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readershark's reviews
193 reviews
Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur
2.0
I want to start off by saying I'm happy for all the people who love this book, and I'm glad they can love this collection of poems. It just wasn't for me.
I went into kaur's writing expecting a lot more of the things I had been through, but we lived very different lives, and I think that's where I fell short. Besides the first part of the collection, I didn't click at all with the last three parts.
Milk and Honey is an overtly sexual book, dealing with femininity and sexual relations. I am not a sexual person and disconnected with this collection because of it. Like this book, for the last three sections (the majority of the novel), was all about sex or there was sex mentioned every other page. I get it, especially since a lot of people are more sexually active than I am, but it just disconnected me from the narrative.
That and the fact that this is so heterosexual and cisgender. I'm neither of those things so the focus on female genitalia and embracing inherently cisgender women things was hard for me to connect with. I know it wasn't her intention since like 99% of women are cis women so this book is catered to them, but I'm not one of them and couldn't relate. And her lessons in the last portion of the book felt like things I had taught myself already.
All in all I don't think this is a bad collection by any means, it just wasn't for me. But I am happy so many others found peace in it.
I went into kaur's writing expecting a lot more of the things I had been through, but we lived very different lives, and I think that's where I fell short. Besides the first part of the collection, I didn't click at all with the last three parts.
Milk and Honey is an overtly sexual book, dealing with femininity and sexual relations. I am not a sexual person and disconnected with this collection because of it. Like this book, for the last three sections (the majority of the novel), was all about sex or there was sex mentioned every other page. I get it, especially since a lot of people are more sexually active than I am, but it just disconnected me from the narrative.
That and the fact that this is so heterosexual and cisgender. I'm neither of those things so the focus on female genitalia and embracing inherently cisgender women things was hard for me to connect with. I know it wasn't her intention since like 99% of women are cis women so this book is catered to them, but I'm not one of them and couldn't relate. And her lessons in the last portion of the book felt like things I had taught myself already.
All in all I don't think this is a bad collection by any means, it just wasn't for me. But I am happy so many others found peace in it.
The Amateurs by Sara Shepard
2.0
BE WARNED: RANT REVIEW AHEAD
(Originally written on my blog: https://readersharks.wordpress.com/)
Sara Shephard is the author of the infamous Pretty Little Liars series. In 2016, she came back to the mystery field with her new novel, The Amateurs. Following five teens and their race to find a killer before the killer finds them, this novel is filled with suspense, romance, and...stereotypes?
In our cast, we have two characters of color. The first one is our main character, who is half-Black and half-white. Her mother was white, which becomes relevant later in the novel. Of course, out of the entire cast, Seneca is the only one to question herself and her abilities, falling into the self-conscious mixed character trope. The other is Madison, the step-sister of Maddox, Seneca's best online friend. She is Korean, and fits the ultra-feminine, high pitched voice, cutesy/eccentric girl Asian stereotype. Her infatuation with Hello Kitty and the color pink just plays into the corny sub-characterization of Madison. Not only that, but everything she's obsessed with is Japanese, even though she's open about her Korean heritage.
To move it along further, one of the other main characters, Brett, says something that's inherently racist, and it's not even addressed except Madison remarking that she is Korean, not Chinese. This is the exchange:
(Brett stared at the Japanese girl in the gallery windows, then nudged Madison. "You talk to her."
"Why me?" Madison thumbed her chest.
"Don't Asian chicks stick together? You could say something to her in Chinese, maybe. Do some kung fu. We'd be in for sure."
"Brett!" Seneca chided, half teasing, half horrified.
Madison looked confused. "I'm Korean."
"Oh." Brett looked blank. "Shit girl, sorry.")
I'm sorry....WHAT?!
The fact that an entire team of people saw this and not one of them said "hey, maybe this shouldn't be here, or Madison should have some kind of reaction," really astounds me. Just who is running the publishing industry here!
Of course, just as well, all the women were exceptionally skinny with long, beautiful legs. Both men were big and muscular, one even following the wildly popular nerd-turns-jock trope. Could this book be any more trope-y? My girl, Ms. Shephard, it was 2016 when you wrote this and you still can't believe people can have different bodies? Where is your head at my dude?
