Estimated Reading Time: 1 minutes
Jason's Rating:
2.5 out of 5 stars
**Warning that there are spoilers in this post**
My Thoughts:
Where do I even begin with this book... Though this book was over 300 pages, I don't have too much to say as the book was a bit all over the place. The premise of the book is about a gay 16 year old, Jackson Nash who goes by Jacks, who navigates through high school/college (UK), friendship, and crushes on boys. The book goes through some important themes such as domestic violence, LGBTQIA+ struggles, and the impacts of a loss.
First, I would like to talk about the author's writing style. It's a writing style that I thought would be easy to read, but it felt like I was reading a manga or watching an anime. Another good example is a Wattpad novel that was published in 2010. There were no visuals, but emotions were described through exclamation points and capitalizations. There were also lots of acronyms in the book to show that it's from a 16 year old's POV. It was a learning lesson for me that I grew out of this type of writing style and no longer resonate with it.
I am still a bit confused about what the plot of the book as it wasn't clear. At first ,I thought it was going to be about Jacks going through his first dates with Ash and learning the ways. But, it quickly fizzled out and changed topics to his friend Andy's sexual encounter with an online predator. It then randomly goes into Jacks's mother publishing a book about a queer child. But, this was also very short lived as she implies what the book is about and how it was inspired but nothing on what the plot of the book is. The only reason why I'd love to know is the mother made such an inspiring speech and it was another mini plot. Ash then suddenly returns towards the end and they both quickly kiss. Suddenly Jacks is this queer guru and inspiration to all students. Is the message important, yes! But, there just isn't a clear plot and a bit all over the place. If the purpose was to show from a frantic high schooler then the author succeeded.
Conclusion & Recommendation:
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone in my network as they have a similar taste in books as me. However, I do support more and more LGBTQIA+ books being published, and this may be a book for someone who reads a ton of light novel but in a traditional novel format without the visuals. I have to give credit to Williams for touching on various important topics that most queer child goes through in life. But, I wish he would have stuck with one and delve deeper into it vs. trying to cram a lot of themes. Especially, since the book ended on a cliffhanger that there's more to come.
If you want to read more books like this, check out my Goodreads for books I've read. Or for recommendation, please check out the TBRs.
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