[Book Review] Boy Meets Boy

Boy Meets Boy

by David Levithan

August 1, 2013

Young Adult, Contemporary Romance, Gay/Lesbian

Links:

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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.

The boy in this book - Paul - I want him to be my friend. For a change, here's an LGBT book where the protagonist is actually a mentally healthy gay guy. I mean, I've read a couple of LGBT novels, and most of them deal about discrimination and angst. Sure, I understand the discrimination against the LGBT community (I often get mistaken to be a lesbian so I've experienced a bit of discrimination), and I'm pretty sure that it brings a lot of angst, but I'm also sure that's not always the case.

While there is that normalcy in Paul, there were times when I thought about how too accepting the other characters depicted in this book were. It's like a gay-utopia. Don't get me wrong. I really liked it. I even wish that we would just live in a world where there is no stigma about being gay or that being straight was the accepted norm. It's just a bit unrealistic. 

Moving on, this book is a love-story. It's poetic and it definitely drew me in. It's like a depiction of love in whatever form, and of friendships despite differences. I just loved reading it. This is my second novel by David Levithan (the first being Dash and Lily's Book of Dares, co-written with Rachel Cohn), and I think I have a new author to add to my list of favorites.

I'm pretty sure that this book is not everyone's cup of tea. It's a love story between two gay guys. Not everyone is accepting of that kind of love. Nonetheless, I would have to say that the love between Paul and Noah is beautiful, and that the world should have more books like this one.