Freak Show

Meet Billy Bloom, drag queen extraordinaire and new student at the ultra-white, ultra-rich, ultra-conservative Dwight D. Eisenhower Academy. Actually, "drag queen" does not begin to describe Billy and his fabulousness. Any way you slice it, Billy is not a typical seventeen-year-old, and the Bible Belles, Aberzombies, and Football Heroes at the academy have never seen anyone quite like him before. But thanks to the help and support of one good friend, Billy's able to take a stand for outcasts and underdogs everywhere in his own outrageous, over-the-top, sad, funny, brilliant, and unique way.

Hm.
Ahh.
I'm not too sure what to think of this one.

I'm having difficulty buying it, honestly.

Life, for Billy, goes from getting his brains bashed in during biology class to running for homecoming queen.

Yes, you've guessed it: Billy is a drag queen, and an over-the-top fabulous one at that.

I (miraculously) found this at the library; I'd been wanting to read it for a few weeks. So I picked it up and started reading immediately (even though common sense told me to finish the other 20 books on my pile first). At first, it wasn't too bad. Billy seemed to be a great character, and if it wasn't for ALL THAT ANNOYING RANDOM CAPITALIZATION AND ITALICS AND BOLD TEXT, I thought, at the time, that this would be (another) great coming of age gay book.

Wrong.

I'll give it to you, it was a real shocker of an eye-opener. The bashing, at the beginning, especially had me moved. The life 17-year-old Billy leads is somewhat too realistic for me to bear, since I'm positive kids get beaten to a pulp for who they are in these crazy hell holes we call 'high-school'.

But then, Billy just didn't learn. He shows up in Drag garb again, and again, and again. He made me groan in exasperation. Sure, he's a great model of determination and resilience and knows exactly what he wants, and who he is, and has the courage to be who he is, but then... There seems to be nothing under the makeup. He seems to be just an empty husk at times. Fine, he has interests in everything stereotypically gay but... Does that make him a deep and meaningful character?

One thing I don't know, though, is whether the gay community would take this book as an insult or a touching cry of a teenage boy. Billy is OVER THE TOP. He's... Too much. Sure, there are Drag Queens in real life too. I acknowledge and accept it.

But, even whilst being incredibly true and powerful, Billy's CAPITALIZED speech and maneurisms and obsession with looking like a freak (his word, not mine) somehow doesn't ring true. Indeed, there just something... in the random capitalization... and how he never learns... and is practically a masochist... and then the cool kid who becomes his best friend... That makes me sceptical about the whole thing. He kind of loses points for credibility, to say the least.

Two things I have to give the author is that, first of all, he has exceptional vocabulary. Honestly, once or twice I needed a dictionary to figure out what he really meant in a said sentence. And the pop culture references were also varied and numerous. Secondly, there were one or two moments where I burst out laughing during class and got a few weird looks from my piers. There were also a lot of funny moments that made me smile, but I wouldn't say the whole book was laugh out loud funny. I got pretty dramatic at times.

In retrospect, I'd say it is a good read, and definitely a mind-opener. Recommended as the next book you'll order from the library, but not necessarily from the bookstore.

Aww, shoot. Now I'm writing with excessive italics and CAPITALS.

- Aithen

Freak Show by James St-James
Rating: 7,7/10

Mousetraps

Back in grade school, Maxie and Rick were best friends. Rick would design crazy inventions, and Maxie, the artistic one, would draw them. Then something terrible happened to Rick, and he vanished from her school and her life. Years later, he shows up at Maxie's high school. In some ways he's the same person she once knew. But in other ways - frightening ones - he's very, very different . . .

Warning: This rant will contain spoilers.

I picked this really short novel up at the library because I was dumped there for 5 hours after school yesterday. Reading this book passed the time, but I can't say I liked it or felt more elevated after reading. In fact, there wasn't much good in this book.

It started out seeming promising, though rather cliché: a guy comes back to high school, meeting his best friend from grade school again, with whom he'd lost touch since a mysterious incident in middle school. It sounded promising; this, coupled with the fact that many minor characters were gay, drew me into the story at first.

Sadly, as I read on, I got more and more frustrated.

First of all, I was irked by the random describing at the most dramatic times. I know the main character is an artist, but I swear, when you're having a huge argument with your best friend, you will definitely not stop to look at a robin fly through the air, and how his feathers clash with the bright blue sky. I was really annoyed, because this occured so many times. It seems to me that the author's editor asked her to write more descriptions or something, and that she added them at random.

