Not like Other Boys

M/M Bully Romance

By: K.A. Merikan

Narrated by: Tyler Kent

Lose an eye. Win a boyfriend.

Ethan. Taxidermist. Goth weirdo. Can’t wait to be done with high school.

Ethan is a young artist-entrepreneur with a love for quirky taxidermy. Roadkill is so much better than people. By the end of high school, all he wants is to develop his business, yet all his parents want is for him to go to law school. That is more than enough of a problem for Ethan, so any kind of love life is out of the question. That is until Robert Hunter, the quarterback of the football team, comes crashing into him. Literally.

Robert. Quarterback. In the closet. More than meets the eye.

Robert is the popular kid, the quarterback on his way to med school. He’s gay, but not exactly coming out since he doesn’t like to stir the pot. One night, spurred on by too much booze, he ends up causing irreversible harm to Ethan, the school’s weirdo.

The aftermath.

Robert will do anything to avoid charges for what he’s done, but when Ethan makes an indecent demand in return for his silence, Robert might just be in way over his head.

For Ethan, it’s a simple act of revenge on a bully, but when Robert turns out to be not-so-straight, their arrangement gets complicated all too fast.

Possible spoilers

Themes: first love, fitting in, entrepreneurship, disability, high school, jock/goth, taxidermy, artist, coming out, becoming an adult, enemies to lovers, hurt/comfort

Genre: new-adult M/M romance

(Stand-alone novel, no cliff-hanger.)

Warning: Contains steamy, passionate scenes, violent injury, themes of bullying, and a morally ambiguous proposition.

(This book was formerly published as Diary of a Teenage Taxidermist.)

©2014, 2020 K.A. Merikan (P)2020 K.A. Merikan

MM High School Bully Romance

So ya I totally loved this book. It was sooo good. It was not what I was expecting, but it was so much more. This is a bully mm high school romance, but that just does not encompass what it really is, which is a coming of age story about a closeted athlete who is really a chef and food blogger and a bullied, outcast who is a taxidermist. This has all the feels and it packs a punch!! It is super intriguing and the characters are so wonderful. Rob was literal gold, love him so much. I too love Ethan, but ya Rob stole my heart. Their coupling starts off on the wrong foot two different times, but then they get their shit together. It felt real and sweet and lovely. Tyler Kent encompassed both the characters wonderfully. He is a new to me narrator and I look forward to his others.

ARC provided by GRR in exchange for an honest review.

A Bully Romance That Will Melt Your Heart

Once again, I requested a free review copy of an audiobook with a trope I've not read before. The blurb of this book hit some of my trope-y buttons, but the bully aspect made me a little unsure. I've had other good experiences with this author, so ultimately decided to give it a try. What follows is my voluntary review of 'Not Like Other Boys' by KA Merikan.

The bullying, in my opinion, is mild in regard to Rob's involvement. Trying to not get too spoiler-y, I'll say that I believe Rob when he tells Ethan that he thought he was teasing. He was not acting maliciously or with intent to harm. He was drunk and not using good judgement. Is this just semantics, and bullying is bullying in any form it takes? Maybe. Rob turns out to be so sweet that I forgive him his reckless behavior.

After the coercive 'arrangement' set by a revenge-seeking Ethan gets started, I wasn't sure the story was going in a direction that I would've preferred, but with Merikan's great writing, it quickly evolves into a wonderful exploration of sexual intimacy and grown-up love. These young men are discovering what it means to be an adult, to take charge of their own lives and how to make all that work while being together.

During the book, the reader will find an enemies-to-lovers story with hurt/comfort and steamy scenes appropriate to Rob and Ethan's experience levels. The character development progresses in a believable way. There's a complete story here that delivers a wholly satisfying ending. It's one of the best novels I've read this year.

The narration by Tyler Kent, a new-to-me performer, is good. I don't think I would have chosen to pitch Ethan's voice that high, but Kent's performance is well-done throughout.

Highly recommended. These guys are SO adorable.

Uniquely, Amazingly Good!

I have read quite a few of K.A. Merikan’s stories and have enjoyed them but they’re usually very gritty. I expected the same for this giving the synopsis but it wasn’t yet it wasn’t particularly fluffy like a lot of YA books. This book is so unique it almost deserves a category of itself. I thought I might have reacted to the taxidermy stuff more negatively but I found it weird in a good way. Ethan is such a original character and this honestly made him more lovable, and I loved the depth to both him and Ethan. Though the bullying didn’t happen as much as I thought it would I felt those scenes and the aftermath of it was written so poignantly. While listening to this book I laughed a few times and I also cried twice. This story was so easy to get invested in and I will definitely be adding it to my favs. And shout out to Tyler Kent who did a fantastic job narrating. 5 stars!

Good Story

I had this on my TBL for a while and kept coming back to it. The reviews left me a little gun shy but there was no need for any of that. I enjoyed it so much. The story was good and I liked the characters so much. Taxidermy isn't something I am into but it didn't over take the story but played a part. There's some angst but not so much that it's to much. The spice is nice and the ending is a happy one. Pretty much all I could ask for in a good book. The narrator did a great job with keeping the voices different for each character and they fit well with the assigned person. I really liked this one and I'm glad I got it!

Quirky. Hilarious. Hot. Original. Unpredictable.

🎧Tyler Kent is the right voice actor to narrate Not Like Other Boys.🎧

🎧His perfect comedic timing, pacing , tone modulation and pitch brought to life Ethan (one of the most snarky, flawed, eccentric, loveable, infuriating characters I've encountered in a long time ) and Rob ( the complete opposite of Ethan. in every way. but the same where it matters). 🎧

🎧Highly recommended this , very entertaining , audiobook to anyone who enjoys unusual, out of the box , morally ambiguous situations and characters , LOTS of steamy , explicit intimate times and some angst/growing pains associated with growing up and becoming an independent adult. 🎧