Book Review: Tips of Having a Gay (ex) Boyfriend

Title Tips on Having a Gay (ex)Boyfriend
Author Carrie Jones
Genre YA Commercial Fiction
Rating C

Summary Belle gets dumped by her (thought to be) soul mate Dylan because he's (shocker) gay. Actually, it did come as a shock to Belle, but not so much to a bunch of other people. The way that this revelation upsets the lives of so many in small-town Maine takes another 250 pages to digest.

First Line "We walk outside first."

Review My thoughts on this book could not possibly be more mixed. No siree. That would not be feasible.

On the plus side: I am so hard-core loving the relationship between Belle and her rebound guy (Tom) that I'm going to rush to the library tonight and get the second book in this little saga (Love (And Other Uses for Duct Tape). And I'll probably read it tonight. Other pluses are that I totally think that Dylan's angst is semi-believeable (in so much as I know what it's like to come out as a gay guy in a small town at the age of 17); I like a lot of the other supporting characters and the narrator doesn't completely get on my nerves. Several of her lists are well-balanced (whiny, depressed, etc., without being too whiny, depressed, etc.).

On the hugely negatively side: I cannot stand the author's writing. I read the back flap which says this lovely lady used to edit poetry magazines and it comes through in her writing (I think). And not in a good way. In a way that she tried to make this prose sound like poetry and was repetitive. I was over, over, over it. (Because she did that thing I just did where she uses the same word three times.) She does this over, over, over again in the book. It drove me batty!

Also, I was thoroughly annoyed that we got fantastic "remembrances" of romantic and/or hot scenes between Dylan and Belle and I can't get a second base with Tom? C'mon. That's why I'm reading the second book. I need to see if this girl can do her business with a straight guy. (Plus, have I ever mentioned that I have a very weird interest in reading books about sexually-confused young adults? Please do not speculate in the comments regarding what you think that may or may not mean about me.)

[Plus: I want to see if Jones can overcome her deep reliance upon gay stereotypes and really develop the characters. The (former) boyfriend likes Streisand and is in show choir. Enough said.]

Recommendation I'm holding off on this until after I've read the next book. Check back later for edits.