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A review by nolemdaer
How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters
2.0
I read Julian Winters's sophomore novel recently, and while I wasn't impressed, there wasn't anything particularly "bad" with it. It was simply mediocre.
Nominally, the book is about the eponymous character Remy Cameron discovering who he is beyond the labels people (and he) have placed on him. In reality, it was somewhat less gripping.
First, I was a little thrown off immediately because I thought this book had a college setting. I was wrong; it was more typical high school fare. Second, while I did think the author has improved somewhat in terms of characterization and narration, I still found the writing plagued by tell-not-show, especially when it comes to character relationships. When introduced to the main character's (rather large and inconsequential) group of friends, it felt like we were speed dating or swiping through Tinder—we're given a name, ethnicity, sexuality, and a label or two that neatly sums the character up. The narration utilized the quick and easy labels that this book was supposed to cast aside rather than giving us any actual insight into how the peripheral characters act or interact.
Perhaps most heinously, I felt no "journey" at all. The entire premise of the story is Remy Cameron discovering who he is and rejecting his labels, but either that didn't happen or it was so vague and anticlimactic that it passed me by. Maybe the reason tell-not-show is used so much because any attempt at conveying messages without outright stating them would be ineffective.
And the characters weren't even likable! Most of that reason is because we barely get to meet to understand any character without the main character rattling off ten fast facts about them every time we see them, but a lot of them just seemed odd. The main character's parents, for example, were supposed to be "cool parents" but ended up weird and inappropriate.
In general, I'd say HTBRC shows improvement from Running with Lions (especially due to the less-isolated setting), but there's still plenty of room to improve.
P.S. I forgot to put the romance into this review at all, which should tell you how invested I was in it.
Nominally, the book is about the eponymous character Remy Cameron discovering who he is beyond the labels people (and he) have placed on him. In reality, it was somewhat less gripping.
First, I was a little thrown off immediately because I thought this book had a college setting. I was wrong; it was more typical high school fare. Second, while I did think the author has improved somewhat in terms of characterization and narration, I still found the writing plagued by tell-not-show, especially when it comes to character relationships. When introduced to the main character's (rather large and inconsequential) group of friends, it felt like we were speed dating or swiping through Tinder—we're given a name, ethnicity, sexuality, and a label or two that neatly sums the character up. The narration utilized the quick and easy labels that this book was supposed to cast aside rather than giving us any actual insight into how the peripheral characters act or interact.
Perhaps most heinously, I felt no "journey" at all. The entire premise of the story is Remy Cameron discovering who he is and rejecting his labels, but either that didn't happen or it was so vague and anticlimactic that it passed me by. Maybe the reason tell-not-show is used so much because any attempt at conveying messages without outright stating them would be ineffective.
And the characters weren't even likable! Most of that reason is because we barely get to meet to understand any character without the main character rattling off ten fast facts about them every time we see them, but a lot of them just seemed odd. The main character's parents, for example, were supposed to be "cool parents" but ended up weird and inappropriate.
In general, I'd say HTBRC shows improvement from Running with Lions (especially due to the less-isolated setting), but there's still plenty of room to improve.
P.S. I forgot to put the romance into this review at all, which should tell you how invested I was in it.