Author: Britta Lundin
LGBTQ+ Representation: Main character is queer. A supporting character is queer and a homoromantic pansexual.
What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): Claire is a sixteen-year-old obsessed with Demon Heart. Her fanfiction shipping the show's two male leads is super popular online. But when Claire questions lead actor, Forest, about his character being gay, he laughs her off, revealing his homophobia. When the Q&A goes viral, Claire is invited to tour with the show cast to Comic-Cons to help repair the show's now homophobic image. She then meets another fangirl, Tess, and Claire questions her own sexuality.
What I think: First of all, Claire is me in high school. Honestly, Claire is me now--I get obsessed with books, movies, and TV shows. I love cosplay and conventions, and if the Internet had been around when I was a middle-schooler, I would have written countless fanfics, and to quote myself from an earlier review:
I am a geek. Full stop. I can quote from a bunch of fandoms and also have a mind full of useless trivia, about such topics as Sweet Valley High, The Baby-sitters Club, Star Wars original trilogy, The Twilight Zone, Outlander, Muppets, and about a billion middle grades and YA novels and plays.
I realize that not everyone is a geek like I am, but at first I could not understand Forest's major faux pas at the Comic-Con. The book explains that he doesn't "do" social media, but how could he be a working actor and be so ignorant of fanfics shipping same-sex characters and queerbaiting?
So I decided to ask a friend, one who does not "do the Twitter," or, as far as I know, read any fanfiction. Here's the (edited for clarity and brevity) transcript of our conversation:
Me: Hey, do you read fanfic?
Friend: You mean like . . . written stuff that's not the movies? I read the Star Wars books with you but that was like 20 years ago.
Me: Sort of. You know, like Archive of Our Own, maybe even based on Star Wars?
Friend: No.
Me: Well, when you do watch or read things, do you ship characters that are same-sex even if they're not gay?
Friend: Like put them in relationships? No?
Me: Do you know what queerbaiting is?
Friend: Fishing with gay worms? LOL
Me: LOL, you said "gay worms"
That one conversation proves to me that not everyone is a geek, and not everyone automatically ships same-sex couples. But many of us do, and television writers know this, and this article explains why it's problematic (in case that's not immediately obvious). I guess if you never think beyond the storyline presented to you in a book, show, or movie, or you never go on the Internet, or you never question your sexuality . . . you never would think of these things.
The character of Forest is one of those people. He is also a conceited, privileged, white dudebro that I wanted to smack at the beginning of the book. However, I do feel for him later on, and I love what he does when [spoiler deleted]. Is it realistic? Who cares? I love it.
Also, it is fun to read all the behind-the-scenes stuff with the writers, actors, directors, publicity people, etc. It is easy to pretend on Twitter that celebrities just tweet organically, and some of them do sometimes, but so many of what we see online is carefully planned by publicity people and the like. Lundin (the author) is a writer for Riverdale, so I'm thinking that what is in the story is based on her job. Also, so many decisions are based on ratings and the ultimate motivation: money.
Another reason why I relate to Claire? Her exploration of her sexuality. I am just going to quote this entire paragraph:
I've seen the queer kids on Tumblr, with their proud statements . . . I'm happy they know themselves. But I just don't understand how they get to that point. Did they just wake up one day and say, I see it now, I'm definitely gay! And if it was long and slow, how did they eventually know they'd reached the end of it? . . . Maybe I'm not gay or straight or bi or anything. Maybe I'm just me (pg. 37).
I am over 40 years old and this paragraph still describes me. Currently, I describe myself as mostly asexual but pan or biromantic, but sometimes I feel more demisexual than asexual, and sometimes not; sometimes I'm attracted to only one gender but sometimes not--sometimes, I just want everyone to leave me alone and let me eat cake. I know that's what the word queer is for, but dangit, queer still feels so negative to me.
Let's talk about Tess. She has her flaws, especially when she [spoiler deleted], but I like her together with Claire. I think both girls (not just Claire) learn a lot about accepting parts of themselves.
Claire's parents are awesome and hilarious. That is all.
Another random thought: I wonder if actors read fanfics about themselves? And how they feel about them? It had never occurred to me to wonder before I read this book.
This book is on the 2019 Rainbow Book List.
My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): I love this book! Ship It is such a fun, feel-good read, especially if you ship characters (I do, and I read fanfiction like crazy, especially if it's canon with the source material. Malec is my favorite--yep, I'm boring. I've also read Supernatural fanfics even though I've never watched the show!). The discussion about sexuality not always being easy-to-define is an important part. Fangirls and dudebros alike should read Ship It.
Memorable quotes/passages from the book:
- "You know what I never understood? Why they always cast straight men as heroes in everything. . . . because you're honestly the most terrified people on the planet" (pg. 14).
- "I need to read more femslash, I think wildly" (pg. 196).
- " . . . and then I could announce it on Facebook and come out to my school and everyone would either accept me or not accept me and then I would have to become friends with those other two lesbian girls, even though I don't know nearly enough about basketball to hang out with them, and then I would need to buy some rainbow suspenders for the Pride parade in Boise, which I don't even want to go to because parades are just too many people and Tess and I could, what, be girlfriends? . . . Would I have to call myself lesbian? Bisexual? Pansexual? The words blur and block out the rest of my brain" (pg. 199).
- "'Well, to be specific, I'm a homoromantic pansexual.'
. . . 'So you're attracted to cookware?'" (pg. 205).
Other reviews: Den of Geek and Shondaland
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| This book is available here: https://library.greensboro-nc.gov/ |
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| Learn more about the Rainbow Book List here: http://www.ala.org/rt/glbtrt |
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