Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Books I've Read: This is Why They Hate Us.


 
This was a book that had a lot to admire about it, but was also somewhat frustrating.

It's about a bisexual boy trying to overcome the crush he's been harbouring on his best friend by experimenting with other guys.  Things don't necessarily work out the way he thinks they might and it impacts his already fragile mental health.

The main character, Enrique or Quique to his friends, is one of the most genuine teen characters I've read in a long time.  He's scattered and messy and completely driven by his hormones.  His moods are all over the place and his thoughts and narration often border on chaotic.  He doesn't seem to know exactly what he wants or needs or to understand the effect he might be having on the people around him.  I loved this aspect of the story because Quique feels like a real teenage boy  - like the two I have living in my house.

I also really liked that the author didn't shy away from showing Quique's sexual experimentation.  It's not super graphic or anything, but it's on the page and the author doesn't close the door on those scenes even when it comes to something like swallowing after a BJ.  So few books truly capture the messiness and awkwardness of sex and this one really managed to nail that to the page.

Another really great part of the story is Quique's relationship with his bestie, Fabiola.  Fabiola is one of those women who might hold secrets, but when she's around people she'd comfortable with, she says whatever comes into her head, however crude.  I just wish we'd had a chance to see more of her, especially with her girlfriend, Molly who was little more than a name on the page.


The things I liked less about the book were things like Quique's insistence that he's bi, yet his entire romantic focus is on boys.  He says something at one point about maybe wanting to get married and have kids later, so he might as well have his fun with guys now.  Ummm....  I really don't think that's how bi-sexuality works.  It also struck me as weird that there didn't seem to be any straight people around.  No one really blew Quique off when he made his advances which didn't feel very realistic to me.

One of the other things that made me feel a little squicky was a scene in which Quique gets on a dating app by lying about his age and ends up going to have a booty call with a strange man.  The strange man turns out to be his English teacher which has to have been embarrassing for both of them, yet the teacher still lets him in and even invites him back to the house on other occasions even though they don't actually go through with the date.  There was something a little off about that whole relationship and it made me a little uncomfortable.

So, while I didn't love this book, there is certainly a lot to admire about it.

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:

Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. Never mind that he has absolutely zero game. And definitely forget the fact that good and kind and, not to mention, beautiful Saleem is leaving L.A. for the summer to meet a girl his parents are trying to set him up with.

Luckily, Quique’s prospects are each intriguing in their own ways. There’s stoner-jock Tyler Montana, who might be just as interested in Fabiola as he is in Quique; straight-laced senior class president, Ziggy Jackson; and Manny Zuniga, who keeps looking at Quique like he’s carne asada fresh off the grill. With all these choices, Quique is sure to forget about Saleem in no time.

But as the summer heats up and his deep-seated fears and anxieties boil over, Quique soon realizes that getting over one guy by getting under a bunch of others may not have been the best laid plan and living his truth can come at a high cost.

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