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reneschaefer 's review for:
Hideous Beauty
by William Hussey
This book left me a little bit unsure of how I feel about it.
The first few pages were a little bit of a struggle for me, because the language and tone were a somewhat off-putting for me. I reminded myself that this story is told from the perspective of a teenager, and that this is a YA novel. With that, I looked over the almost cliché language, decided not to judge the book too early, and started to really enjoy the book.
It's a great and important story that's very timely. The mystery around what's happened keeps you reading on and on, until the ending brings out the probably most important part of the story and how people deal with it. But it also brings out one part that sits really badly with me and is why I can't get myself to like this book as much as I would have otherwise.
Without spoiling the story, the introduction of a bi character and their representation is almost bi-bashing. Playing to the awful stereotypes of bisexual people being somehow greedy, not deciding on what or who they want, and betraying their partners, this book can't be an LGBTQ+ story that highlights the importance of true tolerance, acceptance and everyone's responsibility to stand up for that with this then being the one, and only, sentence that outs a character as bi:
"[Character] has come out as bi. Only, being [Character], he is the most bi bi who ever lived and has a girlfriend and secret boyfriend on the go. Even [Other Character] is a little disgusted with him." (p. 324)
The first few pages were a little bit of a struggle for me, because the language and tone were a somewhat off-putting for me. I reminded myself that this story is told from the perspective of a teenager, and that this is a YA novel. With that, I looked over the almost cliché language, decided not to judge the book too early, and started to really enjoy the book.
It's a great and important story that's very timely. The mystery around what's happened keeps you reading on and on, until the ending brings out the probably most important part of the story and how people deal with it. But it also brings out one part that sits really badly with me and is why I can't get myself to like this book as much as I would have otherwise.
Without spoiling the story, the introduction of a bi character and their representation is almost bi-bashing. Playing to the awful stereotypes of bisexual people being somehow greedy, not deciding on what or who they want, and betraying their partners, this book can't be an LGBTQ+ story that highlights the importance of true tolerance, acceptance and everyone's responsibility to stand up for that with this then being the one, and only, sentence that outs a character as bi:
"[Character] has come out as bi. Only, being [Character], he is the most bi bi who ever lived and has a girlfriend and secret boyfriend on the go. Even [Other Character] is a little disgusted with him." (p. 324)