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vale_leah's review against another edition
5.0
Questo libro è carinissimo ed è sempre un piacere rileggerlo
smutty_bibliophile's review
0.5
This book is highly offensive as it fetishizes gay men and portrays them stereotypically. It is not cute or funny to write about queer couples in such an offensive and problematic matter. It persists the stereotypes that the queer community works hard to dispel. It gives people permission to treat queer people in this manner because they frequently see queer people portrayed like this in all types of media. Queer couples, just like straight couples, do not fall into any one category. We are all unique individuals in unique relationships. Assigning false, harmful stereotypes is not acceptable and should not continue. We need to be mindful of what we write and say as to not bring harm against one person or group. Below is my review with numerous examples of the problematic language and stereotypes.
The author follows the disgusting trope of there HAS to be one fem and one masc one. There obviously can be any number of types of relationships. But this reads as that is the only combination in a male and male relationship.
Jay is the embodiment of a stereotyped fem man; very dramatic, flamboyant in his clothing and makeup and says, "Oh my gawd" every other sentence. He obsesses over clothes and beauty routine.
Liam is a bro-dude jock type who is masculine and calls Jay "dude" and "man" to make sure the reader knows he's masculine. The author makes sure that Liam is judgmental over Jay's non-plain coffee order. He thinks it's okay to order a "girly" drink for a girl but not a man. Men can only like plain black coffee.
GAY MEN ARE FEM UNTIL OTHERWISE PROVED
The author seems to think that being gay automatically makes you a girl, or at the very least, effeminate. Evidence: when Liam was trying to convince his family that he isn't gay, his SIL says, "Are you sure you're not even the tiniest bit gay?...It's just if you were you could help me out of a really tight spot...One of my bridesmaids has bailed on me. I'm short a girl. If you would be willing to dress up in baby pink I could put you into my wedding party."
Him being gay means that he would be a bridesmaid. Not considering that men can be in the bride's wedding party, women in the grooms party or any combination you can imagine. No, she thinks he is gay and automatically thinks "gay=fem=girl=being in my wedding party."
If you need another example of the authoring thinking that all gay men are fem/flamboyant/not masculine, and needs to be proven otherwise, Liam's conversation with his coworker gives you that. Chan says, "My brother is a screaming, walking, temple of testosterone. Yet he prefers other guys. I don’t get it, but I’m not complaining. More ladies for me and you, huh?” So only strong men can be straight and only fem men can be gay?
The author also makes everything that Jay likes be gay in someway, according to Liam. Take Jay's car for instance.
"I shook my head and checked out his sunny-yellow car, complete with rust on every single panel and sprinkled with a fine layer of dirt. 'I dunno, dude. I think if I get in this car I’ll exit wearing glitter and makeup and calling everyone I meet ‘darling.’ This has to be the gayest car I have ever seen!'"
Why is the car gay? Why would getting into a rusted, yellow car make you come out wearing glitter and makeup and calling everyone 'darling'? It doesn't. It is another example of the author stereotyping and being offensive.
THE MASC IS STRONG AND THE FEM IS MEEK
The other glaringly stereotypically plot is that Liam is Jay's savior. Liam saves Jay from a gay bashing and defends him against a dick patron of a restaurant. There is absolutely nothing wrong with one person/partner defending the other, but in this case Liam has to be the savior because he's the masculine one. Meanwhile, Jay is portrayed as meek during the restaurant and needs Liam to defend him.
OFFENSIVE AND UNNECESSARY LINES
The lines explain themselves.
“Yeah. I know what you’re going to say. Total fruitcake, right?”
“Does this mean you’ll start wearing pink shirts and calling everyone ‘Darling’?”
He was thin and slight, almost like a girl
"More ladies for me."
"I don’t give two shits about who you do it with, as long as you’re not checking me out.” As if all gay men check out all straight men.
"Weren’t they supposed to notice haircuts and weight loss?" Regarding noticing things about women.
“Liam, go and grab more beer from the fridge. Now that you’re a girl, you should be getting used to that.”