Also, there seemed to be no character development at all, and even less descriptions of the characters. They were anonymous to me, completely unreal and unbelievable. The main character, Maxie, was as flat as a piece of paper. I don't know what she likes, who she is, what she looks like, apart from the fact she loves to draw cartoons. That is the only thing mentioned about her personality! Other utterly flat character: Tay. Even though we were told she was a complete hockey fan, she just abandons her favourite sport early on because she dislikes the coach. Completely unrealistic. I personally have been playing baseball since I was 5, and have continued even when I had notorious jerks as coaches. I never stopped because of that, because I love the sport. When you love something, you don't just abandon it at the first difficulty you run into. There was also Rick, short for Roderick, constantly bullied in school, who was apparently completely psycho? If I wasn't told he was, I would've guessed he was a sad little angel.

Bottom line : the way the characters act in the book and the way we are told they are are radically different.

I could probably rant on about the characters for hours, but I'll keep it at that.

I was also very surprised by all the developpments that took place. But I don't mean surprised in a good way. In fact, the developments made no sense. Since the main object of the book (at least, until page 150) seemed to be the relationship between Rick and Maxie, it was an unpleasant surprise when it turned out Rick actually wanted to blow up the school, got kicked out by his dad, turned out to NOT be gay, and was taken in by Maxie's gay uncles, all within about 40 pages. Honestly, I was lost. This development didn't make any sense at all to me.

Which bring on the next reason why I was disappointed : everything was so poorly explained! I didn't understand how Rick turned out to be the psycho. I don't understand how Tay and Maxie would ever be friends in the first place, I don't understand why Maxie pushed her best friend away in sixth grade, and what was the big secret, and in what grade are the characters, and who, what, where, when, why? Whaaaaaaaaat is going on!?

I found it excessively odd, though, that although Rick is called a faggot at every possible occasion, and picked on, and singled out, and attacked, Sean, Maxie's gay cousin raised by her gay uncles, was relatively unscathed. Come on. If a straight kid is being picked on for looking gay, how can a real gay kid, raised by two gay men, be pretty much left alone? Logically, this would not happen.

There was one little thing I really did like: the relationship between Rick and Maxie when they were still little kids, and the whole mousetrap company they invented. I thought it was an adorable concept, and it made the ending even more dramatic when you saw the relation between the childish games and all the traps Rick set up to ensure the school would blow up. But then he took everything down because... Actually, I don't know why.

All these things led to me greatly disliking this book, and it left me kind of mad. I did not like it. But it did entertain me for a few hours, just the time I needed to get my brain off school. It could have been good, if it was better explained. The concept wasn't really innovative, but there were a few elements that could've been exploited to make this much better, and many, many things that could've easily been corrected in order to keep my attention longer.

Overall, not so good a read. You can find something better to read, I'm sure you can.

-Aithen

Mousetraps by Pat Schmatz
Rating: 5,3/10

Rainbow Boys

Jason Carrillo is a jock with a steady girlfriend, but he can't stop dreaming about sex...with other guys.

Kyle Meeks doesn't look gay, but he is. And he hopes he never has to tell anyone -- especially his parents.

Nelson Glassman is "out" to the entire world, but he can't tell the boy he loves that he wants to be more than just friends.

Three teenage boys, coming of age and out of the closet. In a revealing debut novel that percolates with passion and wit, Alex Sanchez follows these very different high-school seniors as their struggles with sexuality and intolerance draw them into a triangle of love, betrayal, and ultimately, friendship.

This was a cute book. It wasn't one of the best gay themed books I've ever read, but it was okay. It didn't have the greatest plot, or characters, or anything, and it wasn't the most original book, but it left me with a warm feeling and I stayed up until 3 in the morning to finish it, so I guess it can't be that bad.

This is probably one of the first romance books I managed to sit through and like, too.

The characters were highly attachable, and absolutely lovable. I was sometimes annoyed by Jason, but the other two boys, Nelson and Kyle, were great. I especially loved Nelson and his over-the-top stereotypically gay behavior. They were well constructed and believable, and even the minor characters were well looked into and thought out. Their individual concerns were different and the same, and probably would be similar to mine if I were them.

The story-line, though not incredibly original, was cute and sad and funny. The love triangle thing has been done a thousand times over, but somehow, Alex Sanchez managed to make his book feel new and refreshing. The voice used by the author was also very appropriate, it wasn't too basic or too complex.

The plot had many twists and turns, making it relatively unpredictable, even though the basic story-line was quite simple, like I said previously. There are many cliffhangers left to be resolved, even now, after I finished the book. I MUST go back to the bookstore when I get some money and buy the second and third novels. I have to see how the little couples work out, and what is up with Nelson's health, and many other things. I simply cannot wait to read the next book.

Finally, the cover was perfectly appropriate, and gave me a clear image of all three of the protagonists. This was a nice addition to the descriptions provided in the book, because I often forget how the characters are supposed to look and decide on my own what they look like.

Overall, though this book wasn't the best, most original, number one book of the century, it is a very nice one, and I suggest it to everyone who hasn't read it. This book about the coming of age of three gay teens and how they see themselves is one of the best I've ever had the chance to read. Of course, keep your mind open while reading Rainbow boys!

