REVIEW - Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

 TITLE: Boy Meets Boy
AUTHOR:  David Levithan
GENRE: contemporary, lgbt
PUBLICATION DATE: May 10th 2005


BLURB:

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.

REVIEW:

I love contemporary books so it’s quite a mystery that I survived so long without reading any of David Levithan’s books. Boy Meets Boy was my first encounter with his works and it left me… not sure if I am going to pick up his other books.

For such a short story, there’s a lot going on in Boy Meets Boy. We meet Paul and his world; his family, friends and love interest. The school Paul attends is quite unusual, his friends – even more so.

I couldn’t connect with Paul at all – he got everything too easy. His attitude was also hard to believe. I am not saying that every gay kid should have it the hard way in life – I am merely observing that Paul seemed problem-free, careless even. He kept on hurting those around him. His intentions were noble, but the way he tried to deal with things just didn’t work.

Despite that, the book was quite an entertaining read. It was quick and funny, quirky and laugh-out-loud hilarious at times. I think I liked Levithan’s way of writing dialogues the most – they felt very real. No witty comeback all the time, characters were struggling for the right answer – and that’s how it’s in real life.

All in all, this book could have been better. It deals with homosexuality, coming outs and transgenders so it should be thought-provoking, at least in my opinion. It wasn’t moralistic nor did it try to teach us a lesson, for which I am glad. But still, I wanted to feel more for the characters.

Overall rating:

3 stars out of 5