Reader's Discretion Advised

1.5/5It was, dare I say, quite laughable actually. I mean, the original premise isn't bad, but the presentation...oh, my goodness, the presentation...It was really...cliched. Trite. There wasn't really anything that original about the ideas presented, not really. It also felt weirdly disconcerting, like the author was trying to hard to get us to like the characters anyway or whatever or somehow made the characters to be waaay too perfect. I mean, I had that problem too when I attempted to write - my characters would all become more and more idealized and grow more and more - what's the term? - Mary-Sue-ish. Yeah, he's traumatized, but he's fully aware of it and sometimes throws out things that while true, doesn't seem like something he would or should be consciously aware of.(Actually, sometimes it read more like someone else telling Kaden's story ex post facto, but trying to tell it from his voice at the time. It made the entire thing really, really weird.)The entire circumstance seemed really unrealistic to me, for whatever reason. I had a hard time believing that something like that would just...happen. It's not something I can necessarily put my finger on because I got bored and found myself barely skim-reading it to get through it so I felt justified rating it, but the entire thing didn't quite connect for me. Too much just seemed really weird.I also wondered why the author called them lyrics and not simply poems. I mean, there wasn't any indication that there'd be music put to them at all...unless they were meant to be chants? But that would still be more like poetry than anything. It made me feel like the author was trying to capture the "mystical" quality of music, but (s)he didn't actually know much about it or enough to throw little tidbits out.I'd actually probably say this book is on par with Twilight, at least, in my opinion. It has about the same level of character complexity. I also didn't quite get a sense of personality from Kaden, not really. I mean, the "lyrics" thing was kind of a nice touch, but all I really got were his amazingly large set of awesome skillsets. It's like playing the "I'm perfect but say I don't know it." He's a consummate Mary Sue. Heck, he even charmed that poor abused horse that no one else can get close to =_=It just felt...empty. Even with J.C. Owens's The Emperor's Wolf, what with its melodrama and Mary Sue-ness, didn't seem empty. I can't quite say what, but this book...it didn't seem to have a personality. It seemed very routine and seemed to progress according to a schedule - right on schedule, yes, but still, according to a schedule. There wasn't really a sense of natural development or whatnot.There were good moments, though, like when Kaden finally confessed about his stepfather. I think that was the first time I actually felt connected to the characters, however briefly. And then the confession ended and the beautiful moment for me completely evaporated back into mediocrity ~sigh.(I still don't quite understand how Logan came to terms with his sudden gayness so fast...must have been a part I skimmed over...)