“Fuck off, Liam, and don’t go shaking that queer arse of yours anywhere near my drink!”
“You should let Liam choose the music. Gay men have so much better taste.”
BEING GAY CAN BE TURNED ON AND OFF
Part of being queer, for some people, is trying to figure out if you are or no. Do I like men? Women? Both? None? Or anything else under the queer umbrella. But you cannot turn on or off being gay. You didn't use to be gay. You could have been confused and thought you were, but aren't. Or thought you weren't but figures out you are. There can be confusion and uncertainty, not a switch you've turned on or off. You can have tried queer sex and figured out you didn't like it and weren't attracted to the person, but that doesn't mean you used to be gay. Examples below.
“How can you not know if you’re gay or not?”
"I’ve been gay before."
"It’s not like I haven’t tried it before. Being gay, I mean."
Or if I decided that I didn’t want to be gay after all.
RASICISM
There is also a slightly racist paragraph where the author is portraying a coworker of Liam's who is Asian. "Despite his Asian features and name, Chan sounded more Australian than most other Australians. He’d grown up in Sydney and had moved to Perth for work."
As if it needs to be explained that a non-white person can be from a "white" country, and not that they were from another country.
Additionally, when Liam's brother is defending him against Jay's uncle, John uses the N-word.
"The word ‘homo’ is offensive to the extreme and I never wish to hear it again. It’s like using the word ‘abo’ or ‘n*****’ to an ethnic person."
Using "the N-word" is perfectly adequate and gets the meaning across without having to use it. It feels very shock-valuey to me.
If you've made it this far, hi. I hope my rambling was coherent. This is just a topic I feel very strongly about. I want to quell anything that could bring harm to my community, even if it's just a GoodReads review that no one will read. But maybe, it will make just one person think about it,
The author follows the disgusting trope of there HAS to be one fem and one masc one. There obviously can be any number of types of relationships. But this reads as that is the only combination in a male and male relationship.
Jay is the embodiment of a stereotyped fem man; very dramatic, flamboyant in his clothing and makeup and says, "Oh my gawd" every other sentence. He obsesses over clothes and beauty routine.
Liam is a bro-dude jock type who is masculine and calls Jay "dude" and "man" to make sure the reader knows he's masculine. The author makes sure that Liam is judgmental over Jay's non-plain coffee order. He thinks it's okay to order a "girly" drink for a girl but not a man. Men can only like plain black coffee.
GAY MEN ARE FEM UNTIL OTHERWISE PROVED
The author seems to think that being gay automatically makes you a girl, or at the very least, effeminate. Evidence: when Liam was trying to convince his family that he isn't gay, his SIL says, "Are you sure you're not even the tiniest bit gay?...It's just if you were you could help me out of a really tight spot...One of my bridesmaids has bailed on me. I'm short a girl. If you would be willing to dress up in baby pink I could put you into my wedding party."
Him being gay means that he would be a bridesmaid. Not considering that men can be in the bride's wedding party, women in the grooms party or any combination you can imagine. No, she thinks he is gay and automatically thinks "gay=fem=girl=being in my wedding party."
If you need another example of the authoring thinking that all gay men are fem/flamboyant/not masculine, and needs to be proven otherwise, Liam's conversation with his coworker gives you that. Chan says, "My brother is a screaming, walking, temple of testosterone. Yet he prefers other guys. I don’t get it, but I’m not complaining. More ladies for me and you, huh?” So only strong men can be straight and only fem men can be gay?
The author also makes everything that Jay likes be gay in someway, according to Liam. Take Jay's car for instance.
"I shook my head and checked out his sunny-yellow car, complete with rust on every single panel and sprinkled with a fine layer of dirt. 'I dunno, dude. I think if I get in this car I’ll exit wearing glitter and makeup and calling everyone I meet ‘darling.’ This has to be the gayest car I have ever seen!'"
Why is the car gay? Why would getting into a rusted, yellow car make you come out wearing glitter and makeup and calling everyone 'darling'? It doesn't. It is another example of the author stereotyping and being offensive.
