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delz's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Kings, Queens, and in-Betweens is exactly what it is titled. There are drag kings, drag queens, and lots of other representation in this book. Nima is 17, living with her dad & her mother is MIA. Nima has two friends, Charles, and Ginny who she is infatuated with unfortunately she is not into girls. Nima’s dad is a real hippie so their relationship is very laid back and he is super understanding. Nima works for a close family friend, Sue, who was also Nima’s moms best friend. There’s also Gordon who’s kind of an enigma, since he likes to bully Charles and Nima but Nima keeps reaching out because she knows there is something more to Gordon. Every year a kind of fair comes through their town and that’s when the story gets interesting. Nima begins to explore her identity, she questions the status of her life and the people closest to her. She discovers some pretty big secrets and she befriends the most amazing drag queen, Deirdre, or Dee Dee, who quite literally takes her under her wing. This was a really sweet coming of age story with lots of heartache, romance, and friendship.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Bullying, and Homophobia
Moderate: Vomit and Infidelity
Minor: Outing and Alcohol
bluebreex's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying
someonelikeblue's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Abandonment, Vomit, and Infidelity
Moderate: Transphobia, Bullying, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship
botanicalprofanity's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Vomit, and Alcohol
half_bloodreader's review against another edition
DNF - 64%
Contemporary YA
Biracial sapphic girl
Written in 1st person, past tense.
Biracial sapphic girl
Written in 1st person, past tense.
"something else might be waiting for me on the other side. Something that might color me outside the lines and flow into other parts of my life."
Nima's mother suddenly left 1,5 years ago. A traumatic event that led to big feelings of inadequacy and self-consciousness, like she wasn't interesting enough to make her mother stay.
Wanting to change, she starts with the local festival, in part influenced by being rejected, in part by wanting to fill a hole inside, and in part by her mother:
"I thought about all the times she tried to drag us to see the smaller, stranger acts at the south end of the festival and how both Dad and I looked at her skeptically before leading her back to the main tent for the usual circus antics. Maybe she’d left us because we’d held her back. Maybe she needed to see something beyond our familiar, small world."
"I thought about all the times she tried to drag us to see the smaller, stranger acts at the south end of the festival and how both Dad and I looked at her skeptically before leading her back to the main tent for the usual circus antics. Maybe she’d left us because we’d held her back. Maybe she needed to see something beyond our familiar, small world."
There, she watches drag for the first time, feels an intense pull towards an older girl she knows nothing about ( it's reciprocal for some reason) and meets Deidre, who's like a glittery fairy godmother and the only character I love. She's just perfect.
Deidre reminded me of how there's always welcoming people at events and communities. Of how I've been welcomed and welcomed others in return to the communities I belong.
I really wanted to finish this and see more drag and Deidre, but the characters just kept pumping my blood pressure. What was amusing at the very beginning, became second-hand embarrassment (so much), exasperation and disgust (if you know, you know).
They're all a terrible salad forced upon us, like someone just picked the worst flavoured ingredients. From mc "bad decisions" Nima, to her "if you won't cheat on my husband with me I'm leaving for greener pastures" mother, her best friend "spineless" Charles, "I kiss people I've rejected when they're vulnerable but I'm not gay" Ginny and Gordon, who's questioning his gender and for that hardship alongside his awful father gets some understanding from my part, but his queerphobia is still not a pill I'm ready to swallow, sorry, not when it hurts others.
I'm not a pearl clutching "it has underage drinking, how dare" reader, but even I was annoyed about how easily minors kept getting alcohol. Especially when it was in queer spaces, perpetuating the idea that lgbtq+ people corrupt minors!! This coming from someone whose country's legal age for drinking is 18 (legal adult age for everything really).
