Antisocial

By: Heidi Cullinan

Narrated by: Iggy Toma

Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Xander Fairchild can't stand people in general and frat boys in particular, so when he's forced to spend his summer working on his senior project with Skylar Stone, a silver-tongued Delta Sig with a trust fund who wants to make Xander over into a shiny new image, Xander is determined to resist. He came to idyllic, Japanese culture-soaked Benten college to hide and make manga, not to be transformed into a corporate clone in the eleventh hour.

Skylar's life has been laid out for him since before he was born, but all it takes is one look at Xander's artwork, and the veneer around him begins to crack. Xander himself does plenty of damage too. There's something about the antisocial artist's refusal to yield that forces Skylar to acknowledge how much his own orchestrated future is killing him slowly ...as is the truth about his gray-spectrum sexuality, which he hasn't dared to speak aloud, even to himself.

Through a summer of art and friendship, Xander and Skylar learn more about each other, themselves, and their feelings for one another. But as their senior year begins, they must decide if they will part ways and return to the dull futures they had planned, or if they will take a risk and leap into a brightly colored future - together.

©2017 Heidi Cullinan (P)2017 Heidi Cullinan

Great Ace Romance

I adored this book. Heidi is amazing at finding underdogs and underrepresented stories for main characters, and then giving them dignity and depth. I hadn't heard of Grey-Ace before, but I've enjoyed a couple of other Ace romances so I took a shot. the visuals and narrative style is amazing and unique. The only complaint I have is that the pacing is so stilted. Pretty large gaps of time happen throughout and pushes all of the actual action of the book towards the end. The End is VERY rushed and the epilogue feels slapped on there without getting to experience any of the resolution. (we finally hit the peak, and then the book is just over.)

Iggy Toma is one of the best. he could read a phone book for 8 hours and I'd finish it.

lovely story

so good. I really enjoyed it and as usual Iggy Toma was excellent! it was poignant and as much like the Manga the characters love with out pics as it possibly could be.

Crashing down Walls!

If your looking for a read with steamy sexy hot scenes this isn’t the book for you.
To me this book was about emotional and family bonding, walls tearing down, plus at times erotic as hell book!!! 🙀😻
Based on the book description you would have thought it was just two characters involved but there was so much more to this story. I fell in love with the whole group and the one person I didn’t care for at first Zelda, turned out to be true rock for Skyler.This audio at the end had me I tears I was so emotionally moved!!! 😍

Great story and fantastic narration

Antisocial is a fantastic novel. I loved everything about it. The characters are fantastic. Xander, grumpy art student and Skylar, the seemingly happy go lucky guy. Heidi did an amazing job with this two guys. Skylar especially. I found his character fascinating. He journey of self discovery is beautiful. You would think that Skylar would be the protector of the sensitive artist but it’s totally flipped in this case. Xander goes all out to protect Skylar and to make his dreams come true. This book is full of Heidi love of manga and aspects of Japanese culture and religion. As someone who know almost nothing about that I think she did a good job making sure the reader didn’t feel lost or overwhelmed. A great story that I highly recommend.
Iggy Toma did an amazing job with the narration!!

they are just so adorable

the ending could be much better but overall it's awesome Xander and Skylar is just soo damn adorable

Remarkable, beautiful story

This is a hidden jewel in the the works of this author.
It’s a low heat book that shows how intimacy and sex often conflated. Its written with a genuine affection for the Manga art style. It has depth and poignancy that is rare to in romance. It’s main characters are brilliant and they may now be in my top favorite couples ever. Truly, a book worth reading or listening to.

adorable

This is a romance between two guys in college trying to figure out who they are and what their future will be. Both have issues with their parents and struggle with career choices. Both guys are virgins. One isn't sure what his sexuality is and doesn't quite want to label it for certain. It doesn't contain actual sex, but there are some really erotic moments. One is an artist so some fun with art comes into play. Mostly this is about a diverse group of friends supporting each other and enjoying mutual loves like manga and anything Japanese. Antisocial is a sweet romance with lots of openness and diversity. I'd like to see it turned into an anime.

Bloody brilliant and beautiful!

I have always loved the work of Heidi Cullinan and this book is a prime example of why her stories are so delicious. Succinctly, this is a story of the sorrow caused by emotional abuse carried in the hearts of our two young protagonists, Xander and Skylar. Missed opportunities from stereotyping and the bravery involved in a willingness to let go as well as the absolute joy found in unconditional love. The two college students meet serendipitously and a relationship develops which significantly changes the lives of both men.

Three things stand out for me. First, in addition to it being an absolutely delightful and fascinating story, it is extremely well written. It’s so annoying when syntax is incorrect or words are used incorrectly. Penultimately the book serves as an enlightening and educational vehicle that sensitively and accurately portrays the different types love...all of which are beautiful and normal. Finally we are introduced to a different belief system which is delicately woven into the fiber of the story.

The narration is by the brilliant and extremely talented voice actor, Iggy Toma. You really could not ask for a better artist to audibly act this story. Kudos to Ms. Cullinan and Mr. Toma for a job well done.

Captivating and compassionate

I was a bit sceptical when I purchased the book as I normally like a bit more passion than the description advertised. But as usual Heidi Cullinan delivers.

There is a lot of passion, albeit not the standard variety. There is also love, friendship and Angst. The characters are sometimes strong, sometimes they need rescuing. It's impossible not to feel with and for them.

I also appreciated the insight into asexuality or being in 'the grey spectrum'. I knew very little about that before this book and is happy to have gained more knowledge.

Perfect!

...in every way! This book is a favorite of mine and if you open your heart and mind, it will be a favorite of yours. Heidi Cullinan and Iggy Toma make such an excellent team. One of them alone is worth whatever they're asking to share their craft with you, but together they're magic. I fell in love with this book when I first started hearing it was getting written. I knew it would be special and it is. Read it. Listen to it. Love it as much as I do.