Review- How They Met and Other Stories by David Levithan

How They Met, and Other Stories on Goodreads

 BOOK SUMMARY:

Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes a confection from David Levithan that is sure to appeal to fans of Boy Meets Boy. Here are 18 stories, all about love, and about all kinds of love. From the aching for the one you pine for, to standing up and speaking up for the one you love, to pure joy and happiness, these love stories run the gamut of that emotion that at some point has turned every one of us inside out and upside down. What is love? With this original story collection David Levithan proves that love is a many splendored thing, a varied, complicated, addictive, wonderful thing.

Release date: 2014 (first published January 8th 2008)

Published by: Electric Monkey

Page numbers: 307

REVIEW: 

Authors normally pick up a pen to write, but I always imagine David Levithan picking up a wand. We might still be waiting for our Hogwarts letter, but I'm a 100% sure that David Levithan topped his OWLs and NEWTs, because he is a wizard and magic runs in his blood. He makes magic. I always, always imagine him waving his wand and words just coming out and forming that whole Avada Kedavra and Expelliarmus magic or something like Tom Marvolo Riddle- I am Lord Voldemort.

Now that I've proved that my most favourite contemporary writer of our time is a magician, let me tell you that he was as magical during his high school as he is now, because How They Met, and Other Stories is a collection of short stories written by the author in his school years. "If he's THAT incredible when he's so young, imagine what he'll do later", I'm sure someone must've said this to young David, and it goes to say, without doubt, that he kept getting better and better, to the point where he has established himself as a bright, brilliant, sparkling and shining star of an author.

How They Met, and Other Stories is incredible and every story is so different and unique that it feels like it's written by different people. Of course, I loved this collection as a whole, but some of my absolutely favourite stories were: Starbucks Boy, The Alumni Interview, The Number of People Who Meet on Airplane, What a Song Can Do and Without Saying. But I have to say that my most favourite story was Lost Sometimes, which is a sexy story of two boys in a more physical relationship. I have read almost all books by David Levithan, but I've never read something so sexy, gorgeous and exhilarating.

A book I always wanted to read, How They Met, and Other Stories had stories that I both loved and liked, but none that I didn't like. I didn't have any expectations, but I was way too happy with what I got, because the lovely magician never fails to deliver. I loved the book, but this book has proved that I love David Levithan even more.

Buy the book: AMAZON (IN)/ FLIPKART

Review- None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio

Goodreads Summary:

A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she was born intersex... and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.

What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant?

When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She's a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she's madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she's decided that she's ready to take things to the next level with him.

But Kristin's first time isn't the perfect moment she's planned—something is very wrong. A visit to the doctor reveals the truth: Kristin is intersex, which means that though she outwardly looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes, not to mention boy "parts."

Dealing with her body is difficult enough, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin's entire identity is thrown into question. As her world unravels, can she come to terms with her new self?

REVIEW:

None of the Above sounded very interesting to me when I first came across the book. A devotee of stories with LGBT characters, I started reading the book without much expectation, and I was pleasantly surprised. None of the Above turned out to be a really good and fresh story that I totally devoured. What struck me as most wonderful about None of the Above was the importance it gave- and in tune, the awareness it created- about gender issues. It created a deeper understanding about the problem that essentially leads to someone being called intersex or hermaphrodrite or transgender. 

None of the Above is the story of Kristin, who lost her beautiful mother to cervical cancer at the age of ten, and lives with her strong and sweetheart father. She is a runner and for her, running is breathing. After having a severely painful experience the first time she and her boyfriend get intimate, she books an appointment with a gynaecologist. What is revealed to Kristin there changes her life forever. 

Krissy was a well developed protagonist from whose point of view the entire book goes in first person. Her journey to discover her identity and find herself was such a pleasant ride, filled with emotion. From a popular, fun-loving and sweet girl, she goes on to become the subject of ridicule at her high school, simply because no societal definition of normal is good enough to describe her. What was best about Kristin that author I. W. Gregorio absolutely nailed (along with her fantastic writing) was some fabulous character development. 

The secondary characters in None of the Above were just as beautifully portrayed as Krissy. Each person had flaws which only made them realistic. Every one of them has an important role to play in making the story more about family, friendship and love which actually help one come to terms with oneself in any case, and that was an outstanding feature about this book. A surprisingly good read, I really enjoyed this book that doesn't just recount a story, but leaves one thinking about the issue that gender is made to be. 

RATING: