Scan barcode
A review by iamkallia
The Guncle by Steven Rowley
5.0
"What? You've never seen Grease? When I was your age I watched it like a hundred times. The way John Travolta swung his hips...?" Blank stares. "It's fine. Grease 2 has a more progressive message on gender. And frankly, if you want the best of Olivia Newton-John, we should probably start with Xanadu."
This book was a brutal handling of grief, both fresh and decades old. How the grief that we've gone through in the past can reflect on the grief in the future. While there was humor, it weaved in for accents, and less the main point. The conflict was very good. I found myself hating Clara, and then coming to understand her, which I think is a major success.
Also, within the very first chapter, there's a mention of Xanadu. And that's all you need to get five stars from me.
Spoiler
I was not expecting this book to be what it was. Even with the blurb being incredibly transparent, I was expecting much more humor. But, it really ended up being so more than just a story about a gay man with his niece and nephew.This book was a brutal handling of grief, both fresh and decades old. How the grief that we've gone through in the past can reflect on the grief in the future. While there was humor, it weaved in for accents, and less the main point. The conflict was very good. I found myself hating Clara, and then coming to understand her, which I think is a major success.
Also, within the very first chapter, there's a mention of Xanadu. And that's all you need to get five stars from me.