Relationships are always made up of these little perceptions of relationships, you know. What you think a friendship is something else to someone else. You can never really know what’s in someone else’s mind, no matter how much you love them. Meh. I expected something different. The description gave me a Sex Education vibe, even though Jack doesn’t sound like Otis at all. But I was still interested to see how the author approaches this plot! After reading the book, I have to say that he didn’t handle it very well. Jack’s supposed to be 17 (I think?) but acts like a typical “cool” teenager – he smokes, takes drugs and drinks. What made me uncomfortable was the fact that he was a minor and I feel like the author sexualised him. He sends nudes,and he knows it could be considered child pornography, but he’s completely blasé about it! He’s also like “if someone shares them, I just share theirs as well”. Um, hello?? What kind of problematic message does this send to readers? Adding to that, Jack was a complete arsehole! The stalker plotline was very weird and I think the ending was rushed. In general, something was off. I don’t know if it’s the writing or the story (probably both) but I really didn’t like it. I also think that there were way too many characters – he had sex with a lot of guys and I couldn’t tell them apart. He was in a relationship with one guy, the other moved there from Boston, then there was the older brother of a class mate… I couldn’t tell them apart AT ALL. It was also convenient that his mother was gone all the time. What I also didn’t like was the fact that a letter to Jack of Hearts was at the beginning of a chapter, then the plot continued, and his answer was at the beginning of the next chapter. I always had to check what the last letter was about because I already forgot about it. The book tries to be sex positive but it was just over the top.
1. Jan. 2024
Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts): L.C. Rosenvon L. C. RosenPenguin