CAN'T-PUT-IT-DOWN STORY, BEAUTIFUL WRITING
I just finished reading `Strings Attached' for the second time last night, and I'm just as curious to know what happens next as I was when I read it over a year ago. The writing is fast paced, and has moments approaching some of the best literature I've read. Nolan has a gift for description, so you can really see what is happening in the story. I especially loved the scenic descriptions and the relationship between Jeremy and Arthur, and how many surprises and twists there are toward the end that I absolutely didn't see coming. The Pinocchio theme is subtle, so you can read this and enjoy it with or without knowing the references in the story. I loved this book, and can't wait to buy the sequel (when is it coming out???)

A quick read
I just happen to stumble across this book and found it to be a quick read. The storyline flowed easily and Mr. Nolan made the characters likeable.

Smooth read but poor writing
'Strings attached' could be so much more. The plot is very charming, but the lack of strength in its writing makes the whole story seems like a bad-concealed re-telling of the Pinocchio tale -a thing the writer himself stresses in the foreword, which I thought was unecessary.

Sometimes, you can see right through the writers' intentions when he writes something down (such as making some elements close to the puppet's story) -and that's it. You have no depth of meaning that could entice you to future re-readings.

But, sure, the characters are very easy to relate to. That much is to be credited to Nolan.

Good beach read, kind of loses it in the end
I started reading this book and it didn't grab me right away, so I put it down in favor of one or two others, then picked it back up to read on my beach vacation. It is a good beach read. Like other reviewers have said, it is a teen-themed coming of age/coming out novel with many parallels to teen TV soaps. But it was enjoyable and did keep me interested and turning the pages. But by the end I was disappointed in the turn it took. After the other star on the swim team makes a pass at the main character, he just kind of drops out of the story. Then, the teen drama sort of takes a back seat when the mother shows up and the story takes a turn into murder-mystery territory. I thought that direction for the ending was too melodramatic so I ended up not liking the book as much because of that. Too bad, because it was good up until that point. If you like gay fiction it is worth a read, especially on a beach or a plane, but it could have been better. It does set itself up for a sequel which isn't too bad--the main character is likable enough and the writing is good enough that the sequel has potential. I actually found the author's notes at the end describing the parallels to Pinocchio to be pretty interesting.

Stunning.
This book is by far one of the best pieces of gay literature ive ever read. I can totally relate to Jeremy and his life situation. Going from one extreme, to another. And how money can change you.