Boy Meets Boy- David Levithan

 

Paul is gay.  He has been open and honest about it his whole life, and is fortunate enough to live in a community where people of all sexual orientations are accepted.  He's had relationships before, but this time it's different.  Falling in love changes everything...

I loved this book.  I know I am going to fawn all over it and probably appear really annoyingly overkeen, but I can't help it.  There aren't enough books out there that encapsulate how it truly feels to fall in love for the first time-that acute pain, the overwhelming longing, the desire to please.  There certainly aren't enough books out there aimed at a YA audience which deal with being gay as beautifully as Boy Meets Boy does.  David Levithan is going to become a cult author with teens if this is anything to go by.  A lesson in acceptance and being true to yourself, Boy meets Boy is a school drama about friendship and love.  It is heartfelt and touching, and beautifully portrays the developments in the relationship between Paul and Noah. 

It does come across as idealistic, when in our world there is (unfortunately) still not the level of acceptance of diversity that there is in this book. But for anyone out there who believes a same sex relationship is incapable of igniting the same feelings as a heterosexual relationship I recommend they read this book, then they'll understand that isn't the case. 

Finally, if you are an adult, don't be put off because this is marketed for teens.  It has potential to be a crossover hit too.

Wonderful.

Boy Meets Boy is out now, published by HarperCollins UK.

9/10

With thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in return for my honest opinion.