LGBQTIA – Page 10 – My Good Reads

‘Demon Road 3:American Monsters’ -Derek Landy

In the third in the series, Amber and Milo are on the trail of her parents – while also trying to work out how to double-cross the demon Astaroth.

While I find the relationship between Milo and Amber fun, and there are some great humorous scenes here, I do feel that a lot of the violence is unnecessary and this detracts from the good elements of the book (sorry to those fans who are, no doubt, cursing me now).

As we watch Amber’s journey we see her relationships with a number of characters develop in rather unexpected ways. Unfortunately, there were just one too many incidental journeys/events that meant this felt a little dragged-out to me.

Towards the end, as we started to explore Amber’s reaction to events, I felt we got back on track. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this in advance of publication, but I’ve felt less engaged with this series as it’s progressed and it’s a shame as it started so well.

‘The Last Beginning’ – Lauren James

The Last Beginning

Finishing while you’re ahead is always a good idea, but this was such a wonderful read there’s a part of me that hopes there is more to come.

In The Last Beginning we follow Clove Sutcliffe as she learns about her real parents and the role they played in history. We are introduced to one or two familiar faces and get to meet some new, very intriguing, characters.

If you’ve read the first in the series you will be pleased to know this novel helps us make a lot more sense of some of the more confusing elements of the first novel. This is a deftly constructed, compelling read that had me desperate to see how things would be resolved. I loved the character of Clove and as she develops an understanding of her role in history, I couldn’t wait to see how James dealt with some of my unanswered questions. I was gripped by this from the moment I started. Time travel is a familiar concept to explore, but there’s a real sense of James’s skill in controlling what information we need to know at what point in time.

I would urge you to read The Next Together immediately if you haven’t already, then treat yourself to this little gem.

‘When Everything Feels Like the Movies’ – Raziel Reid

When Everything Feels Like the Movies

A rather curious read, and one that I was quite taken with – though I can see why it will have caused some controversy.

My feelings about this book veered from one extreme to the next as I was reading. It’s a hard book to sum up, so I won’t even try, but I will try and make sense of my reaction to it.

Jude, our narrator, reminded me of Justin from Ugly Betty on acid. Everything about him shrieked of wanting attention. He is the star of his own show, and really seems to go out of his way to be provocative. He chooses to wear dresses and make-up to school, every opportunity he gets to make sexualised comments he does and his dramatisation of his life gets a bit grating. That was my first reaction to Jude, but that would be doing him an injustice.

While I found this novel to be a little crass in its expression at times – and I am still naive enough to think that the actions of Jude and his friend Angela are not typical of many fifteen year olds – there were moments when I found myself willing Jude on.

The experience of coming out as a teenager must, at times, be fraught with issues. No matter how advanced we think our society is, the bullying and abuse that Jude experiences at school were horrific. Coupled with the scant details we got of his abusive home life, I felt a real sense of outrage that nobody seemed willing to stand up for Jude in the way I felt he deserved.

Like a number of readers, I wasn’t sure I had the stomach to read this all the way through (which is crazy as it’s such a short book). Slowly I found myself being drawn in by the prolific movie references that shed light on Jude’s character and his situation, and I wanted to see where the writer would take this.

For the first half of the book I was reading in a fairly detached way, but then details started to get under my skin. This was a book that was affecting, and not always in a good way. As the novel drew towards the end I was expecting some Carrie-like homage as Jude took revenge on the offensive idiots who carried out the most obvious hate crimes. What I got floored me. Completely. I had to reread a part of the book several times as I couldn’t believe what had happened.

The image of Jude twirling on the dance floor was one I was expecting to keep in my mind for a while. Then Reid snatched that image, screwed it up, stamped on it and totally destroyed it! A brave move…but it has left me quite stunned.

What stunned me more was when I found out that this novel is based on true events.

‘Highly Illogical Behaviour’ – John Corey Whaley

I picked this one up, not quite sure what to expect, and I think I can safely say it’s one of my favourite reads in a while.

