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4.22 AVERAGE
4.22 AVERAGE
funny
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
dark
emotional
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
Oh, how I wanted a slightly different ending.
This book gave me the feels. As a teacher (middle school, so different for sure) this book gave me extra feels. Whenever I come across a Theo in real life I get freaked out. The characterization of him was spot on (and made me so mad).
I’m sorry that Fay couldn’t find happiness, even though I know that’s what life is like for so many queer and trans kids.
I guess I just wanted more joy, even though that’s not normally how life works.
This book gave me the feels. As a teacher (middle school, so different for sure) this book gave me extra feels. Whenever I come across a Theo in real life I get freaked out. The characterization of him was spot on (and made me so mad).
I’m sorry that Fay couldn’t find happiness, even though I know that’s what life is like for so many queer and trans kids.
I guess I just wanted more joy, even though that’s not normally how life works.
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
tense
fast-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
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
a painfully accurate representation of freakass high school theatre kids and the slightly more normal adults which they may or may not become
“The problem was that my field of study was not school, and schoolwork was one of many worldly matters I had renounced in my ascetic pursuit of knowledge. It was discipline, not laziness, that had me reading Maurice and The Picture of Dorian Gray under my desk during class, or playing hooky to catch Red River at Film Forum, or ignoring weeks’ worth of homework assignments to read fanfic and write Faunfic. In essence, I’d spent all four years of high school studying to be a gay man. There was no college in the world that offered that preprofessional track.”
--
I have never felt more seen than when I was reading this book. After very chapter, I was thinking more and more "this is exactly how it feels to be me."
Almost everything from Fay's perspective was like someone living in my head and writing Fay's dialogue. I don't think I've ever read about other people "studying to be a gay man" in the way that Fay did. I've never seen someone in fiction so committed and tuned in to queerness in media in the way I am. The way she talks about "relapsing" on slash fiction is something I wholeheartedly understand. If I took out a journal from when I was in middle school, I would find the same sentiment with the same exact word because I thought I was the grossest person alive for reading BL and enjoying it more than GL and het romance. How she says, "you know I like gay guys". The way that Fay uses her "faunfic", but fanfiction more broadly, to explore her own desires is something I have literally done time and time again. This is exactly how it all feels, and it's written with such a deeply sympathetic and understanding way. I feel like portrayals of women (although I am VERY aware that Fay is transgender) that read/watch gay media are close to non-existent, but the only one I can recall is from a BL webcomic where the two male leads are talking to a girl with dyed hair who asks them who's the bottom or something like that and they get really uncomfortable and leave her then talk about how gross she is. Idlewild understands it all and doesn't make the fetishizer-girl out to be gross with no apparent reason for this gross perverseness. I have never felt so understood in this way.
The way that Idlewild is written to be an "accepting" school for queer students in theory, but Nell can still feel the way that she is treated is different - it's exactly how it feels to be openly gay in high school.
This book is an insane read for anyone who has been a very online gay highschooler. It feels like it's captured a part of my identity that everyone else has deemed too gross.
--
I have never felt more seen than when I was reading this book. After very chapter, I was thinking more and more "this is exactly how it feels to be me."
Almost everything from Fay's perspective was like someone living in my head and writing Fay's dialogue. I don't think I've ever read about other people "studying to be a gay man" in the way that Fay did. I've never seen someone in fiction so committed and tuned in to queerness in media in the way I am. The way she talks about "relapsing" on slash fiction is something I wholeheartedly understand. If I took out a journal from when I was in middle school, I would find the same sentiment with the same exact word because I thought I was the grossest person alive for reading BL and enjoying it more than GL and het romance. How she says, "you know I like gay guys". The way that Fay uses her "faunfic", but fanfiction more broadly, to explore her own desires is something I have literally done time and time again. This is exactly how it all feels, and it's written with such a deeply sympathetic and understanding way. I feel like portrayals of women (although I am VERY aware that Fay is transgender) that read/watch gay media are close to non-existent, but the only one I can recall is from a BL webcomic where the two male leads are talking to a girl with dyed hair who asks them who's the bottom or something like that and they get really uncomfortable and leave her then talk about how gross she is. Idlewild understands it all and doesn't make the fetishizer-girl out to be gross with no apparent reason for this gross perverseness. I have never felt so understood in this way.
The way that Idlewild is written to be an "accepting" school for queer students in theory, but Nell can still feel the way that she is treated is different - it's exactly how it feels to be openly gay in high school.
This book is an insane read for anyone who has been a very online gay highschooler. It feels like it's captured a part of my identity that everyone else has deemed too gross.
Wish I could give it more of a 3.5 stars. Not bad, but definitely a lot of fluff in the storyline and plot points that don’t go anywhere. While a lot of people say it’s funny, and there are a few chuckle-worthy moments, it’s no comedy and didn’t make me laugh out loud or think it was “hilarious”.