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A review by someonelikeblue
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
5.0
There are many boys kissing in this book. They lead different lives in different relationships and all feel like real couples. Seeing their struggles and joys breaks and warms your heart. Through their interlocking narratives, the supportive, melancholic, touching, encouraging commentary of the Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS is woven. This is the bit that makes it even more than a YA novel, a piece of poetry.
My only concern is with how Avery, the trans boy, describes himself. It reads as a cis person describing a trans experience. And then there is that sceptical part in me that knows not all cis LGB people (past or present) would be as welcoming to him as the Chorus is.
This book still holds up after the 3rd read. Better still, there are always new passages and sentences to find and marvel over.
My only concern is with how Avery, the trans boy, describes himself. It reads as a cis person describing a trans experience. And then there is that sceptical part in me that knows not all cis LGB people (past or present) would be as welcoming to him as the Chorus is.
This book still holds up after the 3rd read. Better still, there are always new passages and sentences to find and marvel over.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Terminal illness, and Homophobia
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia