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A review by monarchsandmyths
Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada
4.0
thank you to Soho Teen and Recorded Books for providing me with early copies in exchange for an honest review
“I was a skater, he did ballet.”
This book was such an enjoyable read and honestly hard to put down once I started reading it. I shouldn’t be surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it considering the books it’s comped to but I truly didn’t expect and loved so much the depth and heartfelt element of Wes’s story. I’m a big fan of the way that it seeks to dig into and deconstruct what being queer means and what it looks like, while being more broadly about a teenager figuring out where they’re headed in life. In an author’s note, Nerada says this isn’t a coming out story even if it does involve coming out, and I loved how he broadened the story into one about queerness while also being about so many other things. Wes is, in lots of ways, not the typical YA protagonist, but I think that there’s still so much to gain from his story and from a character who is labeled one way but also exists as a whole and passionate human being outside of those labels. SKATER BOY is absolutely worth the read (or listen!)
As for the audiobook specifically, I think Michael Crouch did a fantastic job of embodying Wes’s character while also telling the story at large. The audiobook was virtually unputdownable for me and made 8+ hours of content feel like it flew by (in the best way possible!)
We’re introduced to Wes as a troublemaker (or punk) and his dislike of that (though not because he isn’t exactly doing some of the things he’s being told about). But as the story continues, that label unravels to reveal so many things about Wes’s character, of strong familial ties, a love for photography, complicated relationships with his friends and with himself, and a question about what the future holds. Nerada writes a complex and intrinsically human character outside of how society usually paints gay teenagers while also just being an interesting story. Wes is flawed, and so are those around him, but you still want to see how they succeed in the end.
This book is absolutely an homage to pop punk and its music, and to being a gay teenager who doesn’t quite fit in. It’s a joy to read and has fantastic human narratives enmeshed with the endearing and occasionally slightly cheesy song references throughout. I highly recommend reading it!
“I was a skater, he did ballet.”
This book was such an enjoyable read and honestly hard to put down once I started reading it. I shouldn’t be surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it considering the books it’s comped to but I truly didn’t expect and loved so much the depth and heartfelt element of Wes’s story. I’m a big fan of the way that it seeks to dig into and deconstruct what being queer means and what it looks like, while being more broadly about a teenager figuring out where they’re headed in life. In an author’s note, Nerada says this isn’t a coming out story even if it does involve coming out, and I loved how he broadened the story into one about queerness while also being about so many other things. Wes is, in lots of ways, not the typical YA protagonist, but I think that there’s still so much to gain from his story and from a character who is labeled one way but also exists as a whole and passionate human being outside of those labels. SKATER BOY is absolutely worth the read (or listen!)
As for the audiobook specifically, I think Michael Crouch did a fantastic job of embodying Wes’s character while also telling the story at large. The audiobook was virtually unputdownable for me and made 8+ hours of content feel like it flew by (in the best way possible!)
We’re introduced to Wes as a troublemaker (or punk) and his dislike of that (though not because he isn’t exactly doing some of the things he’s being told about). But as the story continues, that label unravels to reveal so many things about Wes’s character, of strong familial ties, a love for photography, complicated relationships with his friends and with himself, and a question about what the future holds. Nerada writes a complex and intrinsically human character outside of how society usually paints gay teenagers while also just being an interesting story. Wes is flawed, and so are those around him, but you still want to see how they succeed in the end.
This book is absolutely an homage to pop punk and its music, and to being a gay teenager who doesn’t quite fit in. It’s a joy to read and has fantastic human narratives enmeshed with the endearing and occasionally slightly cheesy song references throughout. I highly recommend reading it!