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A review by tazisbooked
Boys I Know by Anna Gracia
3.0
This book was a bit of a roller coaster for me – I went in with high expectations and expecting a light and fluffy story. The book started off jarringly with instances of casual racism and lack of communication between characters. Yet the more I sat with that, the more I felt it did make sense.
One thing I want to get out of the way first is that I feel like this was marketed as a rom-com and that’s not the case at all. I also wish there had been trigger warnings (sex due to coercion/peer pressure, racism and grooming to name a few). That being said, the point of the book is about being BIPOC in the Midwest. I’ve never lived in the Midwest, but I have lived in Central PA and let me tell you – the microaggressions that June constantly faces is an experience that mirrored my last two years of high school. I wish the book had been more upfront about this and therein lies my problem with the marketing of this book.
I really liked this book because it encapsulated how messy and chaotic teenage girls are. They can be mean, they can be selfish and self-absorbed, argumentative, and boy-crazy and make very stupid decisions. In short: teenage girls are human and since, like, the dawn of time, teenage girls have always been expected to contort themselves to fit a narrative for other people. I love that June is messy because it makes her feel like a realistic teenager on the cusp of great change and with zero clue on how to handle that.
I can’t speak to the Taiwanese representation in the book, but I loved reading and learning all the Chinese proverbs featured in this book. Like June reflects, there’s something so waxing poetic about proverbs and I will never not delight in that aspect of a story. BOYS I KNOW was also a story about family expectations and that was something I COULD relate to. Though I did relate more to Wendy as an elder sibling myself, June was an incredibly self-aware person who is also incredibly emotional. I liked that she mended her relationship with Wendy and her mother (her father being a nonconfrontational person and thus an absent figure was also something I chortled).
The boys in this story are one dimensional. I don’t have much to say about them and the “romance” of the story because this was less a romance and more how these boys mistreat June. I did like how June was able to reflect that she chased these boys hoping for the acceptance she felt she wasn’t getting at home.
Overall, this book sat heavy with me, and I understand the niche it’s filling, having been that one BIPOC girl at school with all white kids. On a personal level, I’d rather read the rom-com.
Special thanks to Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions!
One thing I want to get out of the way first is that I feel like this was marketed as a rom-com and that’s not the case at all. I also wish there had been trigger warnings (sex due to coercion/peer pressure, racism and grooming to name a few). That being said, the point of the book is about being BIPOC in the Midwest. I’ve never lived in the Midwest, but I have lived in Central PA and let me tell you – the microaggressions that June constantly faces is an experience that mirrored my last two years of high school. I wish the book had been more upfront about this and therein lies my problem with the marketing of this book.
I really liked this book because it encapsulated how messy and chaotic teenage girls are. They can be mean, they can be selfish and self-absorbed, argumentative, and boy-crazy and make very stupid decisions. In short: teenage girls are human and since, like, the dawn of time, teenage girls have always been expected to contort themselves to fit a narrative for other people. I love that June is messy because it makes her feel like a realistic teenager on the cusp of great change and with zero clue on how to handle that.
I can’t speak to the Taiwanese representation in the book, but I loved reading and learning all the Chinese proverbs featured in this book. Like June reflects, there’s something so waxing poetic about proverbs and I will never not delight in that aspect of a story. BOYS I KNOW was also a story about family expectations and that was something I COULD relate to. Though I did relate more to Wendy as an elder sibling myself, June was an incredibly self-aware person who is also incredibly emotional. I liked that she mended her relationship with Wendy and her mother (her father being a nonconfrontational person and thus an absent figure was also something I chortled).
The boys in this story are one dimensional. I don’t have much to say about them and the “romance” of the story because this was less a romance and more how these boys mistreat June. I did like how June was able to reflect that she chased these boys hoping for the acceptance she felt she wasn’t getting at home.
Overall, this book sat heavy with me, and I understand the niche it’s filling, having been that one BIPOC girl at school with all white kids. On a personal level, I’d rather read the rom-com.
Special thanks to Peachtree Teen and Netgalley for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions!