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3.39 AVERAGE
3.39 AVERAGE
So far in 2018, this is the book that has made me laugh the most!
You know how a really distinctive voice can improve the story? Well, these characters had me cackling. It's a story with dual POV's and I never had a problem mixing them up. Both were interesting, which I find very rare.
The story in itself kept me on my toes and it was never boring. The romance was adorable and it was interesting how It progressed.
This is a fast read I highly recommend for when you are in a reading slump, because it sure dragged me out of one.
You know how a really distinctive voice can improve the story? Well, these characters had me cackling. It's a story with dual POV's and I never had a problem mixing them up. Both were interesting, which I find very rare.
The story in itself kept me on my toes and it was never boring. The romance was adorable and it was interesting how It progressed.
This is a fast read I highly recommend for when you are in a reading slump, because it sure dragged me out of one.
4.5 stars.
I actually really loved this book! Not only was it adorable and funny, but it pressed on some real issues that LGBTQ teens face every day. It was fast-paced and kept your interest so easily.
I loved Jax and Beck. There were moments with both of them where I wanted to smack some sense into them, but they both definitely redeemed themselves in the end. I also loved their parents. They were all so cool and loving. And not to forget about their friends, Shelby and Terry were such great side characters.
Overall, I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would and I'm glad I picked it up!
I actually really loved this book! Not only was it adorable and funny, but it pressed on some real issues that LGBTQ teens face every day. It was fast-paced and kept your interest so easily.
I loved Jax and Beck. There were moments with both of them where I wanted to smack some sense into them, but they both definitely redeemed themselves in the end. I also loved their parents. They were all so cool and loving. And not to forget about their friends, Shelby and Terry were such great side characters.
Overall, I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would and I'm glad I picked it up!
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I had my 2018 book wishlist all set up, and this was at the top of it. I picked it up at B&N, and put it down unsatisfied. The first five pages of this book are great. They're funny, hilarious, and relatable. Did someone say sassy power bottom? Golden Girls references? An out and proud gay character? I WAS HERE FOR IT!
It lost me at page six, when Beckett refers to his father's new girlfriend as Big Titties, and subsequently calls her a thing and a whore multiple times. It only goes downhill from there. A few pages later, Tracee calls transpeople as a whole tr*nnies (which is a slur used against transwomen), where Beckett corrects her and says transgender. I was like yeah!! Four pages later, and throughout the book, he is insistent that men must have penises and just inherent cissexism and multiple accounts of transphobia. I am a transman. To see a book get published in 2018 where a gay character constantly states real men only have penises fucking sucks.
On the same page as the penis comment, Beckett calls someone a gaysian, a "gay Asian" and earlier in the book says gaycist, in lieu of telling his father to stop stereotyping him. Hate to break it to you, but "gaysians" are...just gay people...who happen to be Asian....shocking. Beckett, who is supposed to be this sassy, flamboyant gay, attaches his actions to those blatantly taken from Black culture and, more specifically, Black women's culture, something that white gays do notoriously in real life.
Jesus Christ, the biphobia in this book is rampant. It's insane. Tracee is the mother of Jax, who also happens to have another mother (and also there to be the in the closet jock stereotype). Tracee has decided to divorce her wife because she no longer feels happy in the marriage, and has come to terms with being bisexual. Here are some lovely quotes about her bisexuality:
"I know my mom is way gay enough that she’ll start missing the vag pretty soon."
I squint at him and drop the pizza crust on my tray. "Okay, ew. I’m eating here." (Jax POV)
“I don’t get it. Mom said she’s always been with women. What changed? How can you just switch like that?”
JoJo chuckles. “Well, in my experience, it’s not that cut-and-dry with women. Not in every case, mind you. I’m a gold star lesbian and always will be." (Jax talking with one of his mothers)
I just??? What the hell??? Is this some weird take on feminism because I for one can say I don't understand it. The biphobia in this book is so bad, that when Jax comes out as bisexual (after denying it the entire book, looking down on it, and saying multiple times he doesn't understand bisexuality because what if your partner just leaves you for the other sex????), it almost feels like a joke.
Let's also talk about Jax himself. It's revealed later in the story that Jax was abused as a child, and his mothers adopted him and saved him. Well, you wouldn't think someone who's been through this would orchestrate a FAKE HATE CRIME just to get his mom to brake up with Beckett's dad, right? You would think wrong, because he actually does that.
In fact, the both of them also out a gay priest when that could leave the priest in potential danger for his goddamn life. Beckett has the gross mentality that people who stay in the closet are the real homophobes because they're not out and proud, when being out could cost them their homes, their lives, and everything they know. Like he's somehow superior to kids who can't come out, instead of understanding being gay is still punishable by death in some countries, and that violence against LGBT people have gone up 80% since the Trump administration has taken over. It's so fucking annoying.
Also, Beckett's best friend, (I forgot her name) is plus size. In the book, they met because someone was picking on Beckett and she punched them, playing into the violent fat girl stereotype. There's also the fact that she literally never stops eating or inquiring about food. Like, okay, we get it, she's fat. Give her some character development already.
I will say, though, that I did like one thing. I liked the open dialogue about gay sex and the differences between losing a straight virginity and a gay virginity. There isn't enough information about gay sex being put out there for gay teens, so I like that this was a very open conversation in the book while managing not to be too cringe and gross to read.
TL;DR: Jax and Beckett are nothing but their closeted jock/flamboyant gay stereotypes, and the racist, misogynistic, transphobic, and biphobic undertones of the book put me off of the narrative.
Honestly, I like Greg Howard's writing style. I think he's funny and I think he has the power to write really good stories about gay men finding themselves through their sexuality, he just has to learn about something other than white gay culture first.
It lost me at page six, when Beckett refers to his father's new girlfriend as Big Titties, and subsequently calls her a thing and a whore multiple times. It only goes downhill from there. A few pages later, Tracee calls transpeople as a whole tr*nnies (which is a slur used against transwomen), where Beckett corrects her and says transgender. I was like yeah!! Four pages later, and throughout the book, he is insistent that men must have penises and just inherent cissexism and multiple accounts of transphobia. I am a transman. To see a book get published in 2018 where a gay character constantly states real men only have penises fucking sucks.
On the same page as the penis comment, Beckett calls someone a gaysian, a "gay Asian" and earlier in the book says gaycist, in lieu of telling his father to stop stereotyping him. Hate to break it to you, but "gaysians" are...just gay people...who happen to be Asian....shocking. Beckett, who is supposed to be this sassy, flamboyant gay, attaches his actions to those blatantly taken from Black culture and, more specifically, Black women's culture, something that white gays do notoriously in real life.
Jesus Christ, the biphobia in this book is rampant. It's insane. Tracee is the mother of Jax, who also happens to have another mother (and also there to be the in the closet jock stereotype). Tracee has decided to divorce her wife because she no longer feels happy in the marriage, and has come to terms with being bisexual. Here are some lovely quotes about her bisexuality:
"I know my mom is way gay enough that she’ll start missing the vag pretty soon."
I squint at him and drop the pizza crust on my tray. "Okay, ew. I’m eating here." (Jax POV)
“I don’t get it. Mom said she’s always been with women. What changed? How can you just switch like that?”
JoJo chuckles. “Well, in my experience, it’s not that cut-and-dry with women. Not in every case, mind you. I’m a gold star lesbian and always will be." (Jax talking with one of his mothers)
I just??? What the hell??? Is this some weird take on feminism because I for one can say I don't understand it. The biphobia in this book is so bad, that when Jax comes out as bisexual (after denying it the entire book, looking down on it, and saying multiple times he doesn't understand bisexuality because what if your partner just leaves you for the other sex????), it almost feels like a joke.
