bluemetal

A pretty good coming of age novel. I understand that this is Drew Ferguson's debut effort. This book is written like a personal essay for college entrance turned into explosive personal, tell-all memoir (when I say "like" I am not using a simile, that is a conceit of the book). I found the character of Charlie the Second interesting and compelling,if slightly unbelievable (he was pretty 'together' for such a dweeb). I also think that his supposedly horrifying existence as a high schooler was fairly mild compared to the experience of the majority of geeks out there. I like that Charlie is gay and mostly out, but Charlie's sexuality was used in the book more for descriptive purposes rather than for definition (and that is a good thing). Charlie's problems are about being a kid on the cusp of becoming an adult, his relationships with his friends, lover and his politician, Assitant District Attorney dad. Although, perhaps realistic, Charlie's raging hormones and near constant talk of masturbation did get a little tiresome after a bit. There are some sex scenes when Charlie finally gets some that might be inappropriate for some younger readers (as well as all the 'wanking' talk). All in all, a pretty good, often funny, portrayal of a high school kid getting his bearings in life.

2020-08-11 15:07