Love Month Recap

So... Love Month this year didn't quite work out like I had planned.  My initial plans were to read a lot more than I did but of course, life happened and got in the way. Or rather death did. My dad passed away at the beginning of February and not unsurprisingly I didn't feel much like reading or blogging. I still don't, not really. But things have to get back to normal eventually. So I thought I'd share with you some of my thoughts on the four books that I did read in February with LGBT characters or story lines.

Openly Straight by Bill Konisberg

This was the first book I read for the Love Month event.  I'm not entirely sure what put this book on my radar but I'm so glad that I read it.  Openly Straight by Bill Konisberg is about a teenage boy who is out and proud in his hometown in Colorado.  His family and school are supportive, he's well-known for being openly gay, for being an advocate for gay teens etc.  But when he gets accepted into a private all-boys school on the East Coast, he decides that ... for once, he just wants to be himself.  Himself, that is, without his sexuality colouring how everyone views him. Everything seems to be working out okay until he falls in love with his new best friend while out there...

I really loved this one. Loved the main character's voice and this exploration of his past and his experiences coming out and being gay that is explored through a writing assignment. It's also hilariously funny and really not to be missed. I am so looking forward to the sequel, Honestly Ben, which was recently published.

Noteworthy by Riley Redgate

Next, I read Noteworthy by Riley Redgate and I couldn't have loved it any more than I did.  ...I'm not entirely sure what put this book on my radar? Perhaps it was listed on a list of books containing bisexual characters?  In any case, I decided that I had to read this book and I did and I loved it. It follows Jordan Sun during her junior year at a private performing arts high school. In order to save her place in this performing arts school Jordan ends up desperately auditioning for a men's acapella group just to keep steady.  And she gets in which means pretending to be a guy.

There was so much to love about this book.  I loved the explorations of friendship, identity, sexuality and love.  I thought the author wrote very well on the elements of coming from a poorer economic background, the fact that Jordan is Chinese-American, other members of the Sharpshooters being from diverse backgrounds, Jordan's father being disabled, Jordan's realisation of her own bisexuality.  It was a book about a boarding school and friendship groups, getting over first heartbreak, becoming more confident in oneself, but also a really great look into gender roles and norms for both men and women.  I loved it.  Plus,  a capella!

Three by Hannah Moskowitz

I'm not entirely sure what to make of Three by Hannah Moskowitz. I'd read other books by the same author before which made me take notice of this book. That, and the premise. I'd never come across another YA book that dealt with polyamory as this book does. So I picked it up incredibly intrigued by the story line ... and while I do find it interesting that this book is available and all, I did feel some disappointment over it.  There were quite a few typos and grammatical errors like it could been copy-edited better. But also ... it was pretty subtle. The story is that this girl moves some place new, and becomes attracted to this boy, he kisses her. Then she finds out that he is in a long-term relationship with another girl and that they are poly-amorous. The main character decides to give it a go at being in a relationship with him and also possibly her and that is the bulk of Three.  ...if I'm honest, I wanted more.

I had expected there to be a sexual relationship between the characters and there isn't. I expected there to be more of a connection between the two girls in this relationship ...but there really wasn't.  So I finished this book and it was so decidedly ...average that I almost don't have much more to say about it? What I'd like to read is a book that isn't too afraid to go to places most YA books wouldn't go. And I felt like this book mostly played things safe. Which was therefore boring to me. Shame.

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli


Finally, I picked up The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli. I loved the author's debut book, Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda about two boys falling in love and I had incredibly high hopes for this one... and while I did enjoy it, it didn't quite live up to Simon Vs expectations. This premise of this book centres around Molly, a girl who has a million unrequited crushes.  She just never seems to take that step towards telling her crushes how she feels. That is, until her twin, Cassie meets a girl and introduces Molly to a cute new boy.  Will Molly be woman enough to tell her crush how she feels?!

So ... yeah. This book was cute, sure.  And there;s plenty of diversity here, from sexuality and race and mental health.  But I didn't really gel with the characters or the relationships.  And in fact, I kind of hated how the author sort of stood on her soap box and ranted through the characters about a myriad of things... even when I agreed with the character's point of view I just didn't love the lecturing, self-important tone.  And when the conversation about the social construction of virginity came about I just rolled my eyes. It was too much and there was no subtlety to it. It felt like being hit over the head with all these social messages and being scolded for outdated beliefs about sexuality and the rest of it. Have a message, sure. But don't be so patronising, please.

Still. That isn't to say I didn't also enjoy the story. I just wished I'd have enjoyed it more than I did.

Those are the books I read during the month of February. But at least I also still have a lot of great-sounding LGBT books still on my TBR pile...

Have you read any great LGBT stories lately? 

