Skyler Phoenix

By: Damien Benoit-Ledoux

Narrated by: Ben Palacios

Skyler finally had it all...

...but for the third time, the state had taken everything away from him.

It wasn't his fault, though, or was it?

If only he hadn't been so stupid...

If only he hadn't been so careless...

If only he hadn't fallen in love with his best friend, Cameron.

Now, sitting in the social worker's SUV, he stared at his new house and the strangers standing on the front steps. His life had been an uphill climb, and now he had to start over.

Again.

One day, he might call them family, but he had finally learned his lesson.

This time, Skyler wouldn't be stupid.

This time, Skyler wouldn't be careless.

And no matter what, he definitely, absolutely, wouldn't fall in love with another cute boy.

Skyler Phoenix is the first book of the Love Grows in Honest Places series.

Get it now.

©2016 Damien Benoit-Ledoux (P)2021 Damien Benoit-Ledoux

Good Listen

This is a pretty sweet yet heartbreaking at times coming of age story. I really did enjoy the characters. It is slightly unbelievable throughout the 2nd half but just go with it and enjoy. The narration is done well if some of the character voices were questionable I think Palacios' performance (and yes audio book is a performance and not just a reading in my opinion) did a fantastic job bringing this story and these characters to life.

Third Time's the Charm

This was a truly heartfelt, uplifting and engaging story, and one I think every gay teenager or anyone who has ever been bullied, or been a bully needs to hear. Heck, maybe every teenager. I think there is something here in the angst of youth for everyone to relate to. I think some of the growth and healing at the end came rather quickly, but I liked the outcome for everyone. I felt so much for Skyler, he had been through so much pain. I really thought his second home would be a respite, but it was not to be. Thankfully, the third time was the charm for him, and he was able to overcome the dysfunction of his prior foster homes. One thing I would have done differently as the author is vary the names more. Having so many hard C's and close-sounding names (Cam, Colton/CK, Cody, Kalen) did make it hard sometimes for me to keep all the different characters clear.

The narration was pretty good, but sometimes it wasn't clear if Skyler was just thinking something or actually saying the words out loud. Also, the "giggling" was a little weird.

I received a free copy of the audiobook through StoryOrigin and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Skyler Phoenix

Trigger Warnings: foster, religion/Christianity, terminal illness, past death of a parent, alcohol, abuse, homophobia, sex, masturbation, cancer, cursing, underage drinking, coming out, outing, bullying, violence, police interactions, alcoholism

Representation: Gay

Skyler Phoenix is a gay romance about Skyler Phoenix, who is abandoned by his foster parents when they find out he is gay. Skyler doesn’t understand how they can promise to love everyone at church but choose to hate him because he’s different. Skyler’s social worker told him to keep his chin up, but that is hard when he doesn’t know if he’s headed for the streets or the orphanage on the other side of town.

Honestly, I’m a little ashamed to admit this but I always fall victim to the misconception that indie published books are of a lower quality than traditionally published. I am so happy to say this story proved me incredibly wrong! This is a great story from an unknown to me author who perfectly captures what it’s like to not be accepted by “family” because of your sexuality. He did such a great job with balancing religious trauma and romance, no easy feat! While I have no experience with the foster care system, I thought this was a great example of some of the horrors within. Overall, I just really enjoyed this story and I hope it becomes way more popular soon!

a lovely story

A lovely growing-up story about accepting one's self and coming out. heartbreaking at times, and at others - full of hope. I could really feel the pain and then the love and acceptance.
The narrator was a little annoying with his "festive" voice or the female voices. It sounded fake and over the top. Other than that he was okay.
I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Good story, not so great narration

I read this on my kindle a couple years ago and enjoyed it so much that I decided to try the audio book. I should have re read the kindle version. The narration is so over the top, especially the Tracy character, plus it drives me crazy when he bursts out laughing after reading “Skyler laughed”. Now I don’t think I will ever be able to read the book again without hearing the narrator in my head.

Loved the kindle edition, Audo book not so much

Voicing Liara with a New York Jewish woman accent was just off putting. Some of the male narration done with a syrupy inflect was annoying and not how kids speak. The giggles became annoying. the narrator needs to understand hes not acting but reading a book to an audience and to not go overboard.

Absolutely amazing

This novel is amazing and so we’ll written. The characters are so developed and tells a truly unique coming of age story of a gay youth.

Depth of the characters

It is a deep story about struggling to accept yourself and find your chosen family. I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

Overall, a good story

I'm giving this book a solid 3 stars. I absolutely loved the book's first half when Sklyer is dealing with the situation with the Tisdales and Cam. There were solid emotional beats, and the story felt realistic. I am from the South, and this is precisely how anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community would be treated. I was a snotty mess when he watched Prayers for Bobby with his foster dad, Stephen, and siblings. It adds some nuisance to the story. Not everyone who is a Christian is completely irredeemable, and the best way to help them is to educate them. I definitely feel like Stephen could change and did change. Whether he will stay that way once his wife regains control of him remains to be seen. It also broke my heart when Skyler had to say goodbye to his siblings.
Then we get to the middle of the book when Sklyar meets his third foster family, the Kelleys. This was okay, if not a little too good to be true. I did immensely enjoy Dale and Liara. I love that their relationship is so open and the way they talk to CK and Skyler, and how supportive they are. It's from about the point in the story when Skylar starts going out with Kalin that things begin to fall apart for me. I do like Kalin, and they make a cute couple, but the story seemed to stumble here and made the last bit of the book feel like it lasted forever, and I ended up losing some interest in the characters. Some of the dialogue, especially once Skylar makes it to the Kelley household, is a bit much. Teenagers do not talk or even act in some of the ways described.
I did listen to this as an audiobook, and the narration was a bit much at times. It was hard to decipher between many of the male voices, which seemed very stereotypical surfer dudes. The female voices came out as overly Valley Girl in most cases. Giggles were also a little weird.
Overall, I did enjoy this book and took many great moments from it.