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A review by pastelwriter
Boys I Know by Anna Gracia
Did not finish book. Stopped at 34%.
I really wanted to love this novel, but I couldn’t do it. It is all because of me, though, and not the book itself.
Largely, my inability to continue with this novel has to do with the fact that I’m ace. Whenever I read about teenagers who are REALLY interested in sex and follow-through with that interest, I just disengage. It’s so outside my experience that my brain can’t process it. This is not to say that I’m a prude as I read plenty of adult erotica. But when we’re following a teenager, I can’t help but think to my teenage years and have a total disconnect.
Here’s another way to look at it: I can handle teenage horny energy when it’s simultaneously developed with a romance. In this novel, at least up until the point I read, there was no romance. The character has dated two boys, and neither relationship is developed to the point where I feel like she genuinely cares for either of them beyond her horny energy. Sure, the protagonist also wants the relationships to be recognized and to feel like the other party is committed, but with such little page time on these boys I just don’t give a shit. I need to be able to give a shit.
Finally, her second boyfriend keeps calling her “China” when she’s fucking Taiwanese, and it drives me up the fucking wall. I can’t do it. This was actually the last straw for me. He kept saying it, and it made me want to rip off my skin. If it had been once only, I might have tried to push through. But the possibility that I might have to hear him say it again made it impossible to continue.
At the end of the day I think the goal of this novel is good. It seems to want to shed light on the decisions teens make when parents try to repress their sexual curiosity. This seems like a worthwhile pursuit.
Largely, my inability to continue with this novel has to do with the fact that I’m ace. Whenever I read about teenagers who are REALLY interested in sex and follow-through with that interest, I just disengage. It’s so outside my experience that my brain can’t process it. This is not to say that I’m a prude as I read plenty of adult erotica. But when we’re following a teenager, I can’t help but think to my teenage years and have a total disconnect.
Here’s another way to look at it: I can handle teenage horny energy when it’s simultaneously developed with a romance. In this novel, at least up until the point I read, there was no romance. The character has dated two boys, and neither relationship is developed to the point where I feel like she genuinely cares for either of them beyond her horny energy. Sure, the protagonist also wants the relationships to be recognized and to feel like the other party is committed, but with such little page time on these boys I just don’t give a shit. I need to be able to give a shit.
Finally, her second boyfriend keeps calling her “China” when she’s fucking Taiwanese, and it drives me up the fucking wall. I can’t do it. This was actually the last straw for me. He kept saying it, and it made me want to rip off my skin. If it had been once only, I might have tried to push through. But the possibility that I might have to hear him say it again made it impossible to continue.
At the end of the day I think the goal of this novel is good. It seems to want to shed light on the decisions teens make when parents try to repress their sexual curiosity. This seems like a worthwhile pursuit.