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Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite
And Then He Pressed Play: Track One by Robert Halliwell is the story of Arlo “A.J.” Walker, a shy yet musically gifted Canadian exchange student at Glenbridge Secondary in Ireland. The cultural differences are overwhelming for him, and in addition to his unique accent, he finds himself in an all-boys school, which is a new challenge for a gay student. His anxiety is strong, but one student becomes his friend and changes everything. Bren O’Shea is a loud, charismatic local with the unique gift of bringing laughter and smiles to the faces of others. The kind of boy who talks before he thinks. His connection with AJ reveals that he deeply cares about him, and the friendship eventually grows into a secret, tender romance. But with growing homophobia, exemplified by an attack from classmate Cian and the indifference of the administration, they must rely on the support of Bren’s loyal friends like Rory and the hurling-obsessed Brick, and Mickie.
Robert Halliwell excels at exploring the world of high school kids, skillfully injecting strong emotional moments into the story and exploring AJ's insecurities in a way that feels real. His characters kept me turning the pages, and apart from AJ's traumatic journey, I was wholly captivated by Bren’s humor. When I first met Bren, he came across as a bubbly, fun-loving, and easy-going kid, but the transformation into a fierce protector completes the character arc perfectly. And Then He Pressed Play is peppered with authentic Irish dialect, and I enjoyed the sensory details in the setting, including the turf smoke and the rain-slicked streets. The prose is excellent, and the drama builds up with well-crafted dialogues that made the story very enjoyable for me.
