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A review by gigireadswithkiki
Call Your Boyfriend by Ashley Woodfolk, Olivia A. Cole
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I love a story with chaotic lesbians, and you really can’t get messier than scheming with a girl to get revenge on the popular girl for leading you both on before developing feelings that complicate all your plans!
First off the bat, I’m gonna say it, it is truly such peak queer culture (in the worst way) to have your two main characters named “Beau” and “Charm”; like can we please return to normal names for the love of god. What happened to Sarah? What about a good Olivia? Or even a Rachel?? Get outta here with that “Beau” and “Charm” nonsense jeez Louise! Not the biggest dealbreaker but it was massively irksome.
In terms of the actual plot, I do think the story combines drama and conflict decently well under the guise of Beau and Charm’s sneaky schemes. Each decision they make, from choosing to team up, to using Charm to trick Maia, to their whole breakup plot, was made with PURE emotion in mind. And I feel like the fallout from each of those tiny decisions culminated in emotionally fraught scenes that felt authentic and real. Although the story is fairly predictable, dismantling the premise of a romance story thesis where the author convinces readers why a couple ought to be in a relationship, I still enjoyed seeing the ways that Cole & Woodfolk created moments for Beau and Charm to develop their own relationship while trying to sabotage Maia.
However, with the story being so predictable, I did feel like the pacing of the story definitely drags on for a LOT of the middle of the story. It’s already clear from the first 20% WHY Beau and Charm end up together, so the rest of the story feels like an unnecessarily dragged out miscommunication that was written a little half-heartedly. If anything, by the dawn of the third act conflict, Maia had become the character I was most invested in within this book. Her struggle to come to terms with her queer identity while battling comp het pressures as the popular girl felt like a far more nuanced and multi-faceted storyline than what Beau OR Charm had to offer.
All in all, I really love Ashley Woodfolk as an author, “Nothing Burns as Bright as You” is one of my favorite lesbian YA stores, but “Call Your Boyfriend” just didn’t work quite as well for me. And with this being my first Olivia Cole story, I fear my aversion to this story may stem from her hand in the writing. I wish Maia had been the main character, and I wish the plot had edited to have a tighter and faster pacing, but I would definitely still read more from Woodfolk in the future.
First off the bat, I’m gonna say it, it is truly such peak queer culture (in the worst way) to have your two main characters named “Beau” and “Charm”; like can we please return to normal names for the love of god. What happened to Sarah? What about a good Olivia? Or even a Rachel?? Get outta here with that “Beau” and “Charm” nonsense jeez Louise! Not the biggest dealbreaker but it was massively irksome.
In terms of the actual plot, I do think the story combines drama and conflict decently well under the guise of Beau and Charm’s sneaky schemes. Each decision they make, from choosing to team up, to using Charm to trick Maia, to their whole breakup plot, was made with PURE emotion in mind. And I feel like the fallout from each of those tiny decisions culminated in emotionally fraught scenes that felt authentic and real. Although the story is fairly predictable, dismantling the premise of a romance story thesis where the author convinces readers why a couple ought to be in a relationship, I still enjoyed seeing the ways that Cole & Woodfolk created moments for Beau and Charm to develop their own relationship while trying to sabotage Maia.
However, with the story being so predictable, I did feel like the pacing of the story definitely drags on for a LOT of the middle of the story. It’s already clear from the first 20% WHY Beau and Charm end up together, so the rest of the story feels like an unnecessarily dragged out miscommunication that was written a little half-heartedly. If anything, by the dawn of the third act conflict, Maia had become the character I was most invested in within this book. Her struggle to come to terms with her queer identity while battling comp het pressures as the popular girl felt like a far more nuanced and multi-faceted storyline than what Beau OR Charm had to offer.
All in all, I really love Ashley Woodfolk as an author, “Nothing Burns as Bright as You” is one of my favorite lesbian YA stores, but “Call Your Boyfriend” just didn’t work quite as well for me. And with this being my first Olivia Cole story, I fear my aversion to this story may stem from her hand in the writing. I wish Maia had been the main character, and I wish the plot had edited to have a tighter and faster pacing, but I would definitely still read more from Woodfolk in the future.