Rec or Wreck? - Jacque

 Rec or Wreck?

Let's face it. We're all looking for a book to read. Whether it's for some entertainment, a blog post, or just to feel cooler than others by looking pretentious with a book in hand, we all need some good recommendations to further our reading lists. I'm sure you've heard of some good books to read but have you ever been told books you should never read?

Today, I'm going to do just that. I'll list some of my favorite genres I've read a lot of books about and some I loved and some I couldn't get into or plain just hated. You don't have to agree with me, but what's life without a little bit of debate? Feel free to leave your opinions in the comments!

Coming of Age
We all love a good coming of age story. The main character grows up, learns some life lessons, and maybe even falls in love along the way. They fill you with warm, cozy feelings (most of the time) and you can see yourself in the pages. With such a large catalog of coming of age books to choose from, how can you ever go wrong? Turns out you can. I've made that mistake before but I'll let you know how to not make the same one I did.

Rec:
Let's start off with the positives. One book I absolutely recommend if you're looking for a coming of age story is You Know Me Well by Nina Lacour. It's dual lesbian and gay representation and both stories are equally interesting. It changes between the perspectives of Kate, a young lesbian artist pressured by her friends to get out into the world, and Mark, a young gay who's still stuck on being in love with his childhood best friend who has a boyfriend.
I won't say much so I don't spoil it, but the growth in this book is just amazing. It sits as one of my favorite books ever and it compasses a lot of the good parts of LGBTQ+ coming of age tropes. It also breaks a lot of untrue stereotypes such as lesbian relationships being easier than straight ones and the stereotype that all gay men must act or dress a certain way. It's a (mostly) realistic and down to earth look into life as a young queer kid who's trying to graduate, find love, and follow their dreams.

Wreck:
For every positive there must be a negative. I'm sure some scientist said that (Newton?) but I can't remember that right now and that's not important! Moving on, reading this book was like a chore that you don't want to do but feel obliged to anyways. Not only was it was full of scenes and dialogue that never connected, there was no allowance for doing all of your chores at the end. There was no satisfaction, no character development, or anything.
The book I'm talking about it Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáen. I'm sure most of you have heard about this book and I'm sure some of you even love it. I just couldn't get into it even when I was determined too. There was too much dialogue, too many different scenes that never connected to a greater story, and there was never a satisfying conclusion. I will admit, I haven't read the new sequel so that might be better. The first book's experience really put me off from reading it.

Having read my recs and wrecks, I think we can all agree that people have different opinions. What one person hates may be someone's favorite book. The world thrives on people with different opinions and it's great when people can share them in a space like this. That being said, feel free to comment your recs and wrecks and if you agree with mine!