blurb because I thought I forgot who the love interest was supposed to be. Why are we hearing from a secondary character, is his POV going to pop up again? The easy answer turned out to be no, but his insight added a lot to the story. As did the other 3 who made singular POV appearances. I didn’t always like what they had to say or how they behaved, but they were all important. Depth, and lots of it!
The 5th POV is obvious, Cole’s roommate, Ellis. We don’t hear from him often, but it’s a doozy when we do. His journey is surprising. The book blurb doesn’t hint too much to Ellis’s inner debate. And his sticking point isn’t his sexuality, not really. There is a little, but it turns out to be much more than that. A self-aware, self-perception kind of thing. This part could have been really insulting if it were written badly. I haven’t seen any reviews mention it, so I can only assume that, like me, they felt Ellis’s feelings, experiences, and actions were written very well. Add in the very real life truth that every sexual escapade isn’t as perfect as most books would like to portray, and Ellis is an awesomely unique character.
The only thing that still has me baffled is Cole’s interaction with Stan, the school’s housing something-or-other. When he is first introduced everything seems fine. I don’t recall anything standing out about the man. Not surprising since he doesn’t have a huge part to play except as the one responsible for saddling the jockaphobe with a jock roommate. When he reappears mid story, he is more developed … but nothing like I assumed based on his and Cole’s earlier encounters. Not his age, not his job, not his personality, and certainly not his intentions. Stan isn’t shown in a good light and I’m not too sure why. Was this just because we are seeing him through Cole’s dark-colored glasses after a bad morning? Cole’s new impression of Stan totally overshadows everything in a distracting way. What was the point? Toning down Stan’s dialogue would have just kept the scene as an essential step along the way. Leaving the scene intact but following it up later with something to re-enforce Cole’s reaction would have given the scene purpose. But as-is, the scene seems to stick out like a sore thumb to me.
But don’t let that stop you. MRAJ?WC! is a really good book that may challenge your perception of college nerd/jock stories. I was not expecting anything more than a few hours of banter reading but got something so much more original and complex.
To which a readers responded: "I am looking forward to more of Wade’s work. I do agree that the Stan character seemed a little contrived. Like Wade felt he needed a matchmaker and came up with this side story but didn’t flesh it out. I would have preferred to have Stan play a larger role or to not have been there at all. This didn’t take away from my pure enjoyment of the story and the excitement over getting my hands on some of Wade Kelly’s words!" (I love that last part.)
MY ROOMMATE'S A JOCK? WELL, CRAP! Will also appear on Rainbow Book Reviews and The Armchair Reader, so I will update this post when it is!
As far as LISTS! If you follow me at all you know I am a total "list" person. I make lists, I do lists, and I obsess over how many lists I can find that MY BOOKS are on!!! So here are the lists on Goodreads that contain "Jock".
The Best Humorous Gay Romances 4 people so far voted and that is cool! I'd vote myself, but I don't want to make waves ;p Plus, I haven't read many books in the "humor" department so my vote would be totally bias.
The Best M/M Romance Published in 2012 THIS category could stand some help from my readers. ONE VOTER so far. Although, I guess if it is not the "best book" you read, then I shouldn't be there. I need to write better stories!!
Where I'd LOVE to see it? Favorite Gay Couples Because personally I think Cole and Ellis are great together. *winks*
As of 6:13 am on this Wednesday Morning, My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap! was still #1 on Dreamspinner Press, # 2 on Amazon.com (where, I might add, that it has been for several days in a row!), and #3 on All ROmance Books.
If anything else interesting happens, I will let you all know!
Thanks for stopping by! ~ WADE
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