Where You Are

After reading "Don't Let Me Go", i knew I was going to be a fan for life of this oh-so-talented author. I didn't want "Where You Are" to end, but must confess I was relieved when it did because I felt so personally bombarded with a reality this book brought to a very forgiving light. The one of the attraction between a student and a teacher.I am a teacher myself and have been for a number of years. I teach at the college level, but my students are young and impressionable and often terribly attractive. On more than one occasion I've had to put off the advances of a well-meaning but smitten young student - making him aware that I never cross that line. And I never have. Even years after a student who is interested in me has graduated, I make it clear I'll be their friend but I will forever think of them as "my kid" and I just can't - and choose NOT - to go there. On principle.Yet... the two main characters in this story are presented with an insatiable desire for one another. And their age difference is negligible so it brought to the surface, for me anyway, the question of whether it's actually an immoral boundary that is crossed or if it's mostly just a social and policy-driven infringement. Where I live, 17 is the legal age of consent, so it would render some arguments moot.But... their individual views are so beautifully fleshed out that the reader becomes sympathetic to what the REAL issue is - and that is the power of attraction and the need to love and be loved. It really is that simple. If taken out of the context of a school environment, this tale wouldn't have any real controversial aspects. 24 isn't all that far removed from 17. But when the laws, which are in place for very important and necessary reasons, prohibit that sort of interaction between a student and a teacher - then the choice to disregard them clearly becomes more about judgment and character. So, my feeling is that this same story in lesser hands than Trumble's may not have presented itself so ambiguously to me. I'm prejudiced about MY take on whether or not it's taboo but I was rooting for both of these young men, nonetheless, to find a way to make it work. For someone to persuade me on that issue is impressive... but I would expect no less of said author after having read the aforementioned novel.Trumble was very intuitive about how to make the plot become more tangled. Always have conflict to surmount and you'll always get more interesting relationships. By making Andrew the father of a child and the former husband of his best friend... who hasn't quite let go... was very touching. And to have put young Robert's life in such turmoil... and feeling such ambivalence toward his dying father... went a long way in making his plight all the more plausible. Why wouldn't he turn to someone from whom he might elicit the kind of affection he never received? It certainly wasn't the only reason, but could have factored in... and, of course, that's the old argument about the older/younger controversy.I was left with a feeling of being invested in more than just the two central characters. Robert's mother was a silent warrior who tried to do the right thing. And Andrew's dad was the kind of father most gay men would have killed to have in their lives.Because J H Trumble wove the lives of these people together with such thoughtful precision, each step... or misstep... taken was all the more crucial because the well-being of so many hung in the balance. I applaud Trumble's brave attempt at putting this subject matter under such a sympathetic microscope. I don't believe I'll be crossing the line for any Robert's I might encounter in my career, but the next time I hear of a similar case being prosecuted, I know I will view it with a more open mind... and, after this read... heart.

