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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book! One of my students recommended it to me and I am glad I listened. The plot follows Rafe, a high school junior, as he begins a new school hundreds of miles from home. In doing so, he attempts to be one of the guys by purposely avoiding being labeled as the gay kid. Equally hysterical and heartbreaking, this book raises great questions about the meaning of labels and what kind of people we want as friends. This is much more than just a typical coming out story but moves beyond that and focuses on what it's like to be a teen growing up gay. Rafe's voice, which we also see in his writing assignments from his English class, is incredibly authentic and real. A must read! My only downfall was the amount of characters, especially in the beginning. At times it seemed hard to remember whom was whom but eventually the major characters did become more clearly defined.
I enjoyed the book and the characters. The romance was heart-tugging. The parts about writing were insightful.
But a) someone really needs to address how male-on-male sex works in one of these books. It would be helpful for the intended audience. And b) I can't quite believe my 14-year-old is going to go from "I am not mortal but not immortal but I'm not going to explain" to being able to parse the different Greek terms for love in just 2 years (seriously - that's not how 16-year-olds talk). Just make the characters older - it would still work just fine.
But a) someone really needs to address how male-on-male sex works in one of these books. It would be helpful for the intended audience. And b) I can't quite believe my 14-year-old is going to go from "I am not mortal but not immortal but I'm not going to explain" to being able to parse the different Greek terms for love in just 2 years (seriously - that's not how 16-year-olds talk). Just make the characters older - it would still work just fine.
Man oh man is this a case of wanting to shake the main character for all of his terrible teenage decisions. It's a clever story, definitely different, but slightly bogged down by Rafe's inner monologue.
I, ugh… I’m just gonna have to put this book in the ‘nope’ pile. I don’t really feel like getting into it too much, so just a short list of things about this book that really turned me off:
- It’s just a gay boarding school fantasy, except instead of the main character discovering his sexuality, he’s just hiding it even though he’s been out for a long time.
- The premise of the book isn’t that bad, but it does feel unrealistic; I think it’s completely reasonable for someone (especially of high school age) to feel fed up with labels and want to reinvent themselves a bit, but going half way across the country to do it??
- The main character talks so much about being ‘label-free’ but then readily accepts his new label of ‘jock’ and never hesitates to label and box everyone else around him
- Do high school kids at boarding schools really drink that much??
- The writing is pretty decent for the most part, but every time the main character (who of course loves writing) writes something, another character will comment on how good the writing is when the writing is really pretty mediocre
- The main character, in particular, is shallow, self-centered, and poorly developed. I really didn’t like him. Really, all the characters are this way
- A lot of internalized homophobia and subtle (and not-so-subtle) misogyny, racism, and transphobia
- It feels like a book written by someone who grew up in a very different era, had very different experiences growing up gay, and has some very dated ideas about things trying to write about growing up gay in this era (c. 2013) without the insights of someone who’s actually experienced being queer in this era… and that’s actually exactly what this book is
- It’s just a gay boarding school fantasy, except instead of the main character discovering his sexuality, he’s just hiding it even though he’s been out for a long time.
- The premise of the book isn’t that bad, but it does feel unrealistic; I think it’s completely reasonable for someone (especially of high school age) to feel fed up with labels and want to reinvent themselves a bit, but going half way across the country to do it??
- The main character talks so much about being ‘label-free’ but then readily accepts his new label of ‘jock’ and never hesitates to label and box everyone else around him
- Do high school kids at boarding schools really drink that much??
- The writing is pretty decent for the most part, but every time the main character (who of course loves writing) writes something, another character will comment on how good the writing is when the writing is really pretty mediocre
- The main character, in particular, is shallow, self-centered, and poorly developed. I really didn’t like him. Really, all the characters are this way
- A lot of internalized homophobia and subtle (and not-so-subtle) misogyny, racism, and transphobia
- It feels like a book written by someone who grew up in a very different era, had very different experiences growing up gay, and has some very dated ideas about things trying to write about growing up gay in this era (c. 2013) without the insights of someone who’s actually experienced being queer in this era… and that’s actually exactly what this book is
Eine sehr cute Romcom mit überraschendem Ende und mehr deepness drin als ich dachte, auch Themen wie Depressionen werden angesprochen.
Der Sprecher vom Hörbuch auch 10/10
Der Sprecher vom Hörbuch auch 10/10
The premise of this is kind of interesting, but the narrator is pretty unlikeable, and he's all over the place. I'm not sure he learned anything by the end either.
*4.5*
"I guess I'd like to think of what we have as agape. A higher love. Something that transcends. Something not about sex or brotherhood but about two people truly connecting."
This book was really funny, sweet, and it opened my mind to even more perspectives on things. I've never noticed before how important it is to people to label literally everything, and how we shouldn't let those labels define us entirely. We're all more than just our sexuality, and I wish more people would see that.
"I guess I'd like to think of what we have as agape. A higher love. Something that transcends. Something not about sex or brotherhood but about two people truly connecting."
This book was really funny, sweet, and it opened my mind to even more perspectives on things. I've never noticed before how important it is to people to label literally everything, and how we shouldn't let those labels define us entirely. We're all more than just our sexuality, and I wish more people would see that.
