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samgray's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Alcohol
savvylit's review
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
After September 11th, Fay and Nell are drawn together by a mutual love of theater and an endless need to uncover homoerotic subtext. Fay is brash and abrasive; Nell is shy and earnest. Together they form a duo so strong that most of their peers are surprised when one of them exists without the other.
Idlewild, as a whole, is a queer coming-of-age tale steeped in early 2000s Internet culture. Nell and Fay consistently made me laugh out loud just as often as they broke my heart. Whether it was Nell pining for Fay, or Fay's gender dysphoria, the two protagonists were always painfully sincere and relatable.
Ultimately, I think this novel is for every former teenager who
- chose humor over honesty.
- had a crush on their best friend.
- was terrified of fully realizing their own identity.
- speculated over the sexuality of their classmates.
- was too friendly with their school's faculty.
- had an intense yet short-lived friendship that shaped their life.
Idlewild, as a whole, is a queer coming-of-age tale steeped in early 2000s Internet culture. Nell and Fay consistently made me laugh out loud just as often as they broke my heart. Whether it was Nell pining for Fay, or Fay's gender dysphoria, the two protagonists were always painfully sincere and relatable.
Ultimately, I think this novel is for every former teenager who
- chose humor over honesty.
- had a crush on their best friend.
- was terrified of fully realizing their own identity.
- speculated over the sexuality of their classmates.
- was too friendly with their school's faculty.
- had an intense yet short-lived friendship that shaped their life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
hannahpings's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
idlewild makes for an exceptional debut, but for me there's an even higher ceiling that it could––but frustratingly, doesn't quite––hit. that it could is a marvel enough on its own, though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and War
Minor: Pedophilia, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, and Classism
incest:joannalouise's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Dysphoria
archiveofrasa's review
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
when I started reading this, I genuinely didn't think I would reread it right after I finished it just to tab and annotate the shit out of it, but look at me now
this book really holds some of the most complex explorations of queerness I've ever read. what I went into this knowing was that Idlewild explores queerness within friendships and how both the main characters' experiences of queerness affect that friendship. it was sooo interesting to read, seeing these characters unravel and try to reach for queerness that ends up destroying themselves and each other in the end. it's also Very Millennial and Thomas does an excellent job portraying both the sympathetic experiences of Millenials but also the criticism and cringe that naturally comes along with it.
Nell and Fay are both such fantastically crafted characters and it actually pains me that I can't find out anything more about them than what I have already annotated. I'm so certain there is, I just won't see it at the moment 😔 I love seeing friends care for each other and miss each other and you get so much of that here, even though there is a lot of resentment between the two of them which hurt me in so many ways, it was just so good. the miscommunication was also so realistic to the characters and their circumstances, every single line they said made me just tragically wail "of course she would fucking say that!" instead of "why did she say that?". rarely has a book made me do that and I admire Idlewild for it so much.
the side plots were also very intriguing – I did not expect to see a commentary on how Millennials were taught to see race and racism, so I was a bit jarred by it, especially because it was written by a white author and you can tell in some areas 😭 but! that being said, there is still a lot of nuance with specifically the character affected and while the racism he experienced was incredibly yikes(!!!), I adored him and how he reacted to it was very well written. on the other hand, we have Theo, which gets a bit spoilery 😭while this is just a theory, from what I gathered, I feel as if he has a personality disorder as a result of being directly affected by 9/11? especially with his thing of derealisation and outbursts. I'm not too sure how to feel about this given his portrayal in the book, but I feel like that's what the author was getting at.
I don't know what is exactly holding me back from a 5 star rating other than how I felt about the latter two points (and also, after reading so many books by POC, maybe this story felt a biiit too white for me 😭) but I still think this is a really well-crafted novel. I may or may not change the rating depending on how I feel as I sit on it, but this book will definitely stay with me for a long time
this book really holds some of the most complex explorations of queerness I've ever read. what I went into this knowing was that Idlewild explores queerness within friendships and how both the main characters' experiences of queerness affect that friendship. it was sooo interesting to read, seeing these characters unravel and try to reach for queerness that ends up destroying themselves and each other in the end. it's also Very Millennial and Thomas does an excellent job portraying both the sympathetic experiences of Millenials but also the criticism and cringe that naturally comes along with it.
