Reviews with content warning for Racism - Idlewild

Thomas's writing was so disgustingly relatable. It shocked me how well he was able to articulate and dredge up feelings I hadn't thought about since my own teenage-queer-friend-obsession fraught with exploratory RPs, insomnia-inducing anxiety, and being a little SHIT. Idlewild does a wonderful job exploring the many different ways teens can be fucking awful, and I'm so here for it. Don't come expecting a fuzzy-feel-good story.

The only gripe I'd have is with a certain scarecrow-esque figure in the book who isn't really given much humanity (but at the same time, we all know a person like them, so I feel like the author knew what he was doing there).

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breanneporter's review

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dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved this. Idlewild follows two former students of the titular Quaker school in NYC as they became best friends (on 9/11) and explored their queerness over the last year and half of their high school careers. I absolutely adored the sweet anxious young lesbian Nell and was utterly captivated by Fay’s self-exploration. I rushed to finish (staying up way too late to do so) because I couldn’t put it down. The only slight disappointment was the ending:

Fay’s future felt so heartbreakingly bleak. I wanted more for Fay.

But overall it was a gorgeous exploration of queer and trans coming of age in the early aughts and I would highly recommend!!

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leonidskies's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book has ruined me, I will never stop thinking about it and everyone should read it.

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chefboyavi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Beautifully written, well conceived, and ultimately heartbreaking. I’ve never been more grateful to have gone to public school.

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dystopia's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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lesbrarycard's review against another edition

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challenging funny tense medium-paced

4.5

ooooooh this is so good. truly haven't read anything else like it before and don't think i ever will. Idlewild captures that perfected uneasiness of queerness in the early 2000s, along with the wicked spiral of fandom and obsessive friendship with so much humor and tenderness. i'm going to ruminate on this one forever!

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective medium-paced

4.25

I thought Thomas did a phenomenal job capturing the messiness that comes with being in high school, especially while queer. To be more specific, if you happen to be from the US (bonus points if it was the Northeast) and attended middle/high school in the early to mid 2000s (i.e., post-9/11), Idlewild is going to be a trip down memory lane.

To return to the point about growing up queer, the exploration of queerness was really well done. Thomas was thoughtful in exploring the complicated mess of it all, especially the sense of feeling as though you're in the wrong space and body. It gets more complicated when you consider the time this book was set in, too.

That being said, I cannot emphasize enough that this book is probably going to hit harder for queer white people who spent their adolescence during this period, as the book very much centered white voices. This isn't me throwing rotten tomatoes at Thomas or anything, but the whiteness of this book was something that frequently came to mind as I read. Not in a good or bad way; just that it was what it was, and it was very clear to me that Thomas was writing with personal experience in mind to a certain extent.

Overall, though, Idlewild was packed with emotions. It was tough being queer back then. It's still fucking tough being queer now. I'm grateful that Thomas approached these difficulties the way he did: funnily and heartbreakingly.

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