Anyone who loves books, and especially writers, should pick up some of Trumble's work. There is a lot of slop on the YA shelves right now: books that contain great premises, and sure-fire, by-the-numbers plots, while lacking soul. Where You Are isn't one of those books. Trumble knows how to write memorable, consistent characters. Robert's aunts and his so-called boyfriend Nic, have got to be the worst people on Earth. And, I could physically feel my investment in the well being of Robert, his mother, and his teacher, Andrew. The scenes toward the beginning of the book, where Robert is watching his father waste away during hospice treatment, were especially moving. Furthermore, for a real-life tale, this book was excellently paced, and even had me guessing at certain plot events. The emotional content was thick and unrelenting. If Trumble's debut, or her upcoming book, are anything like this one, I will surely be picking those up as well.However, I only gave this book four stars because of some glaring concerns that I just couldn't shake. While the common admonition that authors should simply "write what they know" can be a limiting and dangerous piece of advice, there is some truth to it. All of Trumble's books are about gay males. I'm not sure if she's gay, but I know that she definitely isn't a gay male. And while she is doing the very necessary footwork of getting LGBT representation on to bookstore shelves, her ability to understand and empathize with the gay male experience is limited by a few annoying stereotypes.For instance, I rolled my eyes a bit when I discovered that Robert and Andrew were both amazing dancers and lovers of everything Top 40. Oh, of course they are! And, I get what she was trying to do with Nic's character, but I have yet to meet people who are utter queens day-in and day-out. His character was not streamlined or balanced in any manner. And, unfortunately, I feel that he may end up perpetuating some derogatory stereotypes about gay males. Furthermore, there seemed to be this common thread throughout the text that gay men have this all consuming passion that takes over them, rendering them helpless to think with their heads in romantic situations. At times, I thought that Robert and Andrew might be suffering from a bad case of nymphomania. No. Typically, gay relationships have some of the same mental strictures and boundaries that heterosexual relationships have. They can keep their hands off of each other. And, I was somewhat disturbed by the notion that their is a crippling anxiety surrounding the mechanics involved in the full arc of sexual relations. Yes there is anxiety involved, but you're probably not going to end up in the hospital.The problem of sex in this book plays into my second major concern. Andrew's inability to obey the boundaries of a teacher-student relationship was pretty appalling. I was losing respect for him with many of the secondary characters in the book. He would set his bottom line, and then immediately step over that boundary in the next chapter. I was confused as to why a 24-year-old adult would not be able to control himself for the short time of three months. Andrew's job should definitely have taken precedent over any physical interaction with Robert. I just couldn't believe how often he was willing to compromise himself. And, I couldn't believe how blatant and careless the two of them acted at times. The two of them were begging to get caught going out in the city and necking in the HEB parking lot. These problems don't detract completely from the excellence of the book, but I have to wonder why Trumble insists on writing about the gay male experience if she is going to perpetuate these negative stereotypes.Hopefully, Trumble's grasp of the LGBT experience will get better with each of her successive books. I hope so, because her writing is exceptional.

You’ve already read the synopsis of this story and don’t need to read it again. Several times, I had to physically put down my iPad and wait a bit to get back to reading... the story was that intense. I am so very pleased with the ending. You will be, too.I hate being finished with a really really good book. Now what am I going to read? Oh wait! There’s more books by this author.... yes!

Sensitive issues, tastefully done. This could have been a disaster of a book but isn't due to the clever and sensitive writing. Sometimes hard to read but it never made me uncomfortable.

OMG, where to start?I loved the book, I inhaled it and wanted to crawl into it and ..oh, well, lets just say, I love it.At first it isn't really a love story, it has more than one theme. It starts with Robert and his emotional turmoil about his father. He just wants his deadly ill father to die finally so that he and his mother can go on with their lives. It frightens him that he feels this way.Not that he is not entitled to do so because seriously, his father is/was a spoiled man all his life and never estimated what he had. So, being the unwanted child from this side Robert just can't cope any longer with the preassure.So in the beginning of the book we see a lot emotional baggage, brainless cruelty endured because it is proper to do so..etc.On the other hand there is Andrew, the teacher, a young man who wants to help, who feels drawn to the other young man, his pupil.And he notices what nobody else sees, that Robert is in strong need of someone who "gets" him....and he does.They form a connection that is strong in the supportive part and fragil but intense on the attraction side. Andrew knows that they can't be together and tries to tamper down even the slightest hint, it is a pleasure to read their struggle, the hopeless attempts to NOT act.They fail - of course - and despite all they become a couple.This is the second main focus of the book, the problem of a relationship of a teacher with a pupil.Of course it will cause problems and there will be a price to pay.I won't tell but I can say ...it was like a train wreck, I saw it coming and couldn't do anything against it. To be honest, the anticipation was the worst. The moment it happened...it doesn't get to much time and presence in the book and this is good. I hated it.So I needed some good at the end and it has a Happy End. I just wished there would have been a bit more. For me it ended too soon. And epiloque maybe??? Or is a second one planned?Both MCs are well done (sorry, perfectly done) - I loved them. Their internal stuggles and emotions....sigh.The secondary characters are also very well done.What can I say....a very, very good book. Read it.

zu lesenwer an der Thematik Interesse hates plätschert so dahin und man hat es bald ausgelesen, birgt keine Besonderheiten und keine Überraschungen,mir gings mehr um die Thematik als um die literarische Hochleistung

Good book. It was pretty clean and still had a great connection between the two.