-Aithen

Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez
Rating: 8,1/10

My Heartbeat

As she tries to understand the closeness between her older brother and his best friend, fourteen-year-old Ellen finds her relationship with each of them changing.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be : stupid. And in two : very stupid.

First of all, it was completely pointless. And I mean it. It started out alright, I guess, but as the book went on, the plot didn't evolve. It stayed where it was, and maybe even backed up. Nothing was going better for anyone at the end, there were broken hearts, frustrated people, broken friendships, nothing was going well at all. There wasn't even any good drama of any sorts, it was just a maddeningly pointless and plot-less book.

Secondly, it left me depressed, which is very hard since my usual state of mind is super-hyper-happy. This is one of the only books that ever made me curl up on the couch and listen to happy music on repeat. No, I wasn't was because the story was sad. That kind of sad is one I actually like. But in this case... The book itself frustrated me from its complete lack of anything good at all.

Next, I was unable to feel attached to the characters AT ALL. I hated the protagonist, wait a second, I already forgot her name... Ellen. Her voice was nothing like a fourteen-year-old's. Her brother was downright frustrating and useless. And of course, James was equally frustrating, though he was probably the character I preferred.

I don't like ranting very much, but this one time I had to vent off steam. I honestly suggest you stay very far away from it.

I only have one last comment. Because this is a book with gay themes, it seems everyone praises it very highly, yada yada yada. But if we take that factor away, if I compare it to other books that do not have gay themes, it sucked. It seems that everyone is biased by the fact there are possibly gay characters. This makes me so mad, you have no idea. I might review a few really, really good gay books because this, honestly, is a book a absolutely hated.

Sorry if I offended anyone, I needed to get that off my heart.

-Aithen

My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr Rating: 4/10

The Value of X

From Amazon :

The Value of X tells the story of Ricky and Gary, who as best friends coming of age in 1990 New Orleans discover a mutual attraction. Ricky, who aspires to become a chef, secures them both occasional jobs in a diner so that he can indulge his passion for cooking and they can spend time together. Life is complete until their parents discover their true relationship and try to separate them by sending Ricky to a culinary institute in New York.

The main reason why I shouldn’t be reading romance novels is that, no matter what the story is, I absolutely hate it whenever the characters have communication issues. And since most romance books have an epic dosage of lack of communication, I am incapable of surviving and loving any romance.

The value of X, though it is absolutely adorable, is a romantic novel and therefore displayed a rather frustrating cast of characters that decided to keep all their emotions to themselves. This is a problem, especially when you are trying to maintain a relationship with someone who lives half a continent away. I felt like going to New York, kidnapping Rickey and dragging him back to Gary. Seriously, this book made me mad.

Apart from this, I really love the characters. Gary and Rickey (both boys, if you hadn’t already guessed) have been best friends since forever, and they have also begun experiencing love for each other. I loved how there was hardly any dawdling about ‘coming out’ and how the boys immediately went onto more serious matters, such as making out, and, well, eventually, sex.

The plot was cute too. Since Rickey and Gary’s parents are against homosexuality, when they guess what is going on between their sons, they decide to try and separate them. To do this, Rickey’s parents send their son to the CIA, a cooking institute in New York, miles away from New Orleans where Gary has to stay.

The boys slowly fall into a depression, each on their own side, and though Gary drowns it in liquor on his side, Rickey desperately tries to stay afloat. I have to admit that at times, Gary's utter helplessness without his beloved boyfriend made me cringe, but overall, both their characters were adorable and likeable, without being absolute Mary-Sues or Mr. Perfects. They had their flaws and they were human.

Though some say this was about cooking, I had a hard time seeing a lot of actual cooking going on. Sure, Rickey goes to a cooking school and Gary works as a cook, but that doesn't necessarily make it a book about food and fancy restauraunts. If you're looking for some sort of cooking novel, then this isn't one, though there are a couple (maybe one or two) rather tasty plates described.

This book got me wondering, though : do all gay romance books turn out to have cocaine use, liquor abuse and vulgar language? I've come to the point where I'm actually starting to think all gay men drink like mad, are drug addicts and swear like hell. I don't actually think that, that's just what the books I read tell me... Anyways, if someone knows of a good gay romance book that doesn't include drugs of any kind, I'll gladly pick it up.

This was a very cute book, but it wasn't much more. Sweet, even though the characters can be rather vulgar, and I can still hardly believe I actually enjoyed a romance novel. There is very little plot to speak of, and only a few truly entertaining parts. A very light read and only a little over a hundred and fifty pages, I skimmed through it in less than a day.

-Aithen

The Value of X by Poppy Z. Brite
Rating : 7,4/10