Mini-reviews: How They Met, Two Boys Kissing and Every Day by David Levithan

Today I thought I might do something a little bit different and give you a mini-tour of some books I've read this year by the same author. I've been a big fan of David Levithan for awhile but I hadn't really been keeping up with some of his latest titles. And I'd been feeling bad about it, especially as so many people raved about them.  So here we go...

How They Met and other stories by David Levithan

I started off with How They Met which is a short story collection about love.  There are 18 stories and the thing that I love most about this collection is how varied the stories are.  They're all about love, yes, but so many different types of love. There are gentle, sweet stories.  There is all-consuming and passionate stories. Some are sad, some are just beautiful.

I have to be honest, the reason I finally picked this collection of short stories up to read is because I had read David Levithan's short story Miss Lucy Had a Steamboat which appeared in the anthology Love Hurts by Malorie Blackman. I read that and I thought, wow this is a well-put together story and had great characters and a central relationship.  And that was the push that I needed.

And I really do love the mixture of stories that appear.  I love that some of the stories are just at the beginning of a love story in which there is fizzle and chemistry and others are in that comfortable we've been together ages middle and some show that some people aren't quite meant to be together.

I loved all of the stories (except one) and I loved the not knowing that happened whenever I started a new story.  At times I didn't know the gender of the main character for each story and I was surprised at least once when a straight couple appeared instead of another wonderful LGBT couple that I (wrongly) assumed all the stories would be about.  But what didn't surprise me was the stunning use of language in all of these stories. David Levithan has the gift of really beautiful writing.

What a lovely, romantic collection of stories!

Next, I read...

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

Oh wow, Two Boys Kissing.  I did initially pick up this book to read almost immediately after receiving a copy for review but I put it down again because those first 50 pages or so had such beautiful, emotional and honest passages in it that I knew I wanted to take my time with this book and savour the gorgeous and lyrical writing style of David Levithan.

And Two Boys Kissing was such a wonderful, emotional book to read.  The title led me to believe this book would feature on two very specific boys but it is not just their story.  It's the story about two boys kissing and another two boys who are just getting to know each other. It's about two boys who have been together for awhile and are comfortable in their relationship. It's about a boy who is struggling and feels very alone.  It's about all of these boys and it also feels very much about gay teenagers in general.

I loved the fact that this book is narrated by the ghosts of gay men who had died in the AIDS epidemic. Especially as these narrators seem to highlight the similarities and differences from the boys in the stories to their own experiences. It felt like witnessing how far we've come in terms of gay rights and also how far we still have to go.  It was interesting and really effective means of narration.  Two Boys Kissing was an achingly beautiful book.

After loving Two Boys Kissing, I decided to finally pick up...

Every Day by David Levithan

I think I had the highest expectations for Every Day.  I'd heard such high praise for it and that sort of hype usually intimates me.  Which is definitely why I waited so long to read it.  And while I think it had some really interesting things to say ... I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.  I think I only rated this book three stars.

The reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought is because of the relationship between A and Rhiannon.  I wasn't fully convinced.  I thought that the L word was used too quickly. I thought it felt very selfish to basically hijack other people's lives in sacrifice to this relationship.  Even the ending felt weirdly off and more manipulative than I wanted it to be whereas I'm sure other readers felt it more emotional than it was.  What I felt about A and Rhiannon was mostly disappointment and for that I feel a little bereft.

But I did enjoy everything else.  I loved the realisations A shared with us about the experiences of living in different bodies. In particular, I enjoyed seeing the high level of diversity.  A jumps into white bodies, POC bodies, straight bodies, LGBT bodies, bodies from all economic backgrounds and abilities. Different sizes and shapes, behaviours and also differing levels of mental health.  And I really loved the inclusion and representation of so many different types of people. I loved the message of loving people as opposed to loving genders and how A isn't tied down by either gender or sexuality.

The story line regarding Kelsey and her depression and the way in which A (and Rhiannon) were there to help was amongst my favourite and I also thought the day that involved addiction was particularly harrowing.

There are so many great ideas here that it didn't matter that much to me that I didn't particularly love the romantic elements of the book. I will still be hugely excited to read the upcoming sequel to this book and also absolutely anything else that David Levithan writes!

What's your favourite book by David Levithan? Have you read either of these three books?

REVIEW: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli is one of my favourite books that I've read so far this year! It's funny and sweet and awkward and hugely romantic. I smiled, I laughed, I cried. There were so many points that the authors makes that made me shout 'YES, THIS' many times during the reading of this book.  I loved the characters, I loved the friendships and I thought Simon and Blue were utterly adorable. This is definite new favourite of mine!