Maddox, Seneca's internet friend from the cold case website, was a real arrogant asshole during the entire book, stopping himself more than once from saying, "well most girls would leap at a chance to hang out with me." Buddy, I'm sure half the girls could not be bothered with your crusty white boy ass, okay? Okay. This book really flippantly deals with extreme age differences as well. Maddox is literally 16, but his 22-year-old coach is trying to get with him, yet no one brings up the fact that he's only sixteen and she is twenty-two years of age as a problem. Again I say, WHAT?! Not only that, but there's a budding romance between him and Seneca. Again, I say, he is 16 and she is 19. I don't know any nineteen-year-old who would even want to date a sixteen-year-old boy. Have you ever met a sixteen-year-old boy? They don't shower and still think burp jokes are the height of humor.
And on the flip side, Aerin, the resident rich girl (though, it's Connecticut, one of the richest states in the country), and Helena's younger sister, is falling hard for a police detective/police rookie, and one who definitely reciprocates. Aerin is seventeen. The minimum age you can become a detective is twenty-one. This guy is literally in law enforcement and DOESN'T SEE THE ISSUE WITH THIS! WHAT THE FUCK! If you could see me right now, you'd see a person with their thumb and pointer finger pinching the bridge of their nose and sighing.
Another thing I had a big issue was in this book, was the police. What did they do during this investigation, scratch their asses and twiddle their thumbs? These kids managed to find the most obvious clues that any half decent detective would have found. They found a note taped to the side of Helena's desk in 0.4 seconds. What, did the police just not open their damn eyes while searching her room?
The teens also caught Helena's former best friend in an easily catchable lie. He said he was in a ski lodge during the time of her murder, but the place had no record of him staying there. He also failed to recognize the lodge's famous mascot. Did no detective on this case double check his alibi? That's literally standard detective work. I grew up with an FBI agent grandfather, and I'm pretty sure he would set this book on fire and use the flames to roast a marshmallow.
And of course, OF COURSE, there was homophobia in this novel. At this point, I'm not even surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised.
As for the plot twist, if you had your eyes open while reading this book, it was pretty easy to spot.
SLIGHT, NONDESCRIPT SPOILERS AHEAD
At the end of this book, there's a connection between Helena's murder and two others, but it felt very tacked on. I felt as if Shephard was sitting at her desk, about to finish the book, but instead of just letting it die she said, "how can I make this a series and also connect three completely different murders that follow no kind of pattern?" Well, she did it. Badly. One Google search is all it takes to learn about patterns of serial killers. Forensic criminologists are crying.
In the end, when it is explained why she was killed, it made absolutely no sense. By the time I got to it I was so tired of this novel that I couldn't even react to the nonsensical and totally inaccurate depictions of psychopathy. The teens in this book use Google constantly but I don't think Sara Shephard has ever been to the website in her life.
Yet, even after all this ranting, there were still some things I liked.
Just like in Pretty Little Liars, Shephard's mystery writing is on point. The plot interesting, and the actual mystery intrigued me. I really did want to know what happened to Helena, because the case was really weird and interesting. I wanted to see it solved. My forensic based ass wishes we got some more science-based evidence, but the clues that were given in the book were enough to keep my attention.
I do wish we got more insight into Aerin's family dynamic and the actual grieving she went through after Helena's death. All we know is that she turned to sex and partying after her sister disappeared just to cope with the loss. I wish we had a closer look at that, but we just get scenes talking about her flashing some dude in the gym locker room when she was a freshman. Enthralling stuff.
This book was a solid 2/5 stars for me, and I will not be continuing the series.
(Originally written on my blog: https://readersharks.wordpress.com/)
Sara Shephard is the author of the infamous Pretty Little Liars series. In 2016, she came back to the mystery field with her new novel, The Amateurs. Following five teens and their race to find a killer before the killer finds them, this novel is filled with suspense, romance, and...stereotypes?
