Review: Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

September 03, 2017


Title: Boy Meets Boy
Author: David Levithan
Genres: Young adult, contemporary, romance
Published: May 10th 2005, by Alfred A. Knopf
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This is the story of Paul, a sophomore at a high school like no other: The cheerleaders ride Harleys, the homecoming queen used to be a guy named Daryl (she now prefers Infinite Darlene and is also the star quarterback), and the gay-straight alliance was formed to help the straight kids learn how to dance.
When Paul meets Noah, he thinks he’s found the one his heart is made for. Until he blows it. The school bookie says the odds are 12-to-1 against him getting Noah back, but Paul’s not giving up without playing his love really loud. His best friend Joni might be drifting away, his other best friend Tony might be dealing with ultra-religious parents, and his ex-boyfriend Kyle might not be going away anytime soon, but sometimes everything needs to fall apart before it can really fit together right.
This is a happy-meaningful romantic comedy about finding love, losing love, and doing what it takes to get love back in a crazy-wonderful world.
 I enjoyed Boy Meets Boy. It’s short, sweet, funny, and very touching. David Levithan is great at painting characters so well and making you feel like you truly know them with nothing more than a few lines of dialogue. It’s quick witted and relatable. The world that’s painted in Boy Meets Boy is exactly how I wish my high school years were – LGBT kids growing up in a close knit and supportive community, a town where homophobia seems to blissfully be a thing of the past. It’s a great form of escapism from reality, but in the end, it's hard not to see it as something that's all a little too good to be true.

“I find my greatest strength in wanting to be strong. I find my greatest bravery in wanting to be brave […] If there’s no feeling of fear, then there’s no need for courage.”

My favourite thing about Boy Meets Boy was the side characters and the friendships. Paul’s friendship with his best friend Tony is so precious and caring and I loved them more than anything else. Tony as a character was perhaps my favourite, I (like Paul) felt an immense need to protect him and help him seek happiness and freedom from his exhausting parents. I loved his quiet companionship with Paul, their secret language and the support they gave each other. Another character who made this book for me was Infinite Darlene, the star quarterback/homecoming queen - she’s hilarious and perfect.

On the other end we have Joni, Paul’s other best friend who honestly… She’s easily dislikeable. Despite both her best friends being gay, she continuously falls for grossly homophobic guys and pushes her friends aside for her boyfriend’s wants and attention. I found it nearly impossible to sympathize with her in any way (I would be angry with her too, Paul).

What honestly let down Boy Meets Boy a little bit was the strange love triangle. I am not the biggest fan of love triangles, I find them played out, but I’m usually more tolerant when it comes to love triangles in LGBT fiction. This was a strange one however, I was super torn and felt a little all over the place especially considering Paul’s main love interest Noah has only been around for like 2 weeks. They were cute, but I did find it hard to get invested in such an insta-love relationship and feel like this was True Love after such a short time. I found myself a lot more interested in Paul’s friendships and the other characters than his romantic relationships.

Boy Meets Boy was a quick, cute, funny (if a little unbelievable at times) read. Even though I wasn’t too emotionally attached to the relationship, what really made it for me was Paul’s friendships, particularly with his best friend Tony. They had such a touching friendship and Tony’s side story and development was definitely what I was most invested in, and ultimately was what made me enjoy this Boy Meets Boy.

Diversity score: ♥  ♥ ♥ 

(Gay relationships, many LGBT side characters)

My rating: ♥  ♥ ♥ 

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