"Love, like everything in the universe, cannot be destroyed. But over time it can change."
— The book's back cover
Something Like Summer is a 2011 novel by Jay Bell. It follows Benjamin Bentley, an openly gay youth from Houston, Texas, and follows his life over the years between 1996 and 2008, as well as his relationships with Tim Wyman and Jace Holden. It is the first novel in the Something Like... Series and had a film adaptation released in 2017.
This work provides examples of:
- Bowdlerize: A "school edition" was released removing the descriptions of sex.
- Gay Guy Seeks Popular Jock: Ben, the lone openly gay guy at his high school, attempts to go after Tim, the fairly athletic, good-looking, and already popular new guy.
- First Girl Wins: About a year after Jace passes away, Allison takes Ben to Tim's art show, and afterwards they tentatively begin a relationship again.
- If It's You, It's Okay: During their high school years, Ben seems to be this for Tim. It later turns out that Tim is gay and was always in love with Ben.
- Performance Artist: Ben can be considered this, and this is played up in the film adaptation.
- Straight Gay: Tim, even after coming out, doesn't present really any stereotypically gay characteristics.
- Yandere: In adulthood, Tim becomes something of this when beginning to pursuit, actually saying that "[he] will stop at nothing to get [Ben] back," and going so far as to get another student to leave a letter at Jace's apartment for Ben to see to make it look like Jace was cheating on Ben.
