My rating: 1 out of 5 stars
This book wasn't horrible, but I'm giving it only 1 star because I gave up on it when I was a little more than halfway through. I just didn't care enough about the characters or what would happen to them, and I figured...life is too short to read a book you're just not that into. I've done it before and regretted it, so I put the book down.
Jesus Boy is about Elwyn Parker, an African-American teenager in Florida, who is a member of the Church of Our Blessed Redeemer Who Walked Upon the Waters. Elwyn is a devout Christian who, after the object of his affection marries someone else, takes up with Sister Morrisohn, a fellow churchgoer who is 26 years his senior. I have to wonder about the author's upbringing, because he seems to be writing about charismatic Christian culture as if he truly knows. But what's also clear is that he has a dark, deeply cynical view of such right-wing religious types.
One moment they are spouting about sin and the next moment they are going at it like rabbits...not only the 16-year-old and the 42-year-old, but just about everyone is having sex--whether it's incest or extramarital affairs. It just got old after awhile. The author writes a lot of erotica, and I think he was going for the shock value. I'm certainly no bible thumper myself, but Allen really goes overboard on the hypocrisy and shallowness of these characters.