Let's also talk about Jax himself. It's revealed later in the story that Jax was abused as a child, and his mothers adopted him and saved him. Well, you wouldn't think someone who's been through this would orchestrate a FAKE HATE CRIME just to get his mom to brake up with Beckett's dad, right? You would think wrong, because he actually does that.
In fact, the both of them also out a gay priest when that could leave the priest in potential danger for his goddamn life. Beckett has the gross mentality that people who stay in the closet are the real homophobes because they're not out and proud, when being out could cost them their homes, their lives, and everything they know. Like he's somehow superior to kids who can't come out, instead of understanding being gay is still punishable by death in some countries, and that violence against LGBT people have gone up 80% since the Trump administration has taken over. It's so fucking annoying.
Also, Beckett's best friend, (I forgot her name) is plus size. In the book, they met because someone was picking on Beckett and she punched them, playing into the violent fat girl stereotype. There's also the fact that she literally never stops eating or inquiring about food. Like, okay, we get it, she's fat. Give her some character development already.
I will say, though, that I did like one thing. I liked the open dialogue about gay sex and the differences between losing a straight virginity and a gay virginity. There isn't enough information about gay sex being put out there for gay teens, so I like that this was a very open conversation in the book while managing not to be too cringe and gross to read.
TL;DR: Jax and Beckett are nothing but their closeted jock/flamboyant gay stereotypes, and the racist, misogynistic, transphobic, and biphobic undertones of the book put me off of the narrative.
Honestly, I like Greg Howard's writing style. I think he's funny and I think he has the power to write really good stories about gay men finding themselves through their sexuality, he just has to learn about something other than white gay culture first.
So, one thing this book does very well is illustrate the huge misogyny problem that is still rife in many cis white gay communities. Misogyny within the cis gay community is a very real thing - gay men calling women bitches and whores, body shaming them, and being bioessentialist and cissexist by talking about how disgusting vaginas are - and every single one of those things happens multiple times in this book.
When I turned to page 10 and the protagonist was already being a gigantic misogynist to his dad's girlfriend, referring to her as a Thing with big tits, I thought this book might be trying to call out the misogyny problem within queer communities.
Nope. The author just finds it really funny, apparently. It's not. Add in a whole bunch of racist jokes and some casual unchecked transphobia, and this book made for an incredibly uncomfortable read. Neither protagonist was even remotely likeable or complex. Both faked a hate crime and one faked parental abuse to manipulate those around them. The plot was paper thin and neither protagonist faces any consequences for being awful. My thoughts on this one are basically just "no, absolutely not, thanks."
When I turned to page 10 and the protagonist was already being a gigantic misogynist to his dad's girlfriend, referring to her as a Thing with big tits, I thought this book might be trying to call out the misogyny problem within queer communities.
Nope. The author just finds it really funny, apparently. It's not. Add in a whole bunch of racist jokes and some casual unchecked transphobia, and this book made for an incredibly uncomfortable read. Neither protagonist was even remotely likeable or complex. Both faked a hate crime and one faked parental abuse to manipulate those around them. The plot was paper thin and neither protagonist faces any consequences for being awful. My thoughts on this one are basically just "no, absolutely not, thanks."
This book was....so disappointing. The premise was promising but both guys were kind of awful people (Beckett, in particular; his super grossly misogynistic attitude and behavior towards his dad's new girlfriend was so off-putting that I almost stopped reading the book entirely) so I found it difficult to root for them.
Likes: characters, storyline, writing style (for the most part); dislikes: relied too heavily on cliches, some characters and storylines didn't feel fully fleshed out
aAaAaGGGhhhhHhh Beck and Jax are sO CUTE. gods. this book really hit all the emotions...and then slapped me in the face with the humor. and then hugged me with how adorable Beck and Jax are. I need more books like this by Greg Howard.
This book gave me just what I needed in these crazy times - lots of laughs.
ugh, casual misogyny abounds, not to mention the tried and true garbage of horrible homophobe is actually gay. Hard pass.