Nell and Fay are both such fantastically crafted characters and it actually pains me that I can't find out anything more about them than what I have already annotated. I'm so certain there is, I just won't see it at the moment 😔 I love seeing friends care for each other and miss each other and you get so much of that here, even though there is a lot of resentment between the two of them which hurt me in so many ways, it was just so good. the miscommunication was also so realistic to the characters and their circumstances, every single line they said made me just tragically wail "of course she would fucking say that!" instead of "why did she say that?". rarely has a book made me do that and I admire Idlewild for it so much.
the side plots were also very intriguing – I did not expect to see a commentary on how Millennials were taught to see race and racism, so I was a bit jarred by it, especially because it was written by a white author and you can tell in some areas 😭 but! that being said, there is still a lot of nuance with specifically the character affected and while the racism he experienced was incredibly yikes(!!!), I adored him and how he reacted to it was very well written. on the other hand, we have Theo, which gets a bit spoilery 😭
I don't know what is exactly holding me back from a 5 star rating other than how I felt about the latter two points (and also, after reading so many books by POC, maybe this story felt a biiit too white for me 😭) but I still think this is a really well-crafted novel. I may or may not change the rating depending on how I feel as I sit on it, but this book will definitely stay with me for a long time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Violence
Minor: Homophobia and War
Both the F and D slurs are used in this novel.everesto's review
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book was hard to put down, it was written in a way that made me need to know what happened to the characters. Here are some miscellaneous thoughts I have:
- I love the way the author utilized the different perspectives of Fay, Nell, the F&N unit, and the invert society. I really enjoyed how the chapters that were the F&N unit and the invert society were in first person and used the 'we' pronoun whereas the Fay and Nell chapters were in third person and were reflective on the events in high school.
- knowing how close Fay and Nell were in highschool and that they did not talk at all after highschool really made me curious about what could have happened to separate them.
- The faunfic was weird (don't write fanfic about real people, ESPECIALLY don't write smut. It's just weird)and though it ended up being and important plot point it still made me feel weird.
-the ending was pretty unsatisfying to me. I don't know what could have been different but I don't think the story was concluded really. I think that makes sense given the way their relationship ended but still.
-I think Fay's plot point of being a gay trans man was NOT resolved in the slightest, though I think that Fay wouldn't end up resolving it at all and would stay living as a woman. Despite this, I wish that something went different with it due to the miscommunication about gay stuff between Fay and Nell being a big point of tension in their friendship (at least for Nell).
-I want to know more about Theo.
Overall I really enjoyed the book and thought that the characters and their relationships were written really well!
- I love the way the author utilized the different perspectives of Fay, Nell, the F&N unit, and the invert society. I really enjoyed how the chapters that were the F&N unit and the invert society were in first person and used the 'we' pronoun whereas the Fay and Nell chapters were in third person and were reflective on the events in high school.
- knowing how close Fay and Nell were in highschool and that they did not talk at all after highschool really made me curious about what could have happened to separate them.
- The faunfic was weird (don't write fanfic about real people, ESPECIALLY don't write smut. It's just weird)
-
-
-I want to know more about Theo.
Overall I really enjoyed the book and thought that the characters and their relationships were written really well!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Fatphobia, Racism, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
mikaclapson's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and War
mmccombs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Completely wowed by this book! I didn’t really know what this was about going into it, and I am so impressed by the bold character work and stunning writing! A complex portrait of high schoolers and burgeoning queerness and obsession and post 9/11 anxiety, I don’t think I’ve read a queer coming of age novel quite so lived in, so mushy and confused and goofy.
I loved the approach of making Fay and Nell’s friendship so fully meshed as to take on a 2nd person POV. I also loved the flashback, past-tense format of this book. Often, I find books using a look-back approach or time jumps do so in order to hide plot or character issues, but Thomas was leveraging this tense to fully investigate faulty memories and how characters can experience the same situation so differently. (Also the act of looking back at your high school self thinking about what would have been if you had made different friends or different choices, especially gay ones, feels SO relatable in an ouch kind of way)
I had a great time listening to this; the mood, the vibe, the plot that quickly spiraled out of control, and these endearing (and totally annoying! lol) characters came together to form an excellent whole.
I loved the approach of making Fay and Nell’s friendship so fully meshed as to take on a 2nd person POV. I also loved the flashback, past-tense format of this book. Often, I find books using a look-back approach or time jumps do so in order to hide plot or character issues, but Thomas was leveraging this tense to fully investigate faulty memories and how characters can experience the same situation so differently. (Also the act of looking back at your high school self thinking about what would have been if you had made different friends or different choices, especially gay ones, feels SO relatable in an ouch kind of way)
I had a great time listening to this; the mood, the vibe, the plot that quickly spiraled out of control, and these endearing (and totally annoying! lol) characters came together to form an excellent whole.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Violence
Minor: War
eacrunden's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Really well written and an absolute trauma flashback if you’ve been in the trenches of AFAB friendship
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Outing, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Racism and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Homophobia
sarahgehrke's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Dysphoria
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and War
Minor: Fatphobia