A huge thankyou to Bloomsbury for sending me a proof of this! This was one of my most anticipated books of 2020, and I was SO chuffed to get a copy early for review. As always, this doesn't affect my opinion or review of the book. On with the spoiler-free review! "I think we need all sorts of stories for queer teens—ones where identity is a major conflict, ones where identity is fully normalized, ones where homophobia, etc. can be deconstructed on the page, and worlds that are created without hate. There’s something refreshing and empowering about taking a story that revolves around a queer romance and putting that story into a world where homophobia isn’t acknowledged. I’ve been blindsided by books with unnecessary homophobic scenes (usually to further the cishet main character’s story line or just to remind queer teens that they’re oppressed), and I wanted to be clear that, in this book, queer teens are safe here." - Phil Stamper, Goodreads interview 31/1/20 I really enjoyed THE GRAVITY OF US! A fab representation of queer love, teen angst, mental health and self-discovery. A little simple at times, however I recognise that I'm not really the target audience for a 13-17 teen fiction title. I still really loved alot of aspects of this, such as the discussions of social media and fame, and the historical exploration of the 1960's space race. I also really love the concept quoted above - no two queer stories are the same, and it's important that they don't all end in tragedy. Stamper stated that this 'no homophobia' idea stems from Dan Levy and Schitt's Creek, and it's a concept I highly agree with also. I've read far too many queer YA books (usually by cishet authors) that explore homophobia and prejudice in a really confronting and upsetting way. I'm happy to see there's people out there in the media working against this stereotype. Queer kids deserve to see happy stories and happy endings to those stories. Being queer doesn't mean a lifetime of struggles and hardships pertaining to sexuality. It can be a positive and good thing. Four stars. My fave book of the year so far!
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WELCOME!Hello!! My name is Tessa, and I'm a 20 year old bookseller and blogger from Sydney Australia. I love queer YA, Schitt's Creek, and pizza scrolls. Archives
July 2020
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