THE MASC IS STRONG AND THE FEM IS MEEK
The other glaringly stereotypically plot is that Liam is Jay's savior. Liam saves Jay from a gay bashing and defends him against a dick patron of a restaurant. There is absolutely nothing wrong with one person/partner defending the other, but in this case Liam has to be the savior because he's the masculine one. Meanwhile, Jay is portrayed as meek during the restaurant and needs Liam to defend him.
OFFENSIVE AND UNNECESSARY LINES
The lines explain themselves.
“Yeah. I know what you’re going to say. Total fruitcake, right?”
“Does this mean you’ll start wearing pink shirts and calling everyone ‘Darling’?”
He was thin and slight, almost like a girl
"More ladies for me."
"I don’t give two shits about who you do it with, as long as you’re not checking me out.” As if all gay men check out all straight men.
"Weren’t they supposed to notice haircuts and weight loss?" Regarding noticing things about women.
“Liam, go and grab more beer from the fridge. Now that you’re a girl, you should be getting used to that.”
“Fuck off, Liam, and don’t go shaking that queer arse of yours anywhere near my drink!”
“You should let Liam choose the music. Gay men have so much better taste.”
BEING GAY CAN BE TURNED ON AND OFF
Part of being queer, for some people, is trying to figure out if you are or no. Do I like men? Women? Both? None? Or anything else under the queer umbrella. But you cannot turn on or off being gay. You didn't use to be gay. You could have been confused and thought you were, but aren't. Or thought you weren't but figures out you are. There can be confusion and uncertainty, not a switch you've turned on or off. You can have tried queer sex and figured out you didn't like it and weren't attracted to the person, but that doesn't mean you used to be gay. Examples below.
“How can you not know if you’re gay or not?”
"I’ve been gay before."
"It’s not like I haven’t tried it before. Being gay, I mean."
Or if I decided that I didn’t want to be gay after all.
RASICISM
There is also a slightly racist paragraph where the author is portraying a coworker of Liam's who is Asian. "Despite his Asian features and name, Chan sounded more Australian than most other Australians. He’d grown up in Sydney and had moved to Perth for work."
As if it needs to be explained that a non-white person can be from a "white" country, and not that they were from another country.
Additionally, when Liam's brother is defending him against Jay's uncle, John uses the N-word.
"The word ‘homo’ is offensive to the extreme and I never wish to hear it again. It’s like using the word ‘abo’ or ‘n*****’ to an ethnic person."
Using "the N-word" is perfectly adequate and gets the meaning across without having to use it. It feels very shock-valuey to me.
If you've made it this far, hi. I hope my rambling was coherent. This is just a topic I feel very strongly about. I want to quell anything that could bring harm to my community, even if it's just a GoodReads review that no one will read. But maybe, it will make just one person think about it,
bitchie's review against another edition
4.0
This was just a really sweet, easy, low angst book. Liam was so sweet and funny, and Jay was just adorable. I do wish we had seen a bit more of actual relationship building and actual getting to know each other, they seemed to fall in love pretty quickly, but I guess that's the norm in these types of books.
Still, VERY good for a first effort, and I'll be reading more by this author.
Still, VERY good for a first effort, and I'll be reading more by this author.
a_reader_obsessed's review against another edition
4.0
Like the first book of Renae Kaye's that I read, I give this a 3H rating - Heart, Heat and Humor. You cannot go wrong with that triad ever.
Pretty much loved everything about this book
Loved Liam loving all things Jay and being so protective
Loved Jay in all his talkative glory - plus the fact that he had a dressing room :)
Loved Jay's family and Liam's family
Loved Aaron
Even loved Chan
An easy, definitely "feel good" story, chronicling Liam's coming out as he discovers someone worth doing so for. It's all about finding the right person to make you feel like conquering the world and once Liam realizes that truth, the rest as they say, is history.
Pretty much loved everything about this book
Loved Liam loving all things Jay and being so protective
Loved Jay in all his talkative glory - plus the fact that he had a dressing room :)
Loved Jay's family and Liam's family
Loved Aaron
Even loved Chan
An easy, definitely "feel good" story, chronicling Liam's coming out as he discovers someone worth doing so for. It's all about finding the right person to make you feel like conquering the world and once Liam realizes that truth, the rest as they say, is history.
whitneykelley's review against another edition
5.0
Audiobook — narration and story are both great. Jay/James/Jamie is a really fun character. He’s very confident in himself but is also a complete spazz. These two characters complement each other so well! I felt really bad for Liam because his dad is so homophobic, and he internalizes the idea that he can’t be gay…when he very clearly is. The rest of his family are lovely, and everything works out in the end.
raynebair's review
4.0
Funny book! I loved Jay's exuberance. And Liam's total and complete devotion to him.
leelee68's review against another edition
5.0
I loved everything about this book. Liam and Jay were just so sweet and beautiful together. I loved how Liam just loved Jay and never once tried to make him change, he just loved him for himself. I also loved how Jay was patient with Liam and never rushed him about if he was gay or not. They both fit together perfectly. I really hate that it ended because I enjoyed them both,their families and friends. Hopefully this author will be coming out with something else soon because I really enjoy her writing style! Great great book.
yuusasih's review
3.0
3,5 stars.
I heard this was Renae Kaye debut and I think she did splendidly. I really love how she explores the theme of sexuality in this era where articles and opinions about sexual minority were there in the air and how internalized or externalized homophobia handled in this society now. She did it good, though I thought some parts could be like too good to be true and/or playing stereotypes, but the message was delivered nicely--and humorously.
I listen to the audiobook version, tho. I'd say that I don't quite enjoy the narrator. I have audiobook pet peeves, the "gasping sound", and this one got it. I prefer my audiobook to be delivered as clear as possible. And the reading is also a bit too dramatic for my taste. So... yeah.
I heard this was Renae Kaye debut and I think she did splendidly. I really love how she explores the theme of sexuality in this era where articles and opinions about sexual minority were there in the air and how internalized or externalized homophobia handled in this society now. She did it good, though I thought some parts could be like too good to be true and/or playing stereotypes, but the message was delivered nicely--and humorously.
I listen to the audiobook version, tho. I'd say that I don't quite enjoy the narrator. I have audiobook pet peeves, the "gasping sound", and this one got it. I prefer my audiobook to be delivered as clear as possible. And the reading is also a bit too dramatic for my taste. So... yeah.
teresab78's review
5.0
****Reviewed for Prism Book Alliance****
Loving Jay was a delightful experience, with strong characters and an uncomplicated plot. This was a first for me from Renae Kaye and I will definitely be checking out more of her work.
Liam’s voice was charming. Though deep in denial about his sexuality, I loved that he didn’t project this conflict on to Jay but admired him and let himself get close to Jay instead. Jay was a little over the top but adorable and I loved how the two fit. I also liked the contrast between Liam and Jay’s families and how they supported the men in different ways.
The story itself had some conflict and angry run-ins with homophobia, but on the whole was a positive, feel good book. The end left me smiling. Definitely worth the read!
My View – Narration:
I enjoyed the narrators voice, though occasionally wasn’t sure what he was saying (mocha sounded like mocker). He was able to convey the emotion of the scenes and firmly anchored the setting in Australia with his accent. I would definitely listen to him again.
Loving Jay was a delightful experience, with strong characters and an uncomplicated plot. This was a first for me from Renae Kaye and I will definitely be checking out more of her work.
Liam’s voice was charming. Though deep in denial about his sexuality, I loved that he didn’t project this conflict on to Jay but admired him and let himself get close to Jay instead. Jay was a little over the top but adorable and I loved how the two fit. I also liked the contrast between Liam and Jay’s families and how they supported the men in different ways.
The story itself had some conflict and angry run-ins with homophobia, but on the whole was a positive, feel good book. The end left me smiling. Definitely worth the read!
My View – Narration:
I enjoyed the narrators voice, though occasionally wasn’t sure what he was saying (mocha sounded like mocker). He was able to convey the emotion of the scenes and firmly anchored the setting in Australia with his accent. I would definitely listen to him again.