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A review by atomic_tourist
The Boy with a Bird in His Chest by Emme Lund
It gives me no joy to say that I was disappointed by The Boy with a Bird in His Chest. There was such a thrilling idea behind this story! But the execution lacked in imagination. Owen's life was so... ordinary, even with Gail living right there in his fricking chest!! I wish Emme Lund had played around with the idea of how Owen's dreams, desires, and worldview would be different because he's always had a bird in his chest.
Also, the writing felt all over the place at times. I can't be that angry at a novel that gives like 5 shoutouts to Sleater-Kinney (loml) but there was too much name-dropping in this book, especially when it comes to PNW musicians. (Slight tangent: we know what music Owen likes, but why don't we get to find out if Gail likes the same stuff? And a second tangent: how are you gonna reference S-K in your book, then write about a MC who wants to unalive himself by drowning in San Francisco and not reference "Jumpers"?? I would have excused the name-dropping in that instance because that is literally what the song is about. Such a missed opportunity!)
The same 'all over the place' feeling occurs with Owen's social group; I understand the importance of formative moments, like Owen's first drunken make-out session or his first rejection. But these don't make for compelling plot points. My main grievance with the novel is that we spend so much time focused on the minutiae of Owen's life, that The Boy feels more like a documentary than like a fantasy novel.
And, while (according to most reviews on here) it is intuitive that Gail is an allegory for queerness, that doesn't feel quite right. What bothered me most of all is this: All of Owen's friends are gay, so why aren't they also Terrors? Maybe Gail is an allegory for transness, or another kind of 'otherness'? I kind of like the ambiguity, so I guess what really bothers me is the reading that Gail represents queerness because clearly there are many of non-Terror gays, so that interpretation seems lacking... But that is just some readers' interpretation and definitely not Lund's fault.
There are moments when this book is beautiful, and it's not bad at all for a debut novel! I do wish that Emme Lund had dug deeper into what it means to be a Terror, but I also understand that maybe this isn't the book for me; I wanted a fantasy novel, but this book is more for folks who needed a sweet, gay, coming of age novel. All this to say, I was a bit disappointed by The Boy but I would still recommend it to some of my friends, particularly those who like pretty writing and character-focused storytelling.
Also, the writing felt all over the place at times. I can't be that angry at a novel that gives like 5 shoutouts to Sleater-Kinney (loml) but there was too much name-dropping in this book, especially when it comes to PNW musicians. (Slight tangent: we know what music Owen likes, but why don't we get to find out if Gail likes the same stuff? And a second tangent: how are you gonna reference S-K in your book, then write about a MC who wants to unalive himself by drowning in San Francisco and not reference "Jumpers"?? I would have excused the name-dropping in that instance because that is literally what the song is about. Such a missed opportunity!)
The same 'all over the place' feeling occurs with Owen's social group; I understand the importance of formative moments, like Owen's first drunken make-out session or his first rejection. But these don't make for compelling plot points. My main grievance with the novel is that we spend so much time focused on the minutiae of Owen's life, that The Boy feels more like a documentary than like a fantasy novel.
And, while (according to most reviews on here) it is intuitive that Gail is an allegory for queerness, that doesn't feel quite right. What bothered me most of all is this: All of Owen's friends are gay, so why aren't they also Terrors? Maybe Gail is an allegory for transness, or another kind of 'otherness'? I kind of like the ambiguity, so I guess what really bothers me is the reading that Gail represents queerness because clearly there are many of non-Terror gays, so that interpretation seems lacking... But that is just some readers' interpretation and definitely not Lund's fault.
There are moments when this book is beautiful, and it's not bad at all for a debut novel! I do wish that Emme Lund had dug deeper into what it means to be a Terror, but I also understand that maybe this isn't the book for me; I wanted a fantasy novel, but this book is more for folks who needed a sweet, gay, coming of age novel. All this to say, I was a bit disappointed by The Boy but I would still recommend it to some of my friends, particularly those who like pretty writing and character-focused storytelling.