The Dangerous Art of Blending In

By: Angelo Surmelis

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Lambda Literary Award finalist for the best LGBT YA novel of 2018.

A raw, powerful, but ultimately uplifting debut novel perfect for fans of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe from debut author Angelo Surmelis.

Seventeen-year-old Evan Panos doesn't know where he fits in. His strict immigrant Greek mother refuses to see him as anything but a disappointment. His quiet, workaholic father is a staunch believer in avoiding any kind of conflict. And his best friend, Henry, has somehow become distractingly attractive over the summer.

Tired, isolated, scared - Evan finds that his only escape is to draw in an abandoned monastery that feels as lonely as he is. And yes, he kissed one guy over the summer. But it's Henry who's now proving to be irresistible. Henry, who suddenly seems interested in being more than friends. And it's Henry who makes him believe that he deserves more than his mother's harsh words and terrifying abuse.

But as things with Henry heat up, and his mother's abuse escalates, Evan has to decide how to find his voice in a world where he has survived so long by being silent.

This is a powerful and revelatory coming-of-age novel based on the author's own childhood, about a boy who learns to step into his light.

©2018 Angelo Surmelis (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

INCREDIBLE

This book made me laugh and cry, there were times where I saw myself in the characters. this book was a pleasant surprise and I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone and everyone!

Good story, but slightly upsetting

The narrator does a phenomenal job, and overall the book is very good. However the mother really makes the reader incredibly angry. I do wish the book showed more options for people who are situations similar to Evan- no one should ever have to deal with something like that.

Good Read

The book was good. The only rough spots were the mom. She is a monster and the way he read her part, while probably accurate, really annoyed me. The rest of the story I enjoyed. It is not a love story so much a survival story.

Not super relatable

I feel like the story here is an important one, but the way it was told didn't hook me. I couldn't relate to the characters and it left me wanting.

Amazing performance. Heart touching story.

The narrator was absolutely amazing. the story had a lot of depth and character development. There is a delicate balance between growing up in a mentally and physically abusive home while also trying to hide the damage and keeping a heavy secret. The father surprises you!

Simple but beautiful

The coming of age story of a gay teen in a hyper religious, Greek family didn't sound like it would be all that interesting to read because it sounds like a story that has been told before. However, the author takes you into main character, Evan's, mind - sometimes even his soul - and lets you feel first hand what it might be like to be Evan. I felt nervous, scared, hopeless and thrilled right along with Evan and I'm not a teen, gay, Greek or a boy so I feel like the writer has a wonderful way of transcending a typical type of character connection. The narration certainly assisted in the character connections in this book - Michael Crouch did a fantastic job! Overall, I would definitely recommend this story!

Narrator brings the story to life

I loved this. Michael Crouch has become one of my favorite narrators and this book proved just how skilled he is at his job. The accents he did in this book for the parents and for the other characters made each person distinct and recognizable. I also really loved the story. I wanted to protect the main character, and I liked that he found out what real love feels like.

Good

I think straight people that would like to see the perspective of what someone that is queer identifying especially a gay male in a relgious household it would be good to educate. Also a good book to give to someone who thinks religion is the final say for everything. As someone who is queer i guess it felt predictable? Like it took me back to my middle school and high school days but kinda dramatized with the stigma of people being bullying and “not getting” the gay stuff. The voices kinda blended together especially with then they voiced the boys. Sometimes i would have to go back and listen to who was actually saying what and to who.

AMAZING

The voice acting was absolutely wonderful and the overall story was so interesting I never wanted to stop listening!!

A YA story that needs to be told

Wow.

This story may not be for everyone, and I don’t want to spoil anything (below). But this book was heartfelt, understated, nuanced, subtle, and 100% awesome.

As a father of two boys, always trying to be loving, protective and supportive, I couldn’t help but feel empathy for the main character as he travelled through his own personal discovery, within a very structured and difficult family situation. At times I wanted to seriously hurt his mom for her abuse, and by 3/4 of the way through, tears were streaming down my face, I just wanted to hug and support Evan for everything he was going through. Holy cow, what an emotional roller coaster.

Kudos to the narrator Michael Crouch for his excellent voice interpretation, and more importantly to author Angelo Surmelis for his outstanding and important story and wonderful prose.

Thanks for this, definitely one of the most important things I’ve read this year.