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michaelion's review against another edition
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
In my journal notes I wrote, "if heterosexuality could be a trigger..." So. Here we go.
My nice review for this book would be: you could describe it as very comic book-y or very camp-y, but that doesn't necessarily mean it in the good way.
I first read this book when I was 13 or 14, and this is well and truly a book I could've only enjoyed when I was a teen. I adored it then, and unfortunately I think it inspired the way I write now... which I will now be unlearning.
Did you ever learn that technique in middle/high school where, let's say you're reading an English or History book, you read the first sentence and then then the rest of the paragraph is just overexplaining that first sentence. So then you learn "Okay, I don't have to read ALL of this chapter, I have homework due and another paper to write, and I have-" So to cut time, you just read the first sentence. and somehow you still passed the test with an acceptable grade?
That's what 90% of this book is. Metaphors and similes and extreme run-on sentences. If you flipped through the pages you'd think "Holy shit, is this book only five sentences?" One sentence-paragraph was so long on one page it bled onto the other half of the next page. All description. And not in a way that's emersive, at least not for me; it got really distracting, but even though I skimmed most of it I didn't miss anything important to the story.
Now, to be fair, I usually find dialogue a lot more important and usually drift towards that, but if you like books that are extremely description heavy, you can ignore everything I just said.
Probably the worst part about this book is the way truly everyone is nitpicked for their looks in a very disgusting way. If you didn't have dysmorphia before reading this, you might start looking at yourself funny. The book doesn't even end on that happy of a note, it's more like "I guess I'll love you, despite fact that you're so hideous."
The ending still confuses me. And I really can't explain it, because in my mind whenever I try to form the words I keep hittinf road blocks. But, to all white people, please don't ever try to write magic realism ever again.
I hate Tom Kelly's death. Like. Either he died of AIDS or something worse than AIDS, but to not say it? And to blame it on a "nomadic African tribe"? The casual/overt/hush-toned racism in the book is so... it MUST have been written by a white gay man. Probably from New York. Or, more realistically, probably from a small town somewhere in the Midwest, who moved to New York to with dreams of being on Broadway, but he ended up working as an assistant and rubbing shoulders with high class people until eventually he felt comfortable enough saying he wasn't famous, but he knew a lot of people who were. But he "doesn't like to brag about it," he says with a smug look. And he worked real hard and pulled himself up by his bootstraps and didn't complain and took the shit and eventually ended up getting his own book published. I could look at the sleeve of my book and confirm if any of what I said is real, but I will not. Because, if you're reading this, and you already read the book, you probably got that feeling too, and you know I'm right.
That all being said? Tom Kelly is that bitch. Tom Kelly has always been that bitch. Tom Kelly will always be that bitch. Tom Kelly, for a moment, makes me forget I hate men. Tom Kelly. Tom Kelly... Tom Kelly. ❤
My nice review for this book would be: you could describe it as very comic book-y or very camp-y, but that doesn't necessarily mean it in the good way.
I first read this book when I was 13 or 14, and this is well and truly a book I could've only enjoyed when I was a teen. I adored it then, and unfortunately I think it inspired the way I write now... which I will now be unlearning.
Did you ever learn that technique in middle/high school where, let's say you're reading an English or History book, you read the first sentence and then then the rest of the paragraph is just overexplaining that first sentence. So then you learn "Okay, I don't have to read ALL of this chapter, I have homework due and another paper to write, and I have-" So to cut time, you just read the first sentence. and somehow you still passed the test with an acceptable grade?
That's what 90% of this book is. Metaphors and similes and extreme run-on sentences. If you flipped through the pages you'd think "Holy shit, is this book only five sentences?" One sentence-paragraph was so long on one page it bled onto the other half of the next page. All description. And not in a way that's emersive, at least not for me; it got really distracting, but even though I skimmed most of it I didn't miss anything important to the story.
Now, to be fair, I usually find dialogue a lot more important and usually drift towards that, but if you like books that are extremely description heavy, you can ignore everything I just said.
Probably the worst part about this book is the way truly everyone is nitpicked for their looks in a very disgusting way. If you didn't have dysmorphia before reading this, you might start looking at yourself funny. The book doesn't even end on that happy of a note, it's more like "I guess I'll love you, despite fact that you're so hideous."
The ending still confuses me. And I really can't explain it, because in my mind whenever I try to form the words I keep hittinf road blocks. But, to all white people, please don't ever try to write magic realism ever again.
That all being said? Tom Kelly is that bitch. Tom Kelly has always been that bitch. Tom Kelly will always be that bitch. Tom Kelly, for a moment, makes me forget I hate men. Tom Kelly. Tom Kelly... Tom Kelly. ❤
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming and Dysphoria
Moderate: Cursing, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Death of parent, Outing, and Classism
Minor: Incest, Grief, and Colonisation