Scan barcode
A review by kldowns
The Importance of Being Wilde at Heart by R. Zamora Linmark
2.0
What I thought might be a "wrong side of the tracks" story actually had nothing to do with their classism keeping them apart. Ran just... ran. I thought that was a little disappointing. What would become a theme through this book is how it never really unpacks its many themes. The aforementioned classism, homophobia, banned books, government control over access to information, just to name a few, only really get passing mentions and rarely have much to do with the core of the story, which is Ran and Ken Z. It feels like this book tries to do too much in a not inconsiderable 352 pages.
In its essence, this book is about how much it sucks to be ghosted, especially at a young age, and especially at a point in your life where you're just figuring out who you are. Ken Z never shares if he is bi or gay, or any other orientation, but he finds himself attracted to Ran, something he truly never expected. And maybe that's why Ran's disappearance hits him so hard. Ran takes all of Ken Z's options to talk about how he's feeling with him when he never returns from North Kristol. Sure, Ken Z could talk to his friends, but this is something he wanted to do with Ran, to explore with Ran, and to have that taken away and to be left behind without a word at the same time is a crushing experience.
Other reviews are not exaggerating when they say that this book is very cutesy. The first third or so of this book rides the line of being too sugary sweet for my taste, and borders on the ridiculous. It's fun to see a young boy being infatuated for the first time, especially in a more or less "forbidden love" situation, but I also remember being a teenager and just being happy that the guy I liked put on deodorant after gym class. Also, what teenager lives a live with so incredibly little adult supervision? Outside of Mr. Oku and the occasional short appearance by Ken Z's mom, I kept wondering where all the adults were.
I don't understand the comparison to Adam Silvera. It doesn't work. (I can't speak to the comparison to Elizabeth Acevedo, as I have not read The Poet X yet.) That's... a bold claim, and one this book fails to earn.
Overall, this book is like a 2.5 for me. It was readable, but could have used a little more consistency in following through with discussion of its many, many themes. I would have liked to have seen Ran and Ken Z's relationship through a lens that isn't super flowery. I wish the author had dug further into Ken Z, because even by the story's end I just sort of felt "meh" about it all. I didn't feel for Ken Z the way I wanted to. I wanted to ache with him, to feel his anger and confusion, and to heal with him. Instead, I'm left underwhelmed by this work overall. I do hope it finds its fanbase, but I wanted so much more - what the story had the potential to be, what it practically begged to be - than what I got.
In its essence, this book is about how much it sucks to be ghosted, especially at a young age, and especially at a point in your life where you're just figuring out who you are. Ken Z never shares if he is bi or gay, or any other orientation, but he finds himself attracted to Ran, something he truly never expected. And maybe that's why Ran's disappearance hits him so hard. Ran takes all of Ken Z's options to talk about how he's feeling with him when he never returns from North Kristol. Sure, Ken Z could talk to his friends, but this is something he wanted to do with Ran, to explore with Ran, and to have that taken away and to be left behind without a word at the same time is a crushing experience.
Other reviews are not exaggerating when they say that this book is very cutesy. The first third or so of this book rides the line of being too sugary sweet for my taste, and borders on the ridiculous. It's fun to see a young boy being infatuated for the first time, especially in a more or less "forbidden love" situation, but I also remember being a teenager and just being happy that the guy I liked put on deodorant after gym class. Also, what teenager lives a live with so incredibly little adult supervision? Outside of Mr. Oku and the occasional short appearance by Ken Z's mom, I kept wondering where all the adults were.
I don't understand the comparison to Adam Silvera. It doesn't work. (I can't speak to the comparison to Elizabeth Acevedo, as I have not read The Poet X yet.) That's... a bold claim, and one this book fails to earn.
Overall, this book is like a 2.5 for me. It was readable, but could have used a little more consistency in following through with discussion of its many, many themes. I would have liked to have seen Ran and Ken Z's relationship through a lens that isn't super flowery. I wish the author had dug further into Ken Z, because even by the story's end I just sort of felt "meh" about it all. I didn't feel for Ken Z the way I wanted to. I wanted to ache with him, to feel his anger and confusion, and to heal with him. Instead, I'm left underwhelmed by this work overall. I do hope it finds its fanbase, but I wanted so much more - what the story had the potential to be, what it practically begged to be - than what I got.