Cw: underage drinking
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Homophobia, and Vomit
loverofeels's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
i love books about gender nonconformity <333 i wish this one was just a little better
the author is a former drag king who very clearly put a lot of love and community experience into writing about the drag scene, which was wonderful to read about
HOWEVER it was super weird to me that the main character, who is 17 (as in doesn't turn 18 for 9 months) and just finished her junior year of HIGH SCHOOL has a love interest who is "at least 21" and has been living independently for years!! it felt like the weirdness of this age gap would so easily be resolved by 1) having the main character be an 18 year old who just graduated high school 2) having the love interest be an 18 year old who just graduated high school or 3) not including the romantic subplot between them at all. it's a major red flag to me that the love interest didn't even blink at hearing that nima is a minor who is no less than four years younger than her :\
the author is a former drag king who very clearly put a lot of love and community experience into writing about the drag scene, which was wonderful to read about
HOWEVER it was super weird to me that the main character, who is 17 (as in doesn't turn 18 for 9 months) and just finished her junior year of HIGH SCHOOL has a love interest who is "at least 21" and has been living independently for years!! it felt like the weirdness of this age gap would so easily be resolved by 1) having the main character be an 18 year old who just graduated high school 2) having the love interest be an 18 year old who just graduated high school or 3) not including the romantic subplot between them at all. it's a major red flag to me that the love interest didn't even blink at hearing that nima is a minor who is no less than four years younger than her :\
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Vomit
readingrobin's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I can always appreciate a story that has the greatest summer vibes, where there's this great sense of freedom and a time where you can reinvent yourself, which this book has in spades. Nima's journey is a crazy one full of family drama, romantic woes, and the utter sparkly whirlwind that is the drag scene. Throughout all that, though, it feels like such a grounded story and it's written in a voice that feels so honest and open. Nima's just a little bit awkward, a little bit guarded, and has just a little smidgen of gay panic when it comes to girls and, yeah same. The book doesn't really have any major rises and falls in terms of story, it's just a nice character driven story set at a nice steady pace throughout.
And oh my god, Deirdre, Nima's wonderful fairy dragmother is just a delight. Usually I would question the decision of a teenager letting an adult crash on their couch the night they met, but Deirdre gets a pass since she's a ride or die friend. She's such a wonderfully supportive figure who is loud, proud, and everything great in between without being forceful and constantly comes from a place of understanding.
Another thing that usually gives me pause in stories is age gaps between love interests, though I think here it's somewhat tolerable. I don't think we're ever given a definite age for Winnow, Nima's crush, but it's clear that she's older. For me, it never seemed like Winnow was trying to coerce Nima into a relationship, nor was she tapping into a power dynamic and was always checking in with Nima to make sure she was comfortable. There's a moment later in the book where Nima encounters someone a bit more manipulative and yeah, that got a bit too uncomfy for my taste. But, overall, her and Winnow was not the most egregious age gap romance I've encountered.
The book is chockfull of representation, whether through sexuality, gender, ethnicity, it's fairly diverse which made everything feel all the more realistic. It's a book that's a celebration of queer culture and identity, where sure there are moments of homophobia and intolerance, but that all gets drowned out when our characters are so easily met with acceptance by so many others.
There are some plot threads that ultimately end up fizzling out in the end, resolving either somewhat quickly without too much focus or are simply not brought up again. The book tries to take on a more realistic tone with this, showing that life is messy and not every part of our lives is going to have a happy ending, but there were a couple of points I wish we got to see get some kind of conclusion.
Ultimately, I would love to put this book into the hands of the younger people of the LGBTQ community, as I definitely needed something like this was I was that age. Just something so full of queer joy and self discovery.
And oh my god, Deirdre, Nima's wonderful fairy dragmother is just a delight. Usually I would question the decision of a teenager letting an adult crash on their couch the night they met, but Deirdre gets a pass since she's a ride or die friend. She's such a wonderfully supportive figure who is loud, proud, and everything great in between without being forceful and constantly comes from a place of understanding.
Another thing that usually gives me pause in stories is age gaps between love interests, though I think here it's somewhat tolerable. I don't think we're ever given a definite age for Winnow, Nima's crush, but it's clear that she's older. For me, it never seemed like Winnow was trying to coerce Nima into a relationship, nor was she tapping into a power dynamic and was always checking in with Nima to make sure she was comfortable. There's a moment later in the book where Nima encounters someone a bit more manipulative and yeah, that got a bit too uncomfy for my taste. But, overall, her and Winnow was not the most egregious age gap romance I've encountered.
The book is chockfull of representation, whether through sexuality, gender, ethnicity, it's fairly diverse which made everything feel all the more realistic. It's a book that's a celebration of queer culture and identity, where sure there are moments of homophobia and intolerance, but that all gets drowned out when our characters are so easily met with acceptance by so many others.