In our cast, we have two characters of color. The first one is our main character, who is half-Black and half-white. Her mother was white, which becomes relevant later in the novel. Of course, out of the entire cast, Seneca is the only one to question herself and her abilities, falling into the self-conscious mixed character trope. The other is Madison, the step-sister of Maddox, Seneca's best online friend. She is Korean, and fits the ultra-feminine, high pitched voice, cutesy/eccentric girl Asian stereotype. Her infatuation with Hello Kitty and the color pink just plays into the corny sub-characterization of Madison. Not only that, but everything she's obsessed with is Japanese, even though she's open about her Korean heritage.
To move it along further, one of the other main characters, Brett, says something that's inherently racist, and it's not even addressed except Madison remarking that she is Korean, not Chinese. This is the exchange:
(Brett stared at the Japanese girl in the gallery windows, then nudged Madison. "You talk to her."
"Why me?" Madison thumbed her chest.
"Don't Asian chicks stick together? You could say something to her in Chinese, maybe. Do some kung fu. We'd be in for sure."
"Brett!" Seneca chided, half teasing, half horrified.
Madison looked confused. "I'm Korean."
"Oh." Brett looked blank. "Shit girl, sorry.")
I'm sorry....WHAT?!
The fact that an entire team of people saw this and not one of them said "hey, maybe this shouldn't be here, or Madison should have some kind of reaction," really astounds me. Just who is running the publishing industry here!
Of course, just as well, all the women were exceptionally skinny with long, beautiful legs. Both men were big and muscular, one even following the wildly popular nerd-turns-jock trope. Could this book be any more trope-y? My girl, Ms. Shephard, it was 2016 when you wrote this and you still can't believe people can have different bodies? Where is your head at my dude?
Maddox, Seneca's internet friend from the cold case website, was a real arrogant asshole during the entire book, stopping himself more than once from saying, "well most girls would leap at a chance to hang out with me." Buddy, I'm sure half the girls could not be bothered with your crusty white boy ass, okay? Okay. This book really flippantly deals with extreme age differences as well. Maddox is literally 16, but his 22-year-old coach is trying to get with him, yet no one brings up the fact that he's only sixteen and she is twenty-two years of age as a problem. Again I say, WHAT?! Not only that, but there's a budding romance between him and Seneca. Again, I say, he is 16 and she is 19. I don't know any nineteen-year-old who would even want to date a sixteen-year-old boy. Have you ever met a sixteen-year-old boy? They don't shower and still think burp jokes are the height of humor.
And on the flip side, Aerin, the resident rich girl (though, it's Connecticut, one of the richest states in the country), and Helena's younger sister, is falling hard for a police detective/police rookie, and one who definitely reciprocates. Aerin is seventeen. The minimum age you can become a detective is twenty-one. This guy is literally in law enforcement and DOESN'T SEE THE ISSUE WITH THIS! WHAT THE FUCK! If you could see me right now, you'd see a person with their thumb and pointer finger pinching the bridge of their nose and sighing.
Another thing I had a big issue was in this book, was the police. What did they do during this investigation, scratch their asses and twiddle their thumbs? These kids managed to find the most obvious clues that any half decent detective would have found. They found a note taped to the side of Helena's desk in 0.4 seconds. What, did the police just not open their damn eyes while searching her room?
The teens also caught Helena's former best friend in an easily catchable lie. He said he was in a ski lodge during the time of her murder, but the place had no record of him staying there. He also failed to recognize the lodge's famous mascot. Did no detective on this case double check his alibi? That's literally standard detective work. I grew up with an FBI agent grandfather, and I'm pretty sure he would set this book on fire and use the flames to roast a marshmallow.
And of course, OF COURSE, there was homophobia in this novel. At this point, I'm not even surprised. Disappointed, but not surprised.
As for the plot twist, if you had your eyes open while reading this book, it was pretty easy to spot.
SLIGHT, NONDESCRIPT SPOILERS AHEAD
At the end of this book, there's a connection between Helena's murder and two others, but it felt very tacked on. I felt as if Shephard was sitting at her desk, about to finish the book, but instead of just letting it die she said, "how can I make this a series and also connect three completely different murders that follow no kind of pattern?" Well, she did it. Badly. One Google search is all it takes to learn about patterns of serial killers. Forensic criminologists are crying.