When we first hear about Solomon it’s hard to know what to make of him. He’s sixteen and ever since the day he jumped in a fountain outside school he has not left his house. His panic attacks have led to severe agoraphobia and this is one of those conditions that is so hard to imagine. Loving the outdoors as I do, I can’t understand how things could be so bad that you shut yourself away from this experience in an attempt to keep yourself safe. The terrible effects of mental health issues not being discussed/addressed are all too evident here, and the ease with which Solomon disappears from the lives of his peers is telling.

Coming at the story from this viewpoint, I found myself quite irritated by the character of Lisa initially. A very determined young woman, Lisa resolves to befriend Solomon and ‘save’ him in order to write up her experience and get a scholarship to a psychology programme. It all feels very wrong, and I spent a lot of the first part of the novel almost hoping nothing would come of it as I was so concerned about the message this would send.

Thankfully, Whaley prevents this becoming mawkish with his portrayal of Sol who has to go down as one of the characters I would most like to know in real life. He’s all too aware of his limitations, is a complete geek with a very wicked sense of humour and shows himself to be a totally genuine character. I watched with admiration as he battles his fears while finding friendship, and even when things take a difficult turn Sol remains true to himself in a way that I felt was quite inspirational.

My response to Sol was, no doubt, helped by the character of Clark, Lisa’s boyfriend. Though he seemed to be added in as a third wheel initially, his role in the development of the story was pivotal. He, again, was a genuine character whom I came to admire tremendously. His friendship with Sol was touching, without having to be labelled in the way it seemed to be heading at one point.
In spite of my reservations about Lisa initially, she shows the capacity for development and growth that I think is so important to see. Sure she gets things wrong – horribly so – but she comes to acknowledge this and shows herself to be capable of doing what is necessary to rectify these problems.

As you can see, this was a book I thoroughly adored.

‘Carmilla’ – J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Carmilla

‘Carmilla’ is a short, yet strangely satisfying, novella that serves as a precursor to Gothic favourite ‘Dracula’.

In Le Fanu’s story we see the seduction of Laura, the young Englishwoman who lives in a remote scholss in Austria, by Carmilla. This strange young woman appears – seemingly out of nowhere – and is taken in by Laura’s father. Carmilla is not what she seems, and Laura is convinced she met her many years ago in a dream. Cue what have become vampiric favourites: the night-time visit; the bite; the yearning for a forbidden love; the wasting away and the sense of repressed sexuality.

While the style is rather melodramatic now, I was intrigued by Le Fanu’s attempt to explore distinctly antisocial feelings for the time in which he was writing. While I understand why he didn’t focus on the relationship between Carmilla and Laura, there was a part of me that wanted to know how that relationship would resolve itself.

‘Three Truths and a Lie’ – Brent Hartinger

Three Truths and a Lie

The premise behind ‘Three Truths and a Lie’ is fairly straightforward – four teenagers head off to a cabin in the woods where they play a game, get spooked by things outside and then end up in serious trouble. Not all make it back alive.

In spite of the links with so many teen horror movies, I have to say I found myself gripped by this novel.

When we first meet Rob he is with his boyfriend, Liam, Liam’s best friend, Mia, and her boyfriend, Galen. They are desperate to do something a little different – something fun – and when Mia suggests a visit to her family’s woodland cabin it seems like the perfect suggestion. The dynamics between the group are intriguing, and there is a very real sense of Rob’s detachment from the group.

From the moment the group arrive in the cabin it seems that someone is out to cause trouble. The question is, who? Strange things happen, with no obvious explanation, and the way Hartinger describes this experience completely plays on the reader’s fears. On occasion the writing becomes a little more graphic than I really wanted, but I found myself finding it increasingly hard to tear myself away from this as I was desperate to find out just what was going on.

There are clues to the ending, though I think I’d benefit from re-reading the novel to see which of these clues I missed first time around.

‘The Fixes’ – Owen Matthews

Published at the end of August 2016, I was fortunate to receive a copy of this novel from Edelweiss and HarperTeen in exchange for an honest review. Described as Gossip Girl meets Heathers this novel is one that will definitely not appeal to everyone.

The Fixes tells the story of a group of high-school students determined to fix the things that they see as being wrong in their town. Unfortunately, their methods for fixing these issues are not always particularly acceptable – and some are highly illegal. Eric Connelly – destined for great things in his father’s eyes – is not used to going against expectations. However, when he meets spoiled rich kid Jordan Grant it is clear that Eric has been looking for the opportunity to break out of his pre-defined role.

My views on this varied as I was reading. Initially I liked the tone of voice that had Eric talking directly to us, and telling us what was coming (it reminded me of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off). During the novel I felt more than a little irritated watching spoiled rich kids swanning round town and doing silly things for entertainment, and then I found myself desperate to found out just how we were going to arrive at the point we’d been told to expect.

For me this was a novel where the writer was trying very hard to be clever – and had to forcibly remind us just how clever he was being. However, this did not detract too much from what was actually a refreshing idea and an interesting exploration of contemporary ideas.

‘Georgia, Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit’ – Jaye Robin Brown

Given the shooting that has just happened in Orlando, the need for this book is great. I can certainly see how it could act as support for any teenager exploring a crisis of faith that occurs as a result of their sexuality.

Jo, as a confident and proudly out lesbian, is put in a really difficult situation. At the start of her senior year she moves with her father and new step-mother to a less tolerant area. Her father, a preacher who says he accepts his daughter, then asks Jo to hide who she really is to help them integrate into the community.
The irony that Jo then befriends a boy with two mums, and the beautiful Mary who is coming to terms with her own sexuality, will not be lost on readers.

Suddenly Jo is struggling with her own crisis of faith. Should she show love and respect for her father and his new wife, or should she be true to herself?
The question of faith and what it means to us is at the heart of the novel. There are some interesting questions raised, and we see a range of views considered.

Ultimately, this has a feel-good factor in the way key issues are resolved though I did find it hard to accept some of the things asked of individuals and the scenarios that lead us to these results. An absorbing read, which I will have no hesitation to recommend.

Thanks to the publishers, via edelweiss, for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

‘Speechless’ – Hannah Harrington

Chelsea Knot starts the book as one of the popular crowd at school. Best friends with Kirsten, Chelsea is used to being able to say what she likes without having to think of the consequences. Unfortunately, she is also portrayed as a completely unpleasant superficial character.

The novel opens with a New Year’s Eve party. Something happens that Chelsea just can’t keep quiet about. The tone at the start is gossipy and fairly lightweight, but from the moment Chelsea opens her mouth to tell people what she saw a chain of events is set in place that has serious consequences.

The symbolism of this taking place at New Year isn’t lost on the reader-this book is about starting anew and changing yourself (or at least coming to accept who you really are).

The characters are, for the most part, fairly stock high-school stereotypes and I think this means it will appeal to its target readership. The crowd that Chelsea finds herself drawn to when she takes her pledge to be silent are one big happy family. They are better developed, and there were some great passages as we watch Chelsea get taken into the heart of this new family and come to terms with who she is and what she wants.

A quick read but one with a serious message to convey. I just wish that Chelsea hadn’t been such a manipulated character at the start as it did make it harder for me to accept unquestioningly her transition.

‘You Know Me Well’ – David Levithan and Nina LeCour

First things first, books that I have read by David Levithan have transported me to a different place. The characters are intriguing, and I cannot wait to find out their fate. To this book I didn’t quite have the same response.

On the night Mark and Kate finally talk, in a bar in the city as they celebrate Pride, they are both running away from something. They talk, and just click. Nothing romantic here, but these two help each other to get through their last week of high school as they’re trying to come to terms with how things are changing.

There were some lovely moments in here, but there also seemed to be some moments that I felt overly complicated the essence of the novel. At times it felt a little like a fairy story and the events seem very unlikely. However, the friendship between Kate and Mark is endearing.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.