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sammy_witha_c's review against another edition
3.0
Rating: 3 / 5.
This book... hm. This book really didn't do it for me.
To speak of the story itself, I enjoyed the characters of Luca and Tav. I think my favorite relationship was Luca and Aaron's(oh please tell me I've gotten his name right) friendship- they bounced off each other so well, and I loved their humor! Wish they got more time together. I liked the rest of Luca's family as well- especially his older brother- but that was really it when it came to compelling characters, since the rest didn't get much screen-time.
And Jack. Oh boy Jack. I don't want what I say about his character to be taken too seriously / factually, because I am not a survivor of intense abuse / assault. But I do have my fair share of trauma, and honestly? It just isn't realistic. I could maybe understand some of Jack's actions if he were having PTSD flashbacks or some type of psychotic episode but his actions were much too frequent, intense, and unreasonable for all of them to be excused that way. And I feel like the way he's portrayed is seriously dangerous.
For one, it demonised abuse survivors and mentally ill / neurodiverse people. He was so incredibly violent. And yes, these people can be violent, but when you make that a central part of his personally, or dare I say ALL of it, it becomes a big issue. You shouldn't fear the people listed above. They're just... people. And this all rubbed me the wrong way. For two, the whole train of thought Luca has where he keeps excusing Jack because Jack has been through trauma? And then the people who tell him he shouldn't be excused being seen as the bad guys? That was victim blaming. Jack could have done horrible things because of his trauma but that does not take away from the fact that they were horrible things. They mattered just as much even if Jack was not in the right place. Luca was a victim and it honestly pissed me off to make it seem like he wasn't!!
As for the actual writing, first of all, it was just plain confusing in some places. This felt more like a sequel than a stand-alone, which is a feeling I can confidently say I have never had for a book before! There were so many things that seemed like they were supposed to make sense if you read the first book, to the point where I downright searched far and wide to see if there was. There isn't. Please tell me if there is because I am still keeping an eye out.
Second of all, it was just... lengthy. I usually don't mind some filler to my books, but by god this thing was more of a pudding than a pie if you get what I mean. So much of it is unnecessary to the point where it felt repetitive and boring, and I ended up just plain skimming a lot of it if I'm honest.
I had to stop reading the book halfway through because of the reasons above, so I can't say anything about the second half of the book. This was all from the first half. I just felt like this book was so close to being good if it was half the length and less... whatever it was with Jack.
I hate giving books like these- books that are very clearly made with love and don't have tons of issues- bad ratings. I could really tell this author cared about these characters. But overall the cons outweighed the pros in this one. There really isn't anything else to say.
This book... hm. This book really didn't do it for me.
To speak of the story itself, I enjoyed the characters of Luca and Tav. I think my favorite relationship was Luca and Aaron's(oh please tell me I've gotten his name right) friendship- they bounced off each other so well, and I loved their humor! Wish they got more time together. I liked the rest of Luca's family as well- especially his older brother- but that was really it when it came to compelling characters, since the rest didn't get much screen-time.
And Jack. Oh boy Jack. I don't want what I say about his character to be taken too seriously / factually, because I am not a survivor of intense abuse / assault. But I do have my fair share of trauma, and honestly? It just isn't realistic. I could maybe understand some of Jack's actions if he were having PTSD flashbacks or some type of psychotic episode but his actions were much too frequent, intense, and unreasonable for all of them to be excused that way. And I feel like the way he's portrayed is seriously dangerous.
For one, it demonised abuse survivors and mentally ill / neurodiverse people. He was so incredibly violent. And yes, these people can be violent, but when you make that a central part of his personally, or dare I say ALL of it, it becomes a big issue. You shouldn't fear the people listed above. They're just... people. And this all rubbed me the wrong way. For two, the whole train of thought Luca has where he keeps excusing Jack because Jack has been through trauma? And then the people who tell him he shouldn't be excused being seen as the bad guys? That was victim blaming. Jack could have done horrible things because of his trauma but that does not take away from the fact that they were horrible things. They mattered just as much even if Jack was not in the right place. Luca was a victim and it honestly pissed me off to make it seem like he wasn't!!
