Pride High

Book 3: Yellow

By: Jay Bell

Narrated by: Talia Carver

Length: 14 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Another year is winding down for the students of Pride High, but the drama is just ramping up!

Ricky is finally dating dangerous Diego Gomez, but when they keep getting into trouble, he wonders if he’s bitten off more than he can chew. Anthony has decided to come out to his school in a big way and faces backlash, not just from his fellow students, but the principal as well. Cameron’s mom is still drinking and his dad remains absent. Can he turn to his boyfriend for support? Mindy has the hots for a guy who is most certainly taken, a predicament that intensifies when they're paired for a project. Silvia’s secrets are catching up with her, Keisha struggles to set aside her feelings for a girl she can’t have, and Omar’s dreams are about to crash and burn.

Join the endearing cast of Pride High as they navigate relationships and romance while aiming for that coveted teenage utopia: summer break.

©2023 Jay Bell (P)2023 Jay Bell

Everything

I hope this series continue I need to see what happens to Diego and Ricky

Jay Bell doesn’t disappoint

I love all the Jay Bell books including this one in the Pride series Hope to listen to another one soon. I Loved following Anthony , Cameron, Omar and the rest of the group. Only wish had more discussion of Omar and Cameron muscled bodies

Great Listen!

Another great continuation of the Pride High Series. I love the character development of all the characters, especially the development of Diego and Ricky's relationship throughout this book. I listened to the audiobook on Audible, and Talia Carver is doing so well bringing these characters to life.

A Wonderful Coming of Age Time Capsule

I LOVE this series. Great third installment. The subtleties of growing up can be forgotten so easily. But this series captures it SO well, and brings back those feelings from when you are first discovering the world and who you are in it. As someone who grew up in the nineties I appreciate this so much. I can't wait for future installments. I can imagine this being a TV show!

Good book

Love this book love, book 1 to 3. Don’t know if we have a fourth book yet but excited to find out.

Flat And Uninspiring

This is the first Jay Bell book that I'm returning. I just lost interest. Actually, I saw that coming toward the end of the last, second in the series, story, but I kept going hoping that it was just a momentary issue.


I'm going to try to pick my way through the reasons why I just stopped caring about these characters and the story around them.


One reason might be that Jay Bell has decided to dip his toe into the very lucrative young adult fiction market. Or it might be a full-fledged belly flop.

Doing so has caused him to have to pull some of the punches he had been able to use in previous works like the Seems Like Summer series. Where is Marcello when you need him?


In light of the above, so much of what's going on is boring and low-stakes. In order to heighten tension, there is an undocumented resident storyline and also the age-old trope of school bully with a softer side meets nerdy kid narrative. That one should be the most interesting but its action is so cliched and clumsy that it's almost laughable.


Aside from the limitations of the young adult form, Bell has also tried his hand at creating a story with a very expansive list of central characters and their associates and associations. The tally is 5 main characters, five or six secondary characters, then assorted parents, siblings, and teachers. Throw in a grandmother and a pizza store owner.


I think the author shows signs of just having too much on his plate. A smaller cast with more in-depth character and story development might have been a good thing.


I understand that telling a story about a range of individuals of various emotional orientations and social classes can be a good thing. And it has been done successfully. I don't think this author has the chops to turn such a story idea into the type of narrative that doesn't wander around losing interest.


Anthony is the the central character, is out, and I think might be a bit of a stand-in for the author. He is the most developed in that his reasonings are the clearest of any of the characters and basically he is written as a forthright and caring person, perhaps more than any of the others.


Interestingly and not uncommon in young adult writing, the most sexually active character is also eventually the most unhappy and the most unlikely to have their desire for companionship fulfilled. Reminds me of the '80s slasher movies, have sex, and prepare to die.


That's just got to stop.


High school students do have fulfilling, as in the fulfillment of simple needs, intimate relationships without it turning into some horrific morality tale. Yet that seems to be something that can seldom happen in young adult gay fiction, maybe because the gatekeepers will come crashing down.


Anyway, I would like to have seen a slimmed-down cast with a more in-depth and tropeless focus on Anthony as he navigates the world as an out teenager and how his eventual relationship brings out the challenges faced by all teenagers in, temporary, love no matter their sexuality, but also dealing with issues directly focused on young men who are gay.