Book Review: Boy Meets Boy

Boy Meets Boy

by David Levithan

Published: May 2005 (originally). Reprint 1st August 2013 by Harper Collins

Version: Paperback from publisher (review my own, honest opinion)

Rating: 4.5 sofas

This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance. 

When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.

This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.

I originally read this book earlier this year for Faye’s LGBT Readathon. I loved the book, but didn’t document my thoughts. However, Harper Collins decided to do a reprint of this and another David Levithan book and I snapped at the chance to reread it!

We follow Paul as a kind of ‘out and proud’ gay boy in a town where there isn’t a lot of discrimination. Many of the LGBT books I have read deals with the hardship of discovering and categorising sexuality, and sharing this decision with friends and family. It was refreshing to see it from the other side; Paul’s parents are very accepting, and in this respect he has an easy life.

Although Paul is the main character, I don’t think the story would be half as amazing without the strong side characters. Paul’s best friends are Joni (who has problem boyfriends) and Tony (who is gay, but has to hide it as he has very religious parents). As well as helping to deal with their issues, he also has to tackle feelings for his ex, Kyle, who has ignored Paul ever since they split up. So when he meets Noah in the bookstore, he has yet more emotions to deal with.

Although the theme in this book is primarily LGBT, it also explores a lot about friendship and high school life. I think this is most prevalent in the bond between Tony and Paul. They’ve never dated but have an ever better connection. I really rooted for Tony throughout and felt his struggle more than anyone else.

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“In other circumstances, this would have been the start of a romance. But I think we both knew, even then, that what we had was even more rare, and even more meaningful. I was going to be his friend and was going to show him possibilities. And he, in turn, would become someone I could trust more than myself.”

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One of the things I love about David Levithan is the way he describes the world and relationships. It is just so beautiful. I found myself wanting to mark lots of passages because quotes really stood out to me, and I feel like I highlighted the whole book!

I think the only down side if this book was that it felt a bit safe for me; I would say it is aimed at younger YA audiences. The main boys are quite stereotypical; the out and proud, the shy one and the confused one. It is quite ‘safe’, and personally I would say unrealistic. It was good to show homosexuality in a more accepting light, but I just couldn’t believe that this world exists, sadly.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, and the romance was very cute. I liked how the side characters were just as important as the main ones, and look forward to reading more by this author! 4.5 sofas.

“If you want to be loved, be lovable.”

LGBT Readathon Wrap-up!

Alas, the readathon is now over! It is my first ever readathon, and I will definitely take part in more, as I loved having a theme and a goal. I managed to read one book, Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan. As of now, I am on page 188 of 250 of Keeping You a Secret by Julie Peters and page 39 of 175 of When Love Comes to Town by Tom Lennon. I don’t think I did too badly, considering I didn’t really set aside time to read.

The best part by far was the twitter chat on Sunday. Below is just a snippet of the chat. To see it in full, search #LGBTRead. 

Although I didn’t necessarily read lots of books, I loved talking to other people about LGBT, and got several recommendations which I will be checking out soon 🙂 I also have those that I didn’t read for my challenge still on my TBR. And look out for my review of the three mentioned above! 

You can also enter Faye’s giveaway for an LGBT book of your choice from TBD! 

Many thanks to Faye for organising the readathon and hosting the chat 🙂

LGBT Readathon!

This weekend I am taking part in the LGBT readathon, hosted by Faye of A Daydreamer’s Thoughts.

I haven’t been reading much lately, but I will try and change that! The books I have on my TBR eligible for this challenge are: 

        

 

 

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

Keeping You A Secret by Julie Peters

Sprout by Dale Peck

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger

When Love Comes to Town by Tom Lennon

I hope to start Boy Meets Boy first, as this comes recommended by Faye herself. It also highlights the lack of lesbian YA aside from Keeping You A Secret. If you could recommend any then please feel free! 

Faye is also hosting a twitter chat at 8pm GMT on Sunday. Look out for #LGBTRead to take part, or head over to her blog to find out more.

Letterbox Love #19

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey of Narratively Speaking whereby book lovers can exhibit the books they received this week.

Welcome to my 2-week haul post! 

