Mundie Moms

Friday, August 23, 2013

Book Review: Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan


By: David Levithan
Published by: Random House
To Be Released on: August 27th, 2013
Source: arc from publisher to review
Pre-Order from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Add it to Goodreads

New York Times  bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS. 

While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.


This book brought out so many feelings. Two Boys Kissing is a book unlike any book I've read before. I don't mean that because it's a book about characters who are are gay, transgender. I mean that as a reader who was so moved by the words that author David Levithan wrote in this book. It's not often I read/review books here on Mundie Moms that don't have elements of fantasy, the supernatural and the like on here, but I couldn't pass up a David Levithan book.

This is a book that opened my eyes more. It's a book that brought every emotion to the surface. It's a book that will make readers realize that everything you say, and don't say, every action big or little effects those around you. It's a book that makes you realize that sometimes the things you don't say can hurt more than the things you do. It's a book that makes you want to be more caring, reach out to others more, smile more and be friendlier to those who make up the world around you. It's a book that makes you realize that even though we're a society made of people from all different walks of life, who share different religious beliefs, and have different sexual orientation, we're still human, we still feel the same, and want the same things. We want to be loved and accepted for WHO we are. Not what we are.

Two Boys Kissing for me wasn't a book about characters, it became a book that allowed me to understand people who have struggled to be accepted, to feel loved for who they are, who are looking for love, who want others to see them as an equal. It's a book that made me wish as a mother that I could have hugged every person who ever felt alone, who felt unloved, unwanted, and unaccepted,  and in some instances felt that taking their own life was their only hope, told them they are loved, and that no matter what anyone has told them and might say to them, that they do matter, they are important, and they are loved. You don't have to be a gay reader to get the message the David got across in this book.

Who hasn't at some point in their life felt similar to at least one of the characters in this book? I have. I related to this book on many levels. This is a book that at it's heart deals with raw human emotions. It's a book that gave me a realistic look inside people who are looked down upon and cast aside because of their sexual orientation. My heart broke many times while reading this book, and other times I felt hope for those I was reading about. As I told David right after I first read this book, this a book I hope many people read. Sure, it's a tough read. Things aren't sugar coated. Hateful things are said and done to some characters, other characters are dealing with strong sexual preferences, some characters are dealing with things that will be tough for some readers to read about. It's the over all voice of this story that got to me. As I told David, this a book I felt like those who struggle to know what to say or struggle to come to terms with someone they love being gay, need to read. Those who feel alone will see they're not alone. Those who don't know what to do will get it. Being gay doesn't change who a person is. This book goes beyond that.

This book became something bigger than I thought it would when I first received it to read/review. It moved me more than I ever imagined it would, because this book hit at the core of what every human beings wants. To be seen, to be understood, to be loved and accepted for who they really are. This book became a story that allowed me to understand, to see, and to get a small look inside the triumphs and tragedies, struggles, and strengths that many people have dwelt with. It's a book that I related to on some levels, it made me feel hopeful at times, and other times it angered me because of how some of the characters were treated. As I said before, it's not a book for everyone. There are some tough things that happen in this book. Though this is a book with fictional characters, the stories, the emotions and the things that happen have happened to real people.

I'm not a person who marks up my books, but David's writing is so beautiful that I highlighted so many passages in my arc. The way this story is told is moving. Sure it follows different characters, but the over all story has a voice of it's own, and it's that voice that got to me. Very few authors have moved me to tears, and David is one of them. Here are just a few of my favorite passages:
"Freedom isn't just about voting, and marrying, and kissing on the street, although all of these things are important. Freedom is also about what you will allow yourself to do."  
"You should never feel doomed."  
"Love is so painful, how could you ever wish it on anybody? And love is so essential, how could you ever stand in it's way?" 
"We always underestimate our own participation in magic. That is, we thought of magic as something that existed without us. But that's not true. Things are not magical because they've been conjured for us by some outside force. They are magical because we create them, and then deem them so."  
"Ignorance is not bliss. Bliss is knowing the full meaning of what you have been given." 
"Not all songs need to be for dancing." 
"It is hard to stop seeing your son as a son and to start seeing him as a human being.
It is hard to stop seeing your parents as parents and to start seeing them as human beings.
It's a two-sided transition, and very few people manage it gracefully."  
"We know what it's like to need to hold on. We hold on to you. Which is to say, we hold on to life."
My list of highlighted passages from this book is a big one. There are so many passages that cut to the core of what's makes us all human. Love, pleasure, pain, acceptance, hopelessness, hope etc. David Levithan has done a beautiful job at writing a book that at it's core is a one that doesn't hold back on reaching out and holding you firm it's emotional grasp. Two Boys Kissing is a book about people who share in triumphs, tragedies, and the need/right to be seen and loved for who they are.

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