There are some plot threads that ultimately end up fizzling out in the end, resolving either somewhat quickly without too much focus or are simply not brought up again. The book tries to take on a more realistic tone with this, showing that life is messy and not every part of our lives is going to have a happy ending, but there were a couple of points I wish we got to see get some kind of conclusion.
Ultimately, I would love to put this book into the hands of the younger people of the LGBTQ community, as I definitely needed something like this was I was that age. Just something so full of queer joy and self discovery.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Homophobia
solenekeleroux's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, and Vomit
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
jenna_justi2004's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Outing, Hate crime, Bullying, Biphobia, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction
davidbythebay's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was good. Like it was better than average but still, my issues outweigh it all and I only can give this three stars (after I started at 3.5/4 when I wrote my first review I deleted before posting by accident >.< ).
If this had been a story about first love, it would have been great. If this had been a story about exploring identity and gender expression, it would have been great. If this had been a story about a mother abandoning her family and how that impacts her lesbian daughter and her relationships with the other mother figures in her life like Deidre and Jill or her friends or her love interests, this would have been great. If this had been about a young girl exploring her LGBTQ+ identity and discovering drag and the Drag Queens and Drag Kings that exist and interest her, this would have been great.
The problem is, it is all these things and not once does it ever really explore something. It just almost “is”. It is a coming of age, identity, first love story that just develops but never explores or goes anywhere but forward without much effort. At one point Charles says Nima, the main character, jumps into things and does them, even if she doesn’t know how. And that’s what this story is, a bunch of leaps with no clue what’s going to happen and no real resolution.
Let’s start with the mother abandoning her. This was brought up - fine, so much potential with that in the background - and then it’s brought up suddenly twice more to jolt the flow of the story with these side quests. I thought they were interesting, but not really necessary to the story I think was the main one. Like with the mother, the Ginny storyline, Jill storyline, Charles storyline, and the biggest disappointment the Gordon storyline, were all brought up and left alone.
Gordon is a jerk. From start to finish he is a bully and a miserable ass. Now, we get some insight into him and see that maybe he’s this way because of his circumstances at home and his personal struggles. Let’s look at those personal struggles, shall we? Gordon is first portrayed as a cis male who vigorously claims heterosexual attraction to women. He says at one point, though, that sometimes his body doesn’t feel right. So Gordon is questioning his identity and I feel for that. Until he says another jerk comment and I was to take him and tell him to grow up and listen at all the people here who are available to help him with this issue. But what is the issue? We never really know. Is Gordon trans? Is he non-binary? Is he dealing with gay shame? Or fears his bisexuality? There are times he seems interested in men and times he doesn’t. We NEVER get to experience any clarity of whatever it is Gordon is clearly going through. It’s almost like his storyline is irrelevant, and yet it deserves its own novel.
Some characters are great. Loved Diedre absolutely. Nima, though, was a bit too judgmental and sassy at times. Her age showed. She’s 17 (soon to be 18) but she’s acting like a petulant child a good deal of the time. She’s inexperienced at life and love and wants this relationship with a woman about 6/7 years older than her. Now, I have no qualms with age differences in relationships so long as everyone involved is a freely consenting adult. I bring it up only because the maturity differences are clear. And I bring it up because somehow, this 17 year old girl is allowed into gay bars and drag bars without any protest. Even when carded and using a fake ID she’s waved through because the bouncers either know she’s underage and let her in anyway with a wink, or they barely look at the card. I don’t mind this as many bars have special nights where 18-20 year olds can enter but cannot drink. That’s fine. But this 17 year old is freely drinking beers and liquor like it’s something she’s used to and has no issues - except for one night where she’s so drunk she gets sick. I’m not naive. I know underage drinking occurs. I’ve witnessed it myself, though never drank underage. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be aghast at the blatant alcohol consumption and lack of anyone addressing this in any way in the book. These 17-year-old kids are all drinking like it’s nothing. Unless I’m mistaken, this is a United States town they are in. So that’s too young.