Firstly, lots of goodies from the library this fortnight. Starting with Slated and Fractured by Teri Terry. I loved Slated, but read it so long ago I can’t remember what happens. So I will be having a double read to remind myself. Ketchup Clouds by Annabel Pitcher was the winner of the Waterstones’ Childrens Book Prize, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about.

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod is an adult book that sounds quite dystopian. I had taken out the hardback, but when I saw my library was getting a paperback I decided to put my name down for that instead. They are just so much easier to handle. The Baby Diaries by Sam Binnie is a book that my mum enjoyed, and I love a good girly book (especially about babies), so I ordered this one. A book that I very nearly bought a couple of weeks ago in Waterstones is Unremembered by Jessica Brody. It sounds a bit like the TV show ‘Lost’, which I adored, so I’m looking forward to checking this out. The last library book is ‘Boy Meets Boy‘ by David Levithan, ordered for the LGBT marathon hosted by Faye of A Daydreamer’s Thoughts. I don’t think I’ve every read any of his books, though a few are on my TBR list, such as Every Day.

Books that I received this week include New Girl by Paige Harbison and The Iron King by Julie Kagawa. I won these from Becky at Becky’s Barmy Book Blog for her Spring Clean giveaway. I really loved The Immortal Rules, so I’m excited to see what Julie’s other series is liked. I’m really enjoying Mira Ink’s books at the moment, so fingers crossed for this and New Girl. Becky was kind enough to throw in some bookmarks and badges too which was really sweet. And did I mention the Julie Kagawa is hardback? And glittery! *drools* Thanks very much Becky 🙂

The second and third Metawars books by Jeff Norton, The Dead are Rising and Battle of the Immortal, were sent for review from Rebecca at Hachette. I really enjoyed the first book but wanted more from the characters, so I’m excited to hopefully see their development in the next two! Thanks very much Rebecca for these shiny beauties.

Last week I was luckily enough to meet Andy Robb, author of Geekhood: Close Encounters of the Girl Kind and Geekhood: Mission Improbable. Shamefully, I have yet to read the first book, even though I got in in my birthday haul early this year. Luckily, Andy forgave me (I think!) and signed both books (I had with me the first, and bought the second there). He was really lovely, and perhaps one of the nicest, most natural authors I have ever met. We talked for ages, and yet it still felt like I could talk more. From publishers to cover design, blogging and holidays, you name it. He was very nice, which made me feel extra guilty for not having read his books!

While in Waterstones, I also picked up Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. I really want to read all of John Green’s books, so owning them is a good start. Oh, and my copy of Geography Club by Brent Hartinger finally came! This is also for Faye’s readathon. I was surprised at how small the book is, but I want to read it before the film is released, so it serves a double purpose 🙂

Ebooks:

Thanks to Netgalley and Open Road Media for Being Henry David by Cal Armistead and When Love Comes to Town by Tom Lennon.

 

 

 

I’m taking part in the blog tour for Animate Me by Ruth Clampett, so look out for my review in a few weeks! The cover is so adorable.

Love is a Thief by Claire Garber is a book I’ve had my eye on for a while. So thanks to Harlequin and Netgalley for this!

And last, but certainly NOT least, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell!!! Although this book isn’t released till September, someone tweeted on Thursday evening that it was on Netgalley. Two minutes later, I had requested it, and thinking about the agony of waiting for the approval/denial. But then when the same person (I can’t remember who!) said they had been approved, it cued my frantic email refreshing. And I did get approved! And I finished it last night. WHAT A WHIRLWIND. St Martin’s Press, I owe you my heart for letting me read this, and approving so quickly.

What did you receive this week? Have you read any of my books and do you think it should be at the top or the bottom of my to read pile? Do you think its shameful to go to an author event without having read their book(s)? I’d love to hear from you! 

Letterbox Love #18

Letterbox Love is a meme hosted by Lynsey of Narratively Speaking whereby book lovers can exhibit the books they received this week.

Welcome to my 2-week haul post! 

Lots of library love this week! 5 books I had requested and one I picked up. The Accidental Naturalist by Ben Fogle and Choir by Gareth Malone are both autobiographies, and ordered because I love them both! I have been waiting for Gareth’s book since Christmas, so I am excited to finally be able to read it.

I adore Jodi Picout’s books. They just evoke such emotions, and always talk about issues, which I love in books. The Storyteller promises to be no different, and some people have said it is her best yet.

Lots of people have been receiving proofs of the new book by Tanya Byrne, and I still haven’t read her first! So I thought it was time I changed that. Hence the ordering of Heart-Shaped Bruise.

Last but not least, I picked up a copy of Keeping You a Secret by Julie Peters. This is for the LGBT readathon I am doing, hosted by Faye of A Daydreamer’s Thoughts. It’s a genre I am immensely interested in, but have hardly read anything for! Lookout for lots of LGBT themed posts and reviews in the first weekend of May.

 

I also made a few purchases! Faye did an amazing review of The Secret of Ella and Micha (check it out here) by Jessica Sorensen and so when I saw it in Tesco I snapped it up. I also got The Antenatal Group by Amy Bratley as it was on offer, and I will read anything about babies.

Yet another trip to The Works, yet another bargain book haul. I picked up Someone Else’s Life by Katie Dale as I had seen it about, so I thought it was worth getting. I was delighted to find Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi. I have never read her books, but I know they are talked about a lot by bloggers. I spent about ten minutes trying to decipher which was the first in the series, and thankfully came home with the right one! Before I Forget by Melissa Hill was thrown in to make up the offer, and sounds like a cute amnesia romance.

My last physical books was gifted from Daphne at Winged Reviews. Her and Faye have been raving about Julie Kagawa’s books to me. I managed to get The Immortal Rules in my last bookshop visit, and so she kindly offered to send me a copy of The Eternity Cure so I don’t have to wait to find out what happens! I am loving The Immortal Rules at the moment, so thanks very much for this 🙂

Ebooks:

 

 

Thank you to Penguin and Netgalley for The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. I was quite surprised to be approved for this. It sounds like a really good action, dystopian post-apocalyptic kind of novel, which suits my current mood perfectly, so I may be reading this soon!

 

Ink by Amanda Sun has such a pretty cover. I was psyched to get this, as I’ve heard lots of good things so far! Thanks Harlequin and Netgalley.

 

 

 

Books about teenage pregnancy always pique my interest, and Screwed by Laurie Plissner is no different. Thanks to Adams Media and Netgalley for a copy of this.

 

I’m taking part in the blog tour with Itching for Books for Submerged by Nicola Sobon. The first in a dystopian duology, I can’t wait to read this. Check back on May 13th for my review!

 

 

 

Amy from Harper Collins kindly sent me access to Wait For You by Jennifer L Armentrout. It is my first book by her, but I have heard lots of talk about her Lux series, so I’m interested to see what this is like.

 

I’m also part of The Forgotten Ones blog tour by Laura Howard. I love the typography on the title.

 

 

The cover for Find Me by Romily Bernard is just so awesome. And the tagline too! HUGE thank you to Harper Collins and Edelweiss for this, it sounds amazing. I love YA thrillers, and I can’t wait to start this.

I won a copy of Bethany Lopez’s Make It Last from Neyra at Darkest Addictions. I think I have a copy of the second book, so I asked if I could have the first instead of the third, and they kindly obliged!

 

What did you receive this week? Have you read any of my books and do you think it should be at the top or the bottom of my to read pile? I’d love to hear from you! 

Waiting on Wednesday #14

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases we’re eagerly anticipating.

Lucas and Tessa have always had a close friendship. So it’s no surprise when Lucas finally realizes his true feeling for Tessa and he asks her to Prom. What no one expected, especially Lucas, was for Tessa to come out as a lesbian-or for Tessa’s decision to wear a tuxedo and escort her female crush to Prom, to spark a firestorm of controversy. Humiliated and confused, Lucas must decide if he should stand on the sidelines or if he should stand by his friend to make sure that Tessa Masterson will go to Prom.

‘Tessa Masterson Will Go to Prom‘ has a really cute cover. I love the kind of drawn-on waistcoat/jacket, and the random woman’s arm hints at the LGBT-ness of this book, something which I would love to see more of in YA books. Hence why I’m waiting for it this week! Due to be published in April 🙂

Do you agree? What are you looking forward to this week? Please share your WoW in the comments!