Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Eindelijk mezelf by Matt Cain

1 review

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

4.0

Finished reading: May 3rd 2024


"There are all kinds of reasons good people do bad things. But usually, it comes down to just being human."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Kensington Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I listened to The Secret Life Of Albert Entwistle back in 2022 and it ended up being one of my favorite stories of the year, so to say that I've been highly anticipating Becoming Ted is an understatement. I loved the sound of the premise with Ted rediscovering who he really is after his husband of twenty years leaves him... And I've been looking forward to dive in and properly meet Ted. I'm not sure if I had simply set my expectations a bit too high; while I did enjoy this newest story, there were also a couple niggles that prevented me from handing out the full five stars.

I still love the premise of the story, and I could truly appreciate how it focuses on different aspects of the queer community. This story doesn't only shows us what it is like being a gay couple in the present, but there is also focus on the struggles of being gay in the 1950s and growing up in a Catholic Poland where people don't accept gays. It's also a story about drag and everything it entails including prejudices and struggles... And there is focus on the fear/hesitance to come out and being afraid to show the world who you really are.

Becoming Ted uses a multiple POV structure, although we mainly stick with Ted and the Polish immigrant Oskar. There are many flashbacks to the past to be found along the way, and I do confess that the jumps to the past sometimes caught me off guard as they always happened mid-chapter. That said, they were always relevant and helped explain certain thoughts and why the characters are the way that they are. The writing itself was engaging with quite a lot of slang and a humor that could be on the sarcastic and harsh side at times. I personally didn't have an issue with it though!

As for the characters... Oh boy, I had mixed feelings. Don't get me wrong, I do love Ted and Oskar, but especially Ted also frustrated the heck out of me. The fact that he has been pushing his true self to the background his whole life and lets people walk all over him and his dreams is SO incredibly frustrating, and especially when he keeps letting it happen even after he supposedly started to put himself first for a change. Also, how he kept pining after his husband Giles even after he found out he had been cheating on him for all those months?! With Giles even flaunting his new love on social media for all to see?! I almost felt secondhand embarrassment for him... Then again, he basically only had experiences with toxic relationships in his life, so I guess he probably didn't know better.

I also wasn't a fan of just how much cheating was going on in general, and there were also too many different subplots going on that distracted from Ted's self-discovery journey. I could have done without the whole mystery letters and the family drama involving Ted's father for example... And likewise for Giles to pop up again near the end. There was a bit too much drama going on in general, and as a result Becoming Ted wasn't nearly as uplifting as I thought it would be. Sure, it ended on a high note, but there was a lot more negativity to be found than expected.

That said, I did still enjoy Becoming Ted despite those niggles, and I can still recommend this story if you don't mind a lot of drama, focus on toxic relationships, gaslighting and cheating. The snappy drag humor does help balancing things out a little! 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings