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A review by technicolour
Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Fairly enjoyable, but ultimately a bit dissatisfactory.
The good:
- a queer coming-of-age story that doesn't centre around coming out, but instead of discovering queer culture and the local queer scene
- the relationship with her easy going and supportive dad
- intergenerational queer friendships
- showing an otherwise-anxious person wanting more from life and chasing it
- the "queer scenes are small, everyone has dated everyone" messy lesbian drama
The bad
- the way gender is written about for the trans characters could be described as clumsy at best. Deirde (an otherwise great character) is written as a trans women but is exclusively described as a drag queen, rather than trans woman who also does drag. I don't think the word trans is used at all through the book. When describing trans-feminine characters, the author often dwells on how masculine they are: tall, big, strong, muscular, referencing Adam's apples. It's really not great.
- on another gender point, the titular "in-betweens" are no where to be seen. There's no non-binary characters nor is it ever brought up as a concept.
- the drag scene could have been explored better. It's shown as just a type performing, and that performing is fun! It is stripped of it's cultural, political, and gender identity significance.
- words for queer identities are frequently thrown at characters as slurs, and I wish this was balanced out by more characters delighting and claiming words to describe themselves more.
- it includes my least favourite trope: homophobe/transphobe is secretly gay/trans
- there's a storyline of a parent running off for over a year, which I don't think is given the weight it deserves
- so much vomit
The good:
- a queer coming-of-age story that doesn't centre around coming out, but instead of discovering queer culture and the local queer scene
- the relationship with her easy going and supportive dad
- intergenerational queer friendships
- showing an otherwise-anxious person wanting more from life and chasing it
- the "queer scenes are small, everyone has dated everyone" messy lesbian drama
The bad
- the way gender is written about for the trans characters could be described as clumsy at best. Deirde (an otherwise great character) is written as a trans women but is exclusively described as a drag queen, rather than trans woman who also does drag. I don't think the word trans is used at all through the book. When describing trans-feminine characters, the author often dwells on how masculine they are: tall, big, strong, muscular, referencing Adam's apples. It's really not great.
- on another gender point, the titular "in-betweens" are no where to be seen. There's no non-binary characters nor is it ever brought up as a concept.
- the drag scene could have been explored better. It's shown as just a type performing, and that performing is fun! It is stripped of it's cultural, political, and gender identity significance.
- words for queer identities are frequently thrown at characters as slurs, and I wish this was balanced out by more characters delighting and claiming words to describe themselves more.
- it includes my least favourite trope: homophobe/transphobe is secretly gay/trans
- there's a storyline of a parent running off for over a year, which I don't think is given the weight it deserves
- so much vomit
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Abandonment
Minor: Vomit