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A review by nyphren
Romeo for Real by Markus Harwood-Jones
2.0
it's been some time since i read a romance. let's just say the whole hassell business left with a bed taste in my mouth and an wariness of everything that just kept away from books in general for a few weeks. when i saw romeo for real and its companion novel, just julian, on netgalley, though, i was cautiously optimistic. a light, romantic read seemed to be just what i needed.
but romeo for real ended up being not quite the book i thought it would be. it's very blatantly insta-love, which maybe i should have expected since, you know, romeo and juliet retelling and all, but that's when the book lost me. this aroace has very little to relate to or care about in insta-love romances.
what really made me dislike this book, though, was the weird transphobic vibes woven into what was supposed to feel like a progressive, open-minded story. some examples: a trans woman is the target of a transphobic attack just to establish a character as bad, and her name is only mentioned much later and she never stops being a non-character. non-binary characters who are androgynous are referred as "boy/girl" by the main character sometimes because they can't tell which gender they are, and a party full of queer people is portrayed as "maybe boys, maybe girls, boys looking like girls, etc" in a very "isn't this bizarre, y'all?" kind of way.
i was thrilled when ace ppl were mentioned, but honestly? most queer identities were portrayed as too weird to baby queer (gay, i mean) romeo, and even other aspects of gayness were seen by him (and not debunked by anyone) as too much.
in conclusion... this book also left a bad taste on my mouth. i have its companion, but honestly? not sure if it's worth the risk.
but romeo for real ended up being not quite the book i thought it would be. it's very blatantly insta-love, which maybe i should have expected since, you know, romeo and juliet retelling and all, but that's when the book lost me. this aroace has very little to relate to or care about in insta-love romances.
what really made me dislike this book, though, was the weird transphobic vibes woven into what was supposed to feel like a progressive, open-minded story. some examples: a trans woman is the target of a transphobic attack just to establish a character as bad, and her name is only mentioned much later and she never stops being a non-character. non-binary characters who are androgynous are referred as "boy/girl" by the main character sometimes because they can't tell which gender they are, and a party full of queer people is portrayed as "maybe boys, maybe girls, boys looking like girls, etc" in a very "isn't this bizarre, y'all?" kind of way.
i was thrilled when ace ppl were mentioned, but honestly? most queer identities were portrayed as too weird to baby queer (gay, i mean) romeo, and even other aspects of gayness were seen by him (and not debunked by anyone) as too much.
in conclusion... this book also left a bad taste on my mouth. i have its companion, but honestly? not sure if it's worth the risk.