Review: Train to Somewhere by Susan Laine

Title: Train to Somewhere (Before . . . and After: Book Three)

Author: Susan Laine

Length: 75 Pages

Category: Contemporary, New Adult

At a Glance: Sorry to say this story didn’t work for me on any level.

Reviewed By: Sadonna

Blurb: It was only a game. Wasn’t it?

At a party one night, Charlie Dean’s childhood friend Will Tucker accepts a dare and dresses up as a girl: clothes, hair, makeup. Seeing Will that way incites a riot of confused emotions in Charlie—and he responds by lashing out. He never meant to hurt Will, and now he must do some serious damage control.

During a school trip by train, Charlie and Will share a sleeper cabin. Charlie intends to mend fences, while Will figures it’s as good a time as any to broach the subjects of attraction and sexuality. They want to get their relationship back on track. But after the secrets they both reveal, their friendship can never be the same.

Review: Will, on a dare, allows the girls at a party to dress him up in drag. His best friend, Charlie, goes ballistic. What he does to Will is unforgivable—for anyone, I guess, except Will. In no time, they are sharing a sleeper car on a school train trip, one that Charlie has maneuvered behind the scenes, without consulting anyone, to supposedly “make amends” with Will.

During said train ride, Will decides it’s time to pull out the pop psychology on sexuality, orientation, attraction, gender, you name it. Now, expecting a guy who lost his sh*t the week before to have this lucid, calm discussion seems pretty out of the realm of believability. Particularly when the leader of said conversation is the victim of this unprovoked attack. Honestly, I didn’t buy a word of it, nor did I accept the conversation Charlie had with his girlfriend. And, the final part of the book—a reunion of sorts—was just the last straw.

Oh boy. Not sure where to start on my feelings on this one. Sorry to say this story didn’t work for me on any level. I didn’t connect with the characters, who I didn’t believe acted or sounded like teenagers. I didn’t believe the dialogue at all. I found it a bit preachy even. I didn’t realize this book was part of a series when I read it, but I’m not convinced reading the previous books would have helped. As usual YMMV, but I just can’t recommend this one.

You can buy Train to Somewhere here:
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