In the end, when it is explained why she was killed, it made absolutely no sense. By the time I got to it I was so tired of this novel that I couldn't even react to the nonsensical and totally inaccurate depictions of psychopathy. The teens in this book use Google constantly but I don't think Sara Shephard has ever been to the website in her life.
Yet, even after all this ranting, there were still some things I liked.
Just like in Pretty Little Liars, Shephard's mystery writing is on point. The plot interesting, and the actual mystery intrigued me. I really did want to know what happened to Helena, because the case was really weird and interesting. I wanted to see it solved. My forensic based ass wishes we got some more science-based evidence, but the clues that were given in the book were enough to keep my attention.
I do wish we got more insight into Aerin's family dynamic and the actual grieving she went through after Helena's death. All we know is that she turned to sex and partying after her sister disappeared just to cope with the loss. I wish we had a closer look at that, but we just get scenes talking about her flashing some dude in the gym locker room when she was a freshman. Enthralling stuff.
This book was a solid 2/5 stars for me, and I will not be continuing the series.
Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was by Sjón
4.0
Review originially written on my blog
I came across this book because of booktube, AKA, the book YouTube community. If I hadn’t, I’m not sure I would’ve have found it, and my life would have been Moonstone-less. How sad that would’ve been! This book is an absolute hidden gem. At 142 pages, it technically counts as a novella, but either way, it’s beautiful.
This book follows Máni Steinn, a young boy in Reykjavik who is in love with the movies, and slowly watches his little town of Reykjavik Iceland become infected with the Spanish Influenza. He goes to the cinemas every day, indulging in this pleasure since he can’t read. He dropped out of school when he was young, and spends his days working. Slowly, day by day, he watches as the people in his town start to fall ill. And then it’s a storm.
At first, when I picked up this novel, I thought it would be a gay romance amidst the Spanish Influenza epidemic. I was completely wrong. This is about a boy who, essentially, prostitutes himself for money. He is gay, but since it’s 1918, and WWI has just ended, being gay is still a crime in every country. Him being gay isn’t actually a big part of the book, so I’m not sure why it’s marketed as that. This is simply a novel about a boy named Màni Steinn, who happens to be gay.
This novel is translated from Icelandic, which means there’s a bit of a translation accent. It takes awhile to get used to, but once you get into it, the language becomes so beautiful. It’s descriptive and metaphoric, drawing pictures with words. SJÓN does a beautiful job of writing beautifully and descriptively. My mistake was that I read this book in three installments, when it should be read in one. Every time I put it down I lost the flow of the narrative, and then had to spend the next few pages finding it again, which disengaged me from the text itself. I definitely recommend you read this all in one go if you can.
When reading this, I would definitely recommend having an open mind. It’s not vague, per se, just very philosophic. SJÓN’s writing is an artwork of its own, and if you’re expecting a straightforward reading experience, then this one isn’t for you. The beauty of it, is that it can be interpreted in so many ways. It’s such a thought provoking and heart wrenching novel, and I loved it.
I think a big part of why it resonated with me is because I myself am gay. There’s a portion in here that’ll really break your heart if you think about it, because it’s one of the biggest historical gay struggles. It’s the same feeling I got by watching The Imitation Game, and not a lot of straight people will understand the sadness I felt from reading it, because they don’t experience the same things, which is totally fine!
Not only that, but the plot twist ending was a complete surprise to me, and that doesn’t happen very often.
This book was absolutely a beautiful read, and I loved every bit of it. The reason I didn’t give it 5/5 was because I lost my flow with the language a few times, and that definitely impacted how I read it.
I 100% would recommend picking up this book and letting yourself experience SJÓN’s writing.
I came across this book because of booktube, AKA, the book YouTube community. If I hadn’t, I’m not sure I would’ve have found it, and my life would have been Moonstone-less. How sad that would’ve been! This book is an absolute hidden gem. At 142 pages, it technically counts as a novella, but either way, it’s beautiful.
