Book Review: Vintage: A Ghost Story
Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman
Gay Book Reviews/Horror
TITLE: Vintage: A Ghost Story AUTHOR: Steve Berman
ISBN: 1-59021-053-0 PUBLISHER: Lethe Press
Walking an empty stretch of highway on a lonely autumn night, a gay teen meets a strange boy who disappears into thin air. What begins as a dream turns into a nightmare as the dangerous obsession of a star athlete killed in 1957 begins to haunt the teen. Vintage is an intense thriller that looks at the dark side of gay urban fantasy, where the dead can never rest and trapped spirits yearn for peace.
I wanted this book to be longer than 148 pages, but once I read it, I couldn't think of one scene that I thought could have been expanded upon. Maybe Berman could've went into more detail about the main character's parents, but I didn't feel like it was a hole in the story. His descriptions involved me fully in these teens' lives, including the angst of breaking up, finding a new love, coming out, hanging out, school, and so much more.
There were two places where the dialog didn't ring 100% true for me, but over all, the story was very well written. One scene where the dialog jumped out at me as staged was where Trace's new boyfriend tells the main character that he's envious of their friendship. I just couldn't believe the conversation for some reason.
For a ghost story, this was definitely not a cliche. I was afraid it might be, but was pleasantly surprised to find that Berman reached well beyond the usual to write an original ghost story. Even the ghosts were well-rounded characters, such as Josh Wyle and First Mike. When the main character contemplates dating Josh, I wanted it to work out for him. A part of me knew it probably couldn't, but I rooted for him. His descriptions of the ghosts capture their time period, such as the old librarian. As a librarian, I worried that he was writing a stereotypical librarian character until I realized she was a ghost from a previous time. Then, it made sense why she dressed and acted like the old librarian stereotype.
Also, he didn't stick with the usual coming-of-age story. His characters seems so real it doesn't feel like another coming-of-age book. He captured the goth culture with ease. This book transcends categories. I would highly recommend this to anyone, especially GLBT youth.
Review by Ellen Tevault
Reprinted from Rainbow Reviews
Gay Book Reviews/Horror
TITLE: Vintage: A Ghost Story AUTHOR: Steve Berman
ISBN: 1-59021-053-0 PUBLISHER: Lethe Press
Walking an empty stretch of highway on a lonely autumn night, a gay teen meets a strange boy who disappears into thin air. What begins as a dream turns into a nightmare as the dangerous obsession of a star athlete killed in 1957 begins to haunt the teen. Vintage is an intense thriller that looks at the dark side of gay urban fantasy, where the dead can never rest and trapped spirits yearn for peace.
I wanted this book to be longer than 148 pages, but once I read it, I couldn't think of one scene that I thought could have been expanded upon. Maybe Berman could've went into more detail about the main character's parents, but I didn't feel like it was a hole in the story. His descriptions involved me fully in these teens' lives, including the angst of breaking up, finding a new love, coming out, hanging out, school, and so much more.
There were two places where the dialog didn't ring 100% true for me, but over all, the story was very well written. One scene where the dialog jumped out at me as staged was where Trace's new boyfriend tells the main character that he's envious of their friendship. I just couldn't believe the conversation for some reason.
For a ghost story, this was definitely not a cliche. I was afraid it might be, but was pleasantly surprised to find that Berman reached well beyond the usual to write an original ghost story. Even the ghosts were well-rounded characters, such as Josh Wyle and First Mike. When the main character contemplates dating Josh, I wanted it to work out for him. A part of me knew it probably couldn't, but I rooted for him. His descriptions of the ghosts capture their time period, such as the old librarian. As a librarian, I worried that he was writing a stereotypical librarian character until I realized she was a ghost from a previous time. Then, it made sense why she dressed and acted like the old librarian stereotype.
Also, he didn't stick with the usual coming-of-age story. His characters seems so real it doesn't feel like another coming-of-age book. He captured the goth culture with ease. This book transcends categories. I would highly recommend this to anyone, especially GLBT youth.
Review by Ellen Tevault
Reprinted from Rainbow Reviews
posted by Erotically Ellen at 10:58 PM
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