At the beginning of this book our main character, Simon who is not-quite-out as gay, is blackmailed by another student at his high school. This other student has come across an exchange of emails between Simon and another boy at their school, nicknamed Blue. This other boy, Martin, implies he'll make public these emails and 'out' both Simon and Blue as being gay unless Simon helps Martin to win over the affection of one of Simon's friends.  This starts a really interesting story about friendship and identity and coming out and being okay with who you are.

Man, I loved this book.  The book is split between Simon's narration and also these email exchanges between Simon and Blue.  And it really feels like there are two main plot lines in this book. The first is Simon coming to terms not so much with his sexuality but with being okay about coming out to his friends and family. He's attracted to other boys and that's okay with him. What he's struggling with is how that will change his relationships with the people who have known him forever, like his parents and his oldest friends. There is a great line in this book about how people should have to come out as being straight and that it should be mandatory for that to be as awkward as possible. I totally agree with that sentiment!  I did really love this story arc of Simon's. He has a really interesting friendship circle and family and I love the complicated dynamics that are at play in both areas of his life.

And the other major story line is this flirtatious relationship that develops between Simon and Blue and how they become more and more comfortable with each other and start having feelings for the other based on what they've said in their emails. I thought the two of them were unbearably cute and I loved the almost mystery element towards the second half of this book in which Simon puts his detective hat on and tries to discover the identity of Blue. I think at the same time we see Blue being more open to the people around him and there's almost a thing between him and another character. But it was really this online love story that really appealed to me here. And oh I just wanted to give Simon and Blue big hugs for being awesome.

I loved this story so much.  It's so emotional and heart-felt. I loved the characters and friendships and the incredibly sweet love story between two amazing characters! I can't recommend this book enough!

REVIEW: Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley

I really enjoyed Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley.  I had been putting off reading it because I knew this book would cover some really serious and upsetting topics.  And while at times it was really difficult to read, I still think it was an incredibly important and thought-provoking read.

Lies We Tell Ourselves is a story set in a small-town in Alabama in 1959.  The first 10 black students will be integrating a formerly all-white high school and the story looks at the final four months of the senior year of two students: Sarah and Linda.

Sarah is one of the black students joining this high school and Linda is a white student and the daughter of a journalist who is very outspoken about maintaining segregation. Nobody wants Sarah or the other black students to attend Jefferson High School and Sarah's first day and every day up until graduation day is filled with name-calling and harassment from the other students. With no support from other students, the teachers or any adults, these ten black students are on their own facing all kinds of verbal, physical and sexual assaults from those students who are most upset by the changes taking place.

And while everything that happens to Sarah and the other students is really hard to read, what I loved the most about this book is that we see both Sarah's perspective but also that of Linda's.  And through Linda, we get a better look at how racist and bigoted attitudes spread and are maintained throughout families and communities.

I love the way in which Robin Talley addressed really serious topics in this story.  Stereotypes and general misconceptions of black people in particular but also victim-blaming and the way in which those that stand by and witness abuse and bullying without standing up are also complicit in the wider problems and crimes that occur.

At the same time as this story of integration is happening there's also another subplot to the story that includes this attraction between Sarah and Linda.  I thought this entire story line was quite cute and I really felt for both characters with their conflicted and how guilt-ridden their feelings are for one another. And by confronting their feelings Sarah and Linda both consider different futures and gender roles than to those laid out before them.

I love the way in which this book tells a horrific story of racism and abuse and the ways in which these students and families suffered for what they believed in without much hope of change but that this story is also a hopeful one.  Without trying to spoil the story in any way, this story ends happily despite the difficulties surrounding both Sarah and Linda and I loved that about this story.  I really loved Lies We Tell Ourselves and I really recommend it!

LGBT Challenge 2015

One of my goals in 2015 is to read more books with LGBT characters and story lines. So my last minute decision to join the LGBT Challenge 2015 hosted by Niji Feels feels like a good one. The challenge runs between 1st January through to 31st December 2015 and I will be choosing the YA Allegiant challenge which is to read 3-10 LGBT YA books.  I'm hoping to read more but don't want to over extend myself.  Some of the titles on my tentative TBR pile include (but are not limited to):

Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley read in January
Love Hurts edited by Malorie Blackman read in January
Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith read in January
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson read in January
How They Met and other stories by David Levithan read in January

More Than This by Patrick Ness

This Book Is Gay by James Dawson

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

Every Day by David Levithan
The Bane Chronicles by Cassandra Clare, Maureen Johnson and Sarah Rees Brennan
Gone, Gone, Gone by Hannah Moskowitz
Hero by Perry Moore

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M Danforth
Lies My Girlfriend Told Me by Julie Anne Peters

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Read Me Like A Book by Liz Kessler

What are some of your favourite LGBT YA books? Which books should I add to my TBR pile? Will you be joining the LGBT Challenge 2015?