As for the actual writing, first of all, it was just plain confusing in some places. This felt more like a sequel than a stand-alone, which is a feeling I can confidently say I have never had for a book before! There were so many things that seemed like they were supposed to make sense if you read the first book, to the point where I downright searched far and wide to see if there was. There isn't. Please tell me if there is because I am still keeping an eye out.
Second of all, it was just... lengthy. I usually don't mind some filler to my books, but by god this thing was more of a pudding than a pie if you get what I mean. So much of it is unnecessary to the point where it felt repetitive and boring, and I ended up just plain skimming a lot of it if I'm honest.
I had to stop reading the book halfway through because of the reasons above, so I can't say anything about the second half of the book. This was all from the first half. I just felt like this book was so close to being good if it was half the length and less... whatever it was with Jack.
I hate giving books like these- books that are very clearly made with love and don't have tons of issues- bad ratings. I could really tell this author cared about these characters. But overall the cons outweighed the pros in this one. There really isn't anything else to say.
cleo_reads's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 ish stars. The more I think about it, the less I like it. I really disagree with the portrayal of one of the 2ndary characters, who’s a survivor of sexual abuse.
This is the story of Luca and Tav, two 17 year olds in their last year of school, who are openly dating each other, and of Jack, the new kid who harasses Luca and tries increasingly violent tactics to get him to quit the swim team.
This has all the things that normally work for me in a Metzger YA, but I just can’t get past how much I disagree with the portrayal of Jack, the homophobic bully. Metzger explodes and explores a lot of stereotypes but he does it at the expense of perpetuating another stereotype.
I liked that Jack is portrayed with some nuance - that we’re shown reasons for his actions. But I have a lot of problems with those reasons - and I can’t really explain it without spoilers.
Based on a few things that Jack says, Luca realizes that Jack was probably sexually abused by a man and that’s why he’s afraid of (openly gay) Luca and wants him to quit the swimming team they’re both on. That’s why he keeps escalating - trying to force Luca off the team. That’s why he defaced first Luca’s locker and then the front door of his home. That’s why he held a knife to his throat. That’s why he pushed him into traffic.
And yeah, no. As a survivor of CSA, I really object to this portrayal, especially in a YA. I object to the way Jack is portrayed as broken and violent. Survivors, like anyone, can be violent, sure, but the way Jack acts just doesn’t make sense to me, it doesn’t ring true to my experience. Jack seems more like a plot device than a real character.
This is the story of Luca and Tav, two 17 year olds in their last year of school, who are openly dating each other, and of Jack, the new kid who harasses Luca and tries increasingly violent tactics to get him to quit the swim team.
This has all the things that normally work for me in a Metzger YA, but I just can’t get past how much I disagree with the portrayal of Jack, the homophobic bully. Metzger explodes and explores a lot of stereotypes but he does it at the expense of perpetuating another stereotype.
I liked that Jack is portrayed with some nuance - that we’re shown reasons for his actions. But I have a lot of problems with those reasons - and I can’t really explain it without spoilers.
Based on a few things that Jack says, Luca realizes that Jack was probably sexually abused by a man and that’s why he’s afraid of (openly gay) Luca and wants him to quit the swimming team they’re both on. That’s why he keeps escalating - trying to force Luca off the team. That’s why he defaced first Luca’s locker and then the front door of his home. That’s why he held a knife to his throat. That’s why he pushed him into traffic.
And yeah, no. As a survivor of CSA, I really object to this portrayal, especially in a YA. I object to the way Jack is portrayed as broken and violent. Survivors, like anyone, can be violent, sure, but the way Jack acts just doesn’t make sense to me, it doesn’t ring true to my experience. Jack seems more like a plot device than a real character.
kieranlit's review against another edition
5.0
TW: Canon-typical racism and homophobia, in context of being acknowledged as bad things. Casual ableism, not addressed, including the r-slur. Implied/referenced sexual assault and pedophilia.
As always, I have gobs of praise for Metzger's writing. He's, impossibly, improved since Rhapsody on a Theme.
I never noticed how many tropes exist in published fiction (I say, because fanfiction frequently subverts them) until The Italian Word for Kisses kept not going there.