This book follows Máni Steinn, a young boy in Reykjavik who is in love with the movies, and slowly watches his little town of Reykjavik Iceland become infected with the Spanish Influenza. He goes to the cinemas every day, indulging in this pleasure since he can’t read. He dropped out of school when he was young, and spends his days working. Slowly, day by day, he watches as the people in his town start to fall ill. And then it’s a storm.
At first, when I picked up this novel, I thought it would be a gay romance amidst the Spanish Influenza epidemic. I was completely wrong. This is about a boy who, essentially, prostitutes himself for money. He is gay, but since it’s 1918, and WWI has just ended, being gay is still a crime in every country. Him being gay isn’t actually a big part of the book, so I’m not sure why it’s marketed as that. This is simply a novel about a boy named Màni Steinn, who happens to be gay.
This novel is translated from Icelandic, which means there’s a bit of a translation accent. It takes awhile to get used to, but once you get into it, the language becomes so beautiful. It’s descriptive and metaphoric, drawing pictures with words. SJÓN does a beautiful job of writing beautifully and descriptively. My mistake was that I read this book in three installments, when it should be read in one. Every time I put it down I lost the flow of the narrative, and then had to spend the next few pages finding it again, which disengaged me from the text itself. I definitely recommend you read this all in one go if you can.
When reading this, I would definitely recommend having an open mind. It’s not vague, per se, just very philosophic. SJÓN’s writing is an artwork of its own, and if you’re expecting a straightforward reading experience, then this one isn’t for you. The beauty of it, is that it can be interpreted in so many ways. It’s such a thought provoking and heart wrenching novel, and I loved it.
I think a big part of why it resonated with me is because I myself am gay. There’s a portion in here that’ll really break your heart if you think about it, because it’s one of the biggest historical gay struggles. It’s the same feeling I got by watching The Imitation Game, and not a lot of straight people will understand the sadness I felt from reading it, because they don’t experience the same things, which is totally fine!
Not only that, but the plot twist ending was a complete surprise to me, and that doesn’t happen very often.
This book was absolutely a beautiful read, and I loved every bit of it. The reason I didn’t give it 5/5 was because I lost my flow with the language a few times, and that definitely impacted how I read it.
I 100% would recommend picking up this book and letting yourself experience SJÓN’s writing.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
5.0
Review originally written on my blog.
Obviously, this book is making its rounds. From the hype of the movie, Simon, has been flying off the shelves, and with good reason. It's amazing.
This book was originally published in 2015. I'd heard the buzz here and there, but it came back around in late 2017, because of the movie deal. At the same time, many books with LGBT leads (mainly gay men), were getting published. Honestly, I loved it! Unfortunately, we got a lot of books about gay men published by straight women who wanted to write their favorite ship. See: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (a very obvious Drarry retelling). I'm not saying these were bad novels, but I was so incredibly tired of seeing straight women tell a story that belongs to me and my fellow gay peers.
So, needless to say, I was reluctant of reading Simon because if its author. An utter mistake, because if I had read it in 2015, I would have read it in one of the worst stages of my life, and I would have loved to have it then. Either way, I didn't. So, last night, I picked it up, and I read it all in one sitting.
Simon's story is one of coming out. While I'm touchy with that subject being handled by straight/cisgender people who have never had to deal with closets and how their handles can be hard to open, Becky handled it with ease and grace. Simon was a teenager. He happened to be gay. The focus was, of course, on him being gay, but it was not a crisis. He was not insecure or scared or figuring himself out. He is undeniably gay and unashamed, which we don't see a lot. He also lives in Georgia, which plays into his coming out.
Before I sing praises about the rest of the book, I do have to point out the flaws. As much as I loved it, everything I read is looked at critically. The premise of this story, is that Simon is blackmailed. He has one of the calmest reactions to being blackmailed I have ever seen, and even starts to like his blackmailer. Um...no. If someone were blackmailing me, I would not even come close to remotely liking them. Ever. Though this is dealt with later in the book, I felt as if the whole aspect was taken too lightly.
There was also the case of Simon's best friend, Leah, who's into the manga artist yaoi scene. I don't know one single gay man who enjoys people looking at gay people through yaoi lenses. Yaoi is a complete fetishism of gay culture and gay people, with yuri being the lesbian counterpart. Both are over sexualized and dripping with stereotypes, used to fill a fetish-shaped whole in straight peoples' hearts. Leah, I felt like, was also not that well fleshed out. We get that she's chubby, she's sassy, she's into yaoi, and she's insecure, but we don't know much beyond that.
Lastly, there's the note about lesbians. Simon makes a crack that it's easier for lesbians or bisexual women to come out, because most men will cheer them on and think its hot. Once again, this is not a positive thing. This is fetishism of lesbians, a constant problem in our culture. In 2017, the top porn category sought in the United States was in fact, lesbian porn. Lesbians are not sexual objects for men's disgusting lustful eyes, and even shining the smallest spotlight on it is part of the problem.
However, let's get back to the shining praise.
Reading Simon was the gift I didn't know I wanted. Even though this a book about coming out, this is not the typical questioning book that we see in so much YA. Instead, Simon is trying to navigate his way through this blackmail situation while trying to find out who Blue, his mysterious penpal, is. It is so fluffy and good and happy that I never wanted the conflict to come into play.
There's this air around Simon that I really loved. He's sarcastic, funny, and unafraid to use fucking and freaking in the same sentence. He has all the confusing feelings a teenager would usually have, and his emails with Blue made my heart soar.
What made it so believable, was that Becky Albertalli has spent a lot of her adulthood working with and for gender nonconforming kids and LGBT+ adults, and her time around them shows in this novel. I never found myself rolling my eyes internally muttering god, this was written by a straight person. She is also very clear that the defaults we have in today's media (white, straight, cisgender, etc) are wrong and there should be no default at all.
This book was written with today's teenager in mind. I didn't get an adult vibe from this book, and that's part of what I loved about it. Simon is such a seventeen-year-old boy, that I kind of fell in love with him. He's angsty, funny, he loves hugs, and he loves Oreos. Basically me in high school, if we're being honest.
This book also talks about real things in real people's lives. There's no dancing around sex. No bumping uglies or other weird synonyms. We are aware of sex. It's a thing that most people in high school want to have, and most definitely know about. And drinking. Drinking is a thing a lot of people in high school do for the first time, and find out what their limits are/what they like. There was no acting like it's bad or wanting sex makes you impure or some other bullshit. It's what actual teens think about when thinking about their first time, and it was very refreshing. That, and the fact that parents, family, and school were all themes in this novel, things that are usually pushed aside in YA.
I could go on about Simon for centuries, but the main point is, it made me happy. This book made me smile and cry and do everything in between. I felt for Simon, and a big part of me wished that I could have been him in high school. I wish I had him to carry with me in my bag while I was there, but I'm happy I have him now. It felt so refreshing to have a story about being gay that's a one up from oh no! I'm gay!
I was also very pleased to find this story had a beautiful, happy ending, which is also something we don't get to see in a lot of LGBT fiction. This novel had me feeling like I was five again, trying to pick out what's under the Christmas tree, but instead of presents, it's non-fetishized LGBT representation that rings accurate to my own experiences.
I very thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend you give it a try, too!
Obviously, this book is making its rounds. From the hype of the movie, Simon, has been flying off the shelves, and with good reason. It's amazing.
This book was originally published in 2015. I'd heard the buzz here and there, but it came back around in late 2017, because of the movie deal. At the same time, many books with LGBT leads (mainly gay men), were getting published. Honestly, I loved it! Unfortunately, we got a lot of books about gay men published by straight women who wanted to write their favorite ship. See: Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (a very obvious Drarry retelling). I'm not saying these were bad novels, but I was so incredibly tired of seeing straight women tell a story that belongs to me and my fellow gay peers.
So, needless to say, I was reluctant of reading Simon because if its author. An utter mistake, because if I had read it in 2015, I would have read it in one of the worst stages of my life, and I would have loved to have it then. Either way, I didn't. So, last night, I picked it up, and I read it all in one sitting.
