bookdingo's review
5.0
Evan Granger refuses to be anything but himself. Being a 16 year old is obnoxious enough as it is, what with the hormones, and finding a niche for yourself and maintaining friendships without being too awkward, but Evan's got plenty more to deal with. He wants to become a drag queen someday. He dons nail polish (turquoise is his favorite color), and he's experimenting with makeup. This book covers not only discrimination from authority figures and students alike, but displays the awfulness of victim blaming. Throw in a little innocent (secret) romance, and a fabulous grand gesture, and you have a memorable YA read. I loved it!
fianaigecht's review
2.0
... meh.
I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, so I'm going to come right out and say that it didn't really do it for me. The message is an important one, but the story itself... Well, parts of it were just too American for a Brit like me to understand. How am I meant to know how important Homecoming is when I don't even know WHAT it is? Why are athletes in American schools such jerks? Is high school really that cliquey and if so, why doesn't anyone do anything about it? America, man.
Also, the writing seemed fairly weak. It was all telling, not showing; in places very simplistic. The dialogue didn't sound particularly realistic, in that it wasn't at all subtle with the message being conveyed. In places it was seriously didactic, which grated after a while. I wasn't very engaged with the plot for a lot of the book, and there wasn't even pretty writing to lure me in. In places I DID find myself thinking about it while I wasn't reading, which is a good sign, but on the whole I didn't care a whole lot.
I have a lot of feelings about queer characters and I realise that this kind of homophobia is all too real for many people but at the same time, it's a story I've heard too many times. I'd rather something original -- something more cheerful, perhaps. It isn't going on my list of favourite queer books.
So yeah, rather a disappointment really, which is a shame.
I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, so I'm going to come right out and say that it didn't really do it for me. The message is an important one, but the story itself... Well, parts of it were just too American for a Brit like me to understand. How am I meant to know how important Homecoming is when I don't even know WHAT it is? Why are athletes in American schools such jerks? Is high school really that cliquey and if so, why doesn't anyone do anything about it? America, man.
Also, the writing seemed fairly weak. It was all telling, not showing; in places very simplistic. The dialogue didn't sound particularly realistic, in that it wasn't at all subtle with the message being conveyed. In places it was seriously didactic, which grated after a while. I wasn't very engaged with the plot for a lot of the book, and there wasn't even pretty writing to lure me in. In places I DID find myself thinking about it while I wasn't reading, which is a good sign, but on the whole I didn't care a whole lot.
I have a lot of feelings about queer characters and I realise that this kind of homophobia is all too real for many people but at the same time, it's a story I've heard too many times. I'd rather something original -- something more cheerful, perhaps. It isn't going on my list of favourite queer books.
So yeah, rather a disappointment really, which is a shame.
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