Shut Up and Review

#7. I'm Not Gay! You are!

I'm Not Gay, You Are!" by EmiliaRMadness is a fun read that follows roommates Tristen and Wilder as they attend the party of the year. Tristen is attempting to recover from his breakup with his girlfriend Stacie. Wilder means well and coaxes Tristen into going to a popular annual party in order to cheer him up, but things take a turn as the party does not turn out to be as Tristen expects, and he accidentally ingests the mysterious 'purple juice' that has some pretty painful and not to mention, awkward side-effects.

The story switches points of view from Tristen in the first four chapters, and Wilder in chapters five to six (which is the final chapter from the time of this writing). Though the chapters are written in first-person perspective, both characters maintain a clear and distinctive voice throughout. After following Tristen primarily, it is interesting to see Tristen from Wilder's point of view, where we also get a clearer description of what he looks like. I like this approach because it is often difficult to find a natural way to describe the narrator from the first person without using cliches, so this method is effective in giving us clear descriptions while also allowing us to see the characters through the eyes of the other.

The dynamic between Tristen and Wilder is fun to read. Though they are roommates, there seems to be some underlying romantic tension between them. Tristen appears to be in denial over his feelings, which is often conveyed through his internalized homophobia which gets challenged as the book goes on. When it is revealed that Tristen comes from a conservative family, and is often concerned with how others will perceive, or gossip about him, we get some insight into why he may be feeling this way. A lot of the humour is well done, in that it is at Tristen's expense as he slowly begins to realise he is at a pride party and becomes increasingly anxious and paranoid as his ideals are continuously challenged.

In the Wilder chapters, his feelings towards Tristen are much more clear as he is comfortable with his sexuality, but is trying to be respectful of the boundaries of their friendship. I also loved the way the sleazy Sean character was described from both Tristen and WIlder's perspective.

The story begins immediately with the "problem" by introducing us to the concept of the party, and Tristen's reluctance to go immediately. I am always a fan of when a narrative cuts to the chase as soon as possible. In this same vein, Tristen's backstory is given to us in a natural way through the narrative as he is hesitant to attend the party due to his messy breakup with Stacie. I liked how we got a glimpse into their text message breakup which was formatted into the text well, and even included a "not delivered" graphic. I thought this was a nice touch to convey that Tristen was blocked with no warning.

The main conflict of the story, the purple juice, was built up nicely. The tension surrounding the symptoms Tristen was feeling, as well as what Wilder was frightened he may begin to start feeling was well done and I was kept wondering what was going to happen next. We were given enough information to understand there was something seriously amiss with this juice, and kind of guess what may be in store as the events unravelled, as well as anticipate and fret over what else may be in store for poor Tristen as the juice makes its way through his system. One of the main purple juice symptoms gave rise to a hilarious scene where Wilder is practically begging people to have sex with his friend. The scene was really well done, and funny. I could picture this poor fellow running around pleading with people as his friend trails behind him, just wanting to alleviate his concerning and uncomfortable symptom, and desperately wants to go home.

The text of the story could benefit from some polishing as there were some grammatical mistakes. I picked up on some tense switches between past and present tense on occasion. There were also some instances where the syntax could be addressed to improve the overall flow. The story did well to show us character appearances through the action, dialogue, as well as through opinions of the other characters. However, there were some other moments where we are told information that could have been shown to us in a similar way.

This story is unique and humorous. I am certainly left wondering, what the heck was in that purple juice?