Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - The Boy from the Mish

Easy and enjoyable queer teen story, I listened to the audiobook and it was a delight! It handles the complexities of queer first nations Australian identity beautifully. Highly recommend!

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thenextbookdilemma's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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pm_corbett's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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vixenreader's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A beautiful novel about two Koori boys falling in love that never falls for sentimental troupe while still having hope for the future.

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ricardo_sb's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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halfelfschollar's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-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

4.0

I read this book as apart of an assignment about what texts you can use in teaching a high school English class. When deciding what book to pick I became increasingly aware that the standard choices for teaching centred a specific view, that being the perspective of cis gendered, heterosexual, white men. What diversity I did find tended to be few and far between, which was especially disappointing given the way fiction can be used to introduce new perspectives and life experiences.

So I looked at the task and thought if I was teaching what would I want kids to be exposed to. And so I picked a book that depicted a young Aboriginal boy dealing with identity. The Boy from the Mish explores identity, community, and the fear of being different and rejected from those around you because of who you are. There were points where I cried and points where I laughed. I think it would be an excellent book for those who have gone through similar experiences of homophobia or racism, as well as general teen angst.

The book has a slight issue at points with the rule of show don't tell, but for the most part a good book.

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l1lyfrancis's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

5.0

oh. my. god. i love that the first book i read in 2023 is a 5 star read, i devoured this book in one sitting!! i’ve honestly never seen queer aboriginal representation in media and it makes me so happy to finally see. as an australian i found reading the dialogue with the characters voices so so easy because yknow, we have the same accents.

the characters were so loveable, and i found myself easily attached to them. i honestly just want to give all of them a hug because they definitely need it!!

the plot itself was incredible, jackson’s internalised homophobia was so well written and the way this book described feelings and emotions was beautiful

the way jackson, jarny and kalyn sat down at the end and were so open with eachother made me so emotional. especially after what happened with jarny and jackson in the street.

tomas and jackson’s relationship was so beautiful to read, i could actually feel the love and tenderness through the pages. i loved the way they fitted together, and i especially loved how they didn’t just jump into their relationship super quickly. i love the frustration that comes from setting up the relationship!! they were so cute and made me feel even more single every time i turned the page 💀.

i’m literally going to recommend this book to everybody i know, i really hope there will be some form of sequel though - as the ending seemed like it was setting up for one.

i’d love to see tomas and jackson reunite again, and for them to come out to their families.

definitely gonna reread this!

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