Social Skills

By: Sara Alva

Narrated by: Andrew Eiden

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

Music is the only form of communication Connor Owens controls. No matter how badly he wishes to fit in, friendly banter and casual conversations have never been his thing. College is yet another social universe he has no clue how to navigate - until he meets Jared, a football player with chestnut eyes and a cocky grin that holds the power to shatter his self-imposed prison. Jared's attention opens Connor up to a new realm of emotional and physical intimacy. But as Connor's self-confidence grows, so does his fear that everything will fall apart. Because in this socially stratified world, how long can a relationship between an introverted violinist and a closeted football player really last?

©2013 Sara Alva (P)2014 Sara Alva

This is one amazing book!!!!

Would you consider the audio edition of Social Skills to be better than the print version?

I experienced them at the same time. So, there really is no distinction for me.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I am so in love with the character of Connor. In many ways, he's a dream guy. Makes me sad that he doesn't actually exist. :-(

What about Andrew Eiden’s performance did you like?

He did a pretty good job.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I felt the entire spectrum of emotions on this one. I laughed. I cried. I fell in love. It wasn't nearly long enough for me, because I wanted so much more time to spend with Jared and Connor.

Any additional comments?

I have never wrote a review for an audiobook before, but this book moved me to get off my duff and write one. So, that should tell you something, right there!

Sad, Sweet, and a little Saucy!!

This was such a sweet story! I fell in love with Connor right away, I've often felt the pang of watching life from the outside too, and the self hatred and humiliation of shyness is an all too familiar feeling for me. When Jared steps onto the scene, I didn't know how I felt about him, until he started to show Connor his true self. A self that's so hidden from the world it makes Connor seem more like the brave one! I was very happy that Social Skills did not follow the usual formula of most romantic titles, the writing is so good, and the characters so real! I love Andrew Eiden as a narrator and I thought he did a great job with bringing the whole cast of characters to life, but especially Connor and Jared. Great listen!

Wonderful Coming Out Story

I really enjoyed this college age coming out audiobook. It is told from Connor's POV and Connor is painfully shy and socially stunted; sometimes annoyingly so, music student. But this is a book primarily about his journey during his first year of college. He meets Jared, the popular football player, and they begin a love affair in secret. But as we know, nothing stays secret for long and there is fall out and ultimately, growth. The narrator did a wonderful job bringing this book to life. His portrayal of Connor was spot on and he brought a wonderful emotional element. The only negative with this book was the drama with the ex girlfriend; it really seemed out of place for the story. Overall, worth a credit..

Clearly Outstanding

Currently, this book is the standard by which I compare all the others.

M/M romance is my escape, but as a gay male, I have a problem. So much of M/M romance is written by women for a female audience. Nothing takes me out of a story quicker than a male character thinking or uttering something completely unfathomable for a male to be saying. Sara Alva is not perfect in correcting this, but she is so good at allowing this 50+ yr old male to believe that what I am reading are the words, actions, and ideas of sexually active gay men - and she writes a nice story with a touching romantic narrative. It is so captivating to follow the two guys as they discover who they are and what they need.

Ms. Alva avoids most cliches and only once wonders a bit into the weeds with a subplot involving challenges faced by a friend of one of the leads.

Anyway, this is a very good story where the two leads face real world challenges and deal with them in ways that ring very true.

Read it!!

Angsty college romance w/ great narrator

I loved both of the main characters. Shy, socially-challenged Connor was sweet but not a pushover. Jared, the outgoing jock, was very likable.
However, the best part about this audiobook was the narrator. He did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life and read the narrative with a clear voice, pleasant tone, and excellent pacing. I feel like if I'd only read the eBook I would have gotten bored because the story dragged in some parts, but due to the excellent narration, I couldn't stop listening to this till the end.
This was more than worth the price and will definitely be checking out more stuff from both the author and narrator.
If you're in the mood for a coming-out story with two college guys, try this. It's somewhat serious, but the beginning of Connor and Jared's relationship was really sweet.

Awesome book and narrator

What did you love best about Social Skills?

Alva did an excellent job creating characters with depth and real emotion and I am not just speaking about Connor and Jared. Connor’s mother, a two-dimensional character on the surface, had very subtle traits that drove her behavior toward the various Owens family members. Connor’s sister exhibited empathy and emotion that caught me off guard, but that also made perfect sense once the big picture was exposed, and Rebecca showed herself to be a steady and reliable confidant for Connor.

Have you listened to any of Andrew Eiden’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

As for the narration, I have found myself a new favourite narrator in Andrew Eiden. Almost every character was done in a distinct and consistent fashion with one exception. Connor’s pit bandmate, Ray, sounded an awful lot like Jared, but aside from that, an excellent job. Eiden’s narrative voice was clear, the pace perfect, and the gaps due to editing were minimal and so it was rare that I got pulled out of the story for these all too common reasons.

Any additional comments?

I was well and truly sucked into their world and loved to see the power play between Connor and Jared, especially and the story progressed and I could track the slowly shifting power from Jared to Connor. This does not mean that Connor all of a sudden became a confident, outgoing guy, but rather demonstrated an increase in his confidence and an unwillingness to continue to live his life as he was before, while Jared seemed to shrink in on himself as he slowly came to terms with being gay.

Decent coming of age story

Any additional comments?

Do you ever feel sick to your stomach when reading a book? That's definitely what I felt while reading this book, and not because disturbing things happened in it but just because I hate it when there is so much miscommunication in a relationship that they begin to lose each other. This book is not about a relationship so much as Colin's journey of self-discovery, but the healing between both Colin and Jared is very drawn out, and I guess it just hit a little too close to home for me to enjoy the story.

I guess a lot of times I go to books looking for an escape into a fantasy world, and this was a little too real, too unsure, too painful for my taste. It was half about finding love, and half about growing up, and I sort of wish it had been just one or the other. I don't know what I wanted from this book but I've come away feeling a little empty.

A heartwarming story. More please!

This book is absolutely spot on in so many ways. The author wove the issues which many American young gay adults face into a very real and heartwarming story. Homophobia in its many forms is presented in a sensitive manner which includes the self-loathing of the young adult as well as the unconditional love of many parents and friends. Kudos to Sara Alva!

The performance of the narrator/voice artist is brilliant and I can't wait to read/listen to more of his work. The narrator of the novel is so very critical to an audiobook. It is sad that so many narrators are so bad that I return the audio version and read the ebook myself. Andrew Eiden has a wonderful and rich media voice. He is spot on in his portrayal of the characters. I hope the author/publishing company realize his contribution.

Conner finds his voice

I'm a sucker for well considered "coming out" or "coming into your own" tale - even more so when they are skilfully combined. Conner comes out, and finds his voice in a wonderfully written coming of age book. Splash out, buy it, cause you're going to love it.

Enjoyable Listen!

This was an enjoyable listen. Great m/m romance of young college love... One awkward violinist, who forms a weird and secretive friendship with a football jock, slowly grows into a relationship. I enjoyed it.

Well worth a credit or a sale.

Narration was pretty good too!

A well read waste of time

The story is so simillar to so many others that it could run on rails. That on its own is not necessarily bad, if it was a good version. This is at best inoffensive.

great story

Fallen in love with Connor brilliant description of social anxiety and how it feels. real

Social skills is beautiful.

The narration is excellent and the angst and shyness real,highly emotional.
A great coming out story.
More Sara Alva please.

just enough diffence to be good

Any additional comments?

It is good to see authors like Sara Alva getting more into the public eye, and very fortunate that she had a great narrator prepared to put in his time for no more reward than the satisfaction of a job very well done. I liked the reading very much.
The story is good too, typical enough in many ways, but the sub plot of the ex "not a girlfriend" is interestingly done and allowed for a lot of character development.
A good read and btw definitely NSFW on occassions so be prepared to blush in your headphones on the bus!

I don't often review

Would you listen to Social Skills again? Why?

I rarely review as I dont really know what to say. Its simple really, did I like it or not. In this case I did. The story is believable at a pace that doesnt make you yawn and its totally surrounded by sex. We performed by Andrew Eiden a lovely listen.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Social Skills?

the first moment they kiss

Which character – as performed by Andrew Eiden – was your favourite?

Conner of course :-)

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Out in the Open