A review by sophiareads_
Arthur and Teddy Are Coming Out by Ryan Love

emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

***After some thought, I've decided to post my review of this now, as HQ is an imprint of HarperCollins UK, not HarperCollins US, who are currently striking for living wages and better diversity in publishing. I fully support the strike, and you should too!*** 

Content Warnings: homophobia, outing, suicide, cancer, violence (mentioned), conversion therapy (mentioned), death of a parent (mentioned) 
 
21 year old Teddy isn't ready to come out - especially when his 80 year old grandfather Arthur beats him to it and takes the brunt of their family's reaction. 
 
I'm sorry to say that this book was super meh for me. Going into it, I was expecting that the story would be building towards the eventual coming out of both of these characters, but actually, Arthur's coming out is the very first thing that happens in the book, and Teddy also comes out in the first half. I do kinda feel like I would have preferred the story I was imagining to the one I actually read, which was a bit of a let down. 
 
I think this is largely a case of a 'not for me' book - I didn't jive with the writing style or pacing. I genuinely really loved Arthur's character and his relationships with Teddy (his grandson), Madeleine (his wife), and Oscar (the first man he goes on a date with post-coming out). The rest of the characters, though…oof. I found almost all of the side character super one dimensional and boring - even when characters had massive changes throughout the book, it felt like they were flipping on a dime with little to nothing in the way of development to make those changes feel earned. Also, the narrative of the story SO wanted me to have forgiven Elizabeth by the end of the book - Arthur's daughter/Teddy's mother, who is so aggressively homophobic for the majority of the book before seemingly randomly changing her mind in the last quarter. Absolutely not. Hated her guts. 
 
All in all, I think this was a very sweet concept, and again - Arthur and Teddy's relationship was really sweet and wholesome. For me, it didn't really make up for the predictable plot and boring side characters, I'm sorry. 

Thank you to HQ, NetGalley, and Ryan Love for providing the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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