This was a book with too many ideas and not enough editing. If this was the first in a series, it might be worth it. But as a stand-alone it lacks. It’s overstuffed and bloated. And the beginning was so slow! O, how I found it a drudge to get through the first third at least. I wanted to quit then. I’m glad I didn’t but I still wasn’t happy until maybe the last half. That 30-50% window was mixed but improving.
Gordon needs his own book with his story fully told. That’s absolute. But aside from that, I’m going to say this is a good book, better than average and maybe 3.5 star, but I’m only setting it at 3 because it’s barely there.
If this had been a story about first love, it would have been great. If this had been a story about exploring identity and gender expression, it would have been great. If this had been a story about a mother abandoning her family and how that impacts her lesbian daughter and her relationships with the other mother figures in her life like Deidre and Jill or her friends or her love interests, this would have been great. If this had been about a young girl exploring her LGBTQ+ identity and discovering drag and the Drag Queens and Drag Kings that exist and interest her, this would have been great.
The problem is, it is all these things and not once does it ever really explore something. It just almost “is”. It is a coming of age, identity, first love story that just develops but never explores or goes anywhere but forward without much effort. At one point Charles says Nima, the main character, jumps into things and does them, even if she doesn’t know how. And that’s what this story is, a bunch of leaps with no clue what’s going to happen and no real resolution.
Let’s start with the mother abandoning her. This was brought up - fine, so much potential with that in the background - and then it’s brought up suddenly twice more to jolt the flow of the story with these side quests. I thought they were interesting, but not really necessary to the story I think was the main one. Like with the mother, the Ginny storyline, Jill storyline, Charles storyline, and the biggest disappointment the Gordon storyline, were all brought up and left alone.
Gordon is a jerk. From start to finish he is a bully and a miserable ass. Now, we get some insight into him and see that maybe he’s this way because of his circumstances at home and his personal struggles. Let’s look at those personal struggles, shall we? Gordon is first portrayed as a cis male who vigorously claims heterosexual attraction to women. He says at one point, though, that sometimes his body doesn’t feel right. So Gordon is questioning his identity and I feel for that. Until he says another jerk comment and I was to take him and tell him to grow up and listen at all the people here who are available to help him with this issue. But what is the issue? We never really know. Is Gordon trans? Is he non-binary? Is he dealing with gay shame? Or fears his bisexuality? There are times he seems interested in men and times he doesn’t. We NEVER get to experience any clarity of whatever it is Gordon is clearly going through. It’s almost like his storyline is irrelevant, and yet it deserves its own novel.
Some characters are great. Loved Diedre absolutely. Nima, though, was a bit too judgmental and sassy at times. Her age showed. She’s 17 (soon to be 18) but she’s acting like a petulant child a good deal of the time. She’s inexperienced at life and love and wants this relationship with a woman about 6/7 years older than her. Now, I have no qualms with age differences in relationships so long as everyone involved is a freely consenting adult. I bring it up only because the maturity differences are clear. And I bring it up because somehow, this 17 year old girl is allowed into gay bars and drag bars without any protest. Even when carded and using a fake ID she’s waved through because the bouncers either know she’s underage and let her in anyway with a wink, or they barely look at the card. I don’t mind this as many bars have special nights where 18-20 year olds can enter but cannot drink. That’s fine. But this 17 year old is freely drinking beers and liquor like it’s something she’s used to and has no issues - except for one night where she’s so drunk she gets sick. I’m not naive. I know underage drinking occurs. I’ve witnessed it myself, though never drank underage. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be aghast at the blatant alcohol consumption and lack of anyone addressing this in any way in the book. These 17-year-old kids are all drinking like it’s nothing. Unless I’m mistaken, this is a United States town they are in. So that’s too young.
This was a book with too many ideas and not enough editing. If this was the first in a series, it might be worth it. But as a stand-alone it lacks. It’s overstuffed and bloated. And the beginning was so slow! O, how I found it a drudge to get through the first third at least. I wanted to quit then. I’m glad I didn’t but I still wasn’t happy until maybe the last half. That 30-50% window was mixed but improving.
Gordon needs his own book with his story fully told. That’s absolute. But aside from that, I’m going to say this is a good book, better than average and maybe 3.5 star, but I’m only setting it at 3 because it’s barely there.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Alcohol and Alcoholism
Minor: Vomit, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia