Note: I got a 90% on this review. :D
Disclaimer: I do not own this book.
On to the review!
Hello, I'm Morey Bibliophage. Deep in the darkest pits of our souls, we have our dark fetishes that
would be considered taboo. One of those fetishes would be incest with
twins. Normally, one would think that such a thing would be interesting
to read in a psychological sense. Unfortunately, this book is not one
of those books. Instead, this book is so bland and plot-less that twig
cereal tastes better than this. This book is
Texan Summer by William Cooper.
First, let us look at the cover. It is a picture of two guys sitting
under a tree. It is just another bland picture being used as a cover.
It tells us nothing about the story or the characters. It is just
there.
Next, this book is short. It cannot be more than a hundred pages
long. There are no chapters either, so it is simply a long short story.
I am not saying that such stories are bad. I have read plenty of
short stories that are just as good. It is just how short this story is
hinders it badly. The story is too rushed to enjoy it completely. It
reads as if you're being pushed forward by a cop through a crowded room.
Another problem with the story is that it is shallow. There is no
plot and no antagonist. There are no layers to the story. I can
summarize the entire book in just two sentences:
'Twins run away. They come back, and lived happily ever after.'
See? There is no filling to it. There is no conflict to the story.
It is like the author wanted to write a story, but couldn't bear to
harm one of his precious characters. You need conflict to further the
story.
I think the biggest problem with this book is that it has a plot that
would be about three hundred or so pages, and it is compacted to one
hundred pages. Things that should be explained are not explained, and
things that should have taken time were rushed. It is like taking a
plane from Nixa to Springfield: too short to experience, and a waste of
money.
Another problem with the book is that it suffers from telling instead of showing. What that means is instead of
showing how the character is through actions and emotions shown, the writer
tells their
audience what the character is like. The problem with this is that
what the author tells us is not always like what is shown. For
instance, Collin; the narrator, tells us that he's an artist and he
loves to draw his brother, but the only time we see him draw is when the
author tells him to draw. There is no sketchbook always at his side or
him always making small doodles. Hell, he does not itch to draw or get
that distant glazed look an artist gets when they are figuring out how
to draw something. It is just him telling us he likes drawing.
All of the characters are bland. They have no quirks or anything
that makes them unique. The author tells us things about them (like
Collin being overprotective with his brother), but (as mentioned before)
the audience does not see it that way. We see a forgettable main
character loving his forgettable brother while talking to his
forgettable mother. These characters should not be bland or
forgettable. They make the story interesting. It's the reason why
stories like James Bond and Indiana Jones are a part of our film culture while Twilight
is already dying. The first two have quirky characters with
interesting stories while the last one had boring characters and a dull
story.
As mentioned before, one would think that a story about gay twins who
are in love with each other would be interesting, especially if the
setting is in Texas. There are homophobic in today's world, and people
that are grossed out by incest. A competent writer could take that
subject matter, focus on the psychology of it, and challenge the
audience's thought of morality. Instead, Cooper turned into a giggling
15 year old girl writing her first fanfiction about her favorite story,
and not want anything bad happen to her favorite character. He treats
the subject matter as a gay relationship in an area that is more
understanding of gay people. That will not work with incest. I mean,
when the brothers go back to Texas, they expect to be attacked by
people. Instead, everyone in the town ignores the incest, and are cool
with them being gay. No one confronts the twins about their
relationship. No one has a serious talk about it. It is like the whole
town forgot the fact that the twins are brothers.
Next thing to talk about is the amount of research Cooper did for the book. He did not do any
research. It is obvious he lacked research. The twins' father is in
the hospital for a heart attack. When they ask their mom what was
going on, she pretty much gave the excuse that she did not understand
the doctor mumbo jumbo. This is the man's (who is having a heart
attack) wife. It's sort of human nature that people will pay attention
to what the doctor says when a loved one is in the hospital. Also with
the whole doctor talk, doctors tend to translate what they said into
English. What this means is Cooper was too lazy to go onto Google and
search for information about heart attacks.
Well, if the story sucks, the characters are dull, the conflict
lacking, and the lessons unlearned, then it must be a porno book.
Unfortunately, it is not even that. There isn't a single sex scene in
the entire book. The narrator just skips over the sex. He just says,
“We made love” and blacks out to the next day.
In the end,
Texan Summer was a badly written book. The
only possible reason the Cooper even wrote it is to make a little bit of
money off it. There is nothing in there that shows us he is a good and
competent writer. It was not worth the money, battery, and time
reading it. I would not recommend this book to anyone unless they want
to lose brain cells by hitting their head against the wall repeatedly.
For those who want to read a gay romance story where there is conflict,
sex, and people actually being mean to the main characters, then just
head on over to
The Tin Star by J. L. Langley. You will lose less brain cells through her. This is Morey Bibliophage: remembering it for your entertainment.