Simon's story is one of coming out. While I'm touchy with that subject being handled by straight/cisgender people who have never had to deal with closets and how their handles can be hard to open, Becky handled it with ease and grace. Simon was a teenager. He happened to be gay. The focus was, of course, on him being gay, but it was not a crisis. He was not insecure or scared or figuring himself out. He is undeniably gay and unashamed, which we don't see a lot. He also lives in Georgia, which plays into his coming out.
Before I sing praises about the rest of the book, I do have to point out the flaws. As much as I loved it, everything I read is looked at critically. The premise of this story, is that Simon is blackmailed. He has one of the calmest reactions to being blackmailed I have ever seen, and even starts to like his blackmailer. Um...no. If someone were blackmailing me, I would not even come close to remotely liking them. Ever. Though this is dealt with later in the book, I felt as if the whole aspect was taken too lightly.
There was also the case of Simon's best friend, Leah, who's into the manga artist yaoi scene. I don't know one single gay man who enjoys people looking at gay people through yaoi lenses. Yaoi is a complete fetishism of gay culture and gay people, with yuri being the lesbian counterpart. Both are over sexualized and dripping with stereotypes, used to fill a fetish-shaped whole in straight peoples' hearts. Leah, I felt like, was also not that well fleshed out. We get that she's chubby, she's sassy, she's into yaoi, and she's insecure, but we don't know much beyond that.
Lastly, there's the note about lesbians. Simon makes a crack that it's easier for lesbians or bisexual women to come out, because most men will cheer them on and think its hot. Once again, this is not a positive thing. This is fetishism of lesbians, a constant problem in our culture. In 2017, the top porn category sought in the United States was in fact, lesbian porn. Lesbians are not sexual objects for men's disgusting lustful eyes, and even shining the smallest spotlight on it is part of the problem.
However, let's get back to the shining praise.
Reading Simon was the gift I didn't know I wanted. Even though this a book about coming out, this is not the typical questioning book that we see in so much YA. Instead, Simon is trying to navigate his way through this blackmail situation while trying to find out who Blue, his mysterious penpal, is. It is so fluffy and good and happy that I never wanted the conflict to come into play.
There's this air around Simon that I really loved. He's sarcastic, funny, and unafraid to use fucking and freaking in the same sentence. He has all the confusing feelings a teenager would usually have, and his emails with Blue made my heart soar.
What made it so believable, was that Becky Albertalli has spent a lot of her adulthood working with and for gender nonconforming kids and LGBT+ adults, and her time around them shows in this novel. I never found myself rolling my eyes internally muttering god, this was written by a straight person. She is also very clear that the defaults we have in today's media (white, straight, cisgender, etc) are wrong and there should be no default at all.
This book was written with today's teenager in mind. I didn't get an adult vibe from this book, and that's part of what I loved about it. Simon is such a seventeen-year-old boy, that I kind of fell in love with him. He's angsty, funny, he loves hugs, and he loves Oreos. Basically me in high school, if we're being honest.
This book also talks about real things in real people's lives. There's no dancing around sex. No bumping uglies or other weird synonyms. We are aware of sex. It's a thing that most people in high school want to have, and most definitely know about. And drinking. Drinking is a thing a lot of people in high school do for the first time, and find out what their limits are/what they like. There was no acting like it's bad or wanting sex makes you impure or some other bullshit. It's what actual teens think about when thinking about their first time, and it was very refreshing. That, and the fact that parents, family, and school were all themes in this novel, things that are usually pushed aside in YA.
I could go on about Simon for centuries, but the main point is, it made me happy. This book made me smile and cry and do everything in between. I felt for Simon, and a big part of me wished that I could have been him in high school. I wish I had him to carry with me in my bag while I was there, but I'm happy I have him now. It felt so refreshing to have a story about being gay that's a one up from oh no! I'm gay!
I was also very pleased to find this story had a beautiful, happy ending, which is also something we don't get to see in a lot of LGBT fiction. This novel had me feeling like I was five again, trying to pick out what's under the Christmas tree, but instead of presents, it's non-fetishized LGBT representation that rings accurate to my own experiences.
I very thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend you give it a try, too!