Tav is jealous of Aaron kissing Luca for a play? That's supposed to get out of control and cause major fights, probably including a love triangle. But instead, they talk about it, acknowledge the irrationality, accept that the feeling exists, and move on.
Luca wants to keep what's going on a secret? He's supposed to build an ever-increasing complex web of lies to keep it, until the truth comes out in the end and a proportionally large blowout occurs. But instead, when pressed for details, he admits what's going on.
Even more, since the book begins with Tav and Luca happy together, their relationship ought to end up in serious jeopardy at some point, and spoiler alert, it doesn't.
This is not a book where the whole thing could have been solved early on if everyone had just sat down and talked. Tav and Luca disagreed on it, yes, but we got inside both their heads and saw where both of them were coming from. And where both of them were coming from are such intensely emotional places, it's no wonder they can't come to a decision they both like.
Writers are taught--certainly I was--to pack as much drama as is humanly possible into everything. And only now is it driven home to me that the price is predictability. The number of times something happened to make me go, "OK, the plot is going to be..." before I actually got a handle on what kind of story I was reading. Because normally, all I have to do to figure it out is to figure out how the first conflict that turns up can be made The Most Bad.
I'm buying this book for everyone I know for the foreseeable future holidays.
As always, I have gobs of praise for Metzger's writing. He's, impossibly, improved since Rhapsody on a Theme.
I never noticed how many tropes exist in published fiction (I say, because fanfiction frequently subverts them) until The Italian Word for Kisses kept not going there.
Tav is jealous of Aaron kissing Luca for a play? That's supposed to get out of control and cause major fights, probably including a love triangle. But instead, they talk about it, acknowledge the irrationality, accept that the feeling exists, and move on.
Luca wants to keep what's going on a secret? He's supposed to build an ever-increasing complex web of lies to keep it, until the truth comes out in the end and a proportionally large blowout occurs. But instead, when pressed for details, he admits what's going on.
Even more, since the book begins with Tav and Luca happy together, their relationship ought to end up in serious jeopardy at some point, and spoiler alert, it doesn't.
This is not a book where the whole thing could have been solved early on if everyone had just sat down and talked. Tav and Luca disagreed on it, yes, but we got inside both their heads and saw where both of them were coming from. And where both of them were coming from are such intensely emotional places, it's no wonder they can't come to a decision they both like.
Writers are taught--certainly I was--to pack as much drama as is humanly possible into everything. And only now is it driven home to me that the price is predictability. The number of times something happened to make me go, "OK, the plot is going to be..." before I actually got a handle on what kind of story I was reading. Because normally, all I have to do to figure it out is to figure out how the first conflict that turns up can be made The Most Bad.
I'm buying this book for everyone I know for the foreseeable future holidays.
kaje_harper's review against another edition
4.0
Another book by Metzger with two believable, interesting young men. Tav and Luca are in love, and their friends have all gotten used to them as a couple. They've also gotten used to being out at home and at school, and no one thinking twice about ragging on them just as easily, and almost as lightly, as any of the straight couples. The guys, their friends and family all interact with teasing and rough-and-tumble, and good-natured slanging matches abound (in flavorful language.)
Life is pretty good for the guys, with the biggest problem being Tav getting jealous over Luca's school play pretend-kiss. So when a new kid in school seems to have a real problem with seeing gay guys around him, they react in very different ways. Tav takes the problem on with his fists, while Luca tries to figure out what makes the new kid tick. I'm not sure Luca's forbearance quite rang true by the end. I was on Tav's side. But the story was fast moving and pulled me along, and there were some unpredictable moments. Not my favorite by this author, but a solid story.
Life is pretty good for the guys, with the biggest problem being Tav getting jealous over Luca's school play pretend-kiss. So when a new kid in school seems to have a real problem with seeing gay guys around him, they react in very different ways. Tav takes the problem on with his fists, while Luca tries to figure out what makes the new kid tick. I'm not sure Luca's forbearance quite rang true by the end. I was on Tav's side. But the story was fast moving and pulled me along, and there were some unpredictable moments. Not my favorite by this author, but a solid story.
achillespatroclus's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
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