Monday, September 4, 2017

Timmy's Review of John Goode's "Dream of a Waking Man"!


I’m back with another review of a Goode book! Yay! Does it seem most of my reviews are on John Goode’s books these days? They are! All the Goode books are being passed my way and I am a very happy little fanboy! 

If you have a book you would like me to review please don’t hesitate to let me know. Request a review here!

It seems that my reviews are far and few between these days. Right? Well, there are a few reasons for that. First, I have been super busy with school, tutoring others, and running. It sucks because I enjoy writing these. Second, I haven’t been all that happy with the community on FB lately. I love my peeps (those on, and not on, my friends list), but there has been a lot of drama too. I worked really hard to leave the drama behind when I moved away from my old home, but there are people who still wanna drag me into stuff. Why? IDK. I can only guess that they either hate what I represent (they can’t hate me, they don’t know me), or they don’t really mean it when they say they are in this community to help people; or both. I decided to back away from the community a lot. But that doesn’t mean I’m not reading. That doesn’t mean there aren’t books that I love.

The reason I started out my review like this is because this book inspired me to speak up. It inspired a lot of things in me, but my right to be myself and to be happy was what really stuck with me. I am a gay teen kid in school. All of the Foster High books represent the life I live daily. They show what we go through in school, at home, and on-line. Being a kid really sucks. I hate when I hear someone say… “I wish I was a kid again!” They are stupid because I don’t know what world they came from, but it sure isn’t the same one I’m from. Mr. Goode is an adult, but he somehow captured exactly what it is to be a kid in school, especially a gay kid. 

Bullying, hate crimes, internet bullying, depression, suicide…. These are REAL to any kid in school. It doesn’t matter if they are popular or not. We live it, we breathe it, and we learn how to suck it up. But why do we have to accept it? Why do I have to be bullied not just by kids at school, but also adults I encounter both in real life and on-line? Why is it the very people who tell me it’s safe to ”spread my wings” and be who I want to be can then turn around and cut me down because I’m not the Timmy they want me to be? I’m too smart? I type too well? I can write a short story? I must not be a teen gay kid! Well, I’ma say this for all of you people who believe that: I am that because it is who I am!

That is the bare bones of this story! Be who you are. Fight those who say you can’t be that. Show others they are not alone. Be the changer not the follower. But most of all, you don’t have to be perfect in the eyes of others to deserve to be treated like a human being.

This story had me going through so much! I mean it, really! Tears, love, laughter, anger, and just plain scared. It scares me that this is written as fiction because it is NOT fiction to many teens like me. There are very important topics talked about in this book, and I am trying hard not to give anything away, but I want to say the way Mr. Goode added the topic of insecurities and self-worth to the stories in this series is a big thing. It is in the main story in this book, it is also in the subplots. I like how he shows not only how important self-worth is, but that you can still be a hero even if you need a few pep talks along the way.  

So, there were a few things I gotta point out. There were errors in the book, editing stuff. But nothing will pull you out of this story. Also, I’m not great at grammar when I am messaging or texting someone, but there is one thing I will say about this book: the word OK is used WAY too much. Please fix that, Mr. Goode.

I give this book 5 marbles and I hope you guys will not only read it, but think about what you want from your country. Because one small issue and blowup is the thing that changes lives. You can’t sit back and say I want a better life for Americans, but you expect someone else to be the stepping stone. You can’t sit back and say “I hate bullying!” but then tear others down because of your own insecurities. Because I got enough insecurities of my own, I don’t need ya’ll to put yours on me. Mr. Goode points out these things in a way that makes a huge impact. This book should become a classic. Read this book. Dream of a Waking Man is book ten in the Foster High Series.~Timmy


Dream of a Waking Man is available NOW
from Amazon and Kobo.

About Dream of a Waking Man

With high school long behind them, Kyle Stilleno and Brad Graymark are sharing a life, together, content, but happy?

Kyle seems to have given up that spark that made him who he was and Brad is worried it may never come back. When an email from a gay teen asks Kyle for help, he has to choose between his comfortable life of sleeping his life away, or waking up and doing something about it. 

Dream of a Waking Man is available NOW
from Amazon and Kobo.

Dream of a Waking Man is available NOW
from Amazon and Kobo

About John Goode


John Goode is a member of the class of '88 from Hogwarts school of wizardry, specializing in incantations and spoken spells. At the age of 14 he proudly represented District 13 in the 65th Panem games where he was disqualified for crying uncontrollably before the competition began. After that he moved to Forks, Washington where, against all odds, dated the hot, incredibly approachable werewolf instead of the stuck up jerk of a vampire but was crushed when he found out the werewolf was actually gayer than he was. After that he turned down the mandatory operation everyone must receive at 16 to become pretty citing that everyone pretty were just too stupid to live before moving away for greener pastures. After falling down an oddly large rabbit hole he became huge when his love for cakes combined with his inability to resist what sparsely worded notes commanded and was finally kicked out when he began playing solitaire with the Red Queen's 4th armored division. By 18 he had found the land in the back of his wardrobe but decided that thinly veiled religious allegories where not the neighbors he desired. When last seen he had become obsessed with growing a pair of wings after becoming obsessed with Fang's blog and hasn't been seen since.

Or he is this guy who lives in this place and writes stuff he hopes you read.


Find John on his Harmony Ink Author PageGoodreads, his Goodreads blog
on Facebook, on Twitter @FosterHigh, and on Tumblr or email him at FosterHighSchool88@gmail.com

5 comments:

  1. An excellent, honest review Timmy. You got me started on this awesome series-the audio version is great! Your voice here is important - this community is better with you here <3

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  2. Great review Timmy. I will be on this one as soon as I can <3

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  3. Fantastic review, Timmy! Your reviews are always clear, concise, truthful and awesome.

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  4. Awesome review, Timmy!! I think it's my favorite one so far and I can't wait to read this book! **HUGS** <3

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  5. I did't know there were more book in the series. Thanks for the update. I know what my next purchase will be.

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