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A review by jayecard
Nur drei Worte by Becky Albertalli
5.0
(This is the German translation of Love Simon, for the confused people seeing this on their dashboard)
I expected to be entertained and have some "aww"s. I didn't expect an entire fucking retelling of my youth. What the fuck?
I'm not even sure what happened. Suddenly, everything felt like it was taken right out of my own feelings. Maybe it's just that universal. Parents who'd make a big deal, even though they're supportive. Falling in love with someone online, someone who really understands you, yet is afraid to show anything of their real life self. The old friend you really care for, but who is so hard to deal with sometimes, just because they're so negative and bad to themselves. The new friend who feels so liberating. I have lived all of that. I still live some of that.
I'm not even a gay boy. I'm an unlabeled woman. It feels preposterous of me to say that this kid is the one I related the hardest to in much of my reading in recent years. But somehow....man, I just do. I guess there's more that defines us than sexuality and gender. There's so much beyond that. The experience WITH it. The experience with a whole lot of other stuff. The book made me fall in and out of love with Blue and with my own "Blue" in my memories again and I'm damn glad the book has a better ending than my real life story had.
Look, I can't write an unbiased review here. I'm sure for a lot of people, this will be the most generic queer lovestory ever, featuring a white male protagonist and his nerdy friends. That's fine. This book is far from revolutionary in itself. I've read a million fan fics just like it.
But occassionally, you find a book that just hits you right in the most personal spots. It's reawakened memories I haven't thought about in a long time. Made me think about how I changed. How I'm still the same. Made me wonder why this is the protagonist I relate so much to, instead of all the straight female protagonists I've read. I'm not straight, but I'm in a straight relationship. I'm female. But the person that reflects so many of my experiences is still this one. And I'm sure you've had that sort of book before too. That squeezed part of your soul and your memories. And so I'm sure you have felt what I am feeling right now. So even if this is, on the surface, just a generic "safe" queer story that is accessible to broad audiences, the details of it, the characters...it's all just so authentic, and there's at least one person in this world who's connected to it in a very personal way. I guess that's my point. Maybe it'll do the same for you. Maybe it won't. One way to find out.
Man, I've rambled so much. But I had to let it all out, you know. I recommend this book if you want an endearing and honestly pretty authentic story about a queer youth. It's not world changing. But it did a little bit for my world.
I expected to be entertained and have some "aww"s. I didn't expect an entire fucking retelling of my youth. What the fuck?
I'm not even sure what happened. Suddenly, everything felt like it was taken right out of my own feelings. Maybe it's just that universal. Parents who'd make a big deal, even though they're supportive. Falling in love with someone online, someone who really understands you, yet is afraid to show anything of their real life self. The old friend you really care for, but who is so hard to deal with sometimes, just because they're so negative and bad to themselves. The new friend who feels so liberating. I have lived all of that. I still live some of that.
I'm not even a gay boy. I'm an unlabeled woman. It feels preposterous of me to say that this kid is the one I related the hardest to in much of my reading in recent years. But somehow....man, I just do. I guess there's more that defines us than sexuality and gender. There's so much beyond that. The experience WITH it. The experience with a whole lot of other stuff. The book made me fall in and out of love with Blue and with my own "Blue" in my memories again and I'm damn glad the book has a better ending than my real life story had.
Look, I can't write an unbiased review here. I'm sure for a lot of people, this will be the most generic queer lovestory ever, featuring a white male protagonist and his nerdy friends. That's fine. This book is far from revolutionary in itself. I've read a million fan fics just like it.
But occassionally, you find a book that just hits you right in the most personal spots. It's reawakened memories I haven't thought about in a long time. Made me think about how I changed. How I'm still the same. Made me wonder why this is the protagonist I relate so much to, instead of all the straight female protagonists I've read. I'm not straight, but I'm in a straight relationship. I'm female. But the person that reflects so many of my experiences is still this one. And I'm sure you've had that sort of book before too. That squeezed part of your soul and your memories. And so I'm sure you have felt what I am feeling right now. So even if this is, on the surface, just a generic "safe" queer story that is accessible to broad audiences, the details of it, the characters...it's all just so authentic, and there's at least one person in this world who's connected to it in a very personal way. I guess that's my point. Maybe it'll do the same for you. Maybe it won't. One way to find out.
Man, I've rambled so much. But I had to let it all out, you know. I recommend this book if you want an endearing and honestly pretty authentic story about a queer youth. It's not world changing. But it did a little bit for my world.