Fan Art
Young Adult, Romance, LGBT
Katherine Tegen Books
June 17, 2014
Hardcover
368
Pinoy Book Tours
When the picture tells the story…
Senior year is almost over, and Jamie Peterson has a big problem. Not college—that’s all set. Not prom—he’ll find a date somehow. No, it’s the worst problem of all: he’s fallen for his best friend.
As much as Jamie tries to keep it under wraps, everyone seems to know where his affections lie, and the giggling girls in art class are determined to help Jamie get together with Mason. But Jamie isn’t sure if that’s what he wants—because as much as Jamie would like to come clean to Mason, what if the truth ruins everything? What if there are no more road trips, taco dinners, or movie nights? Does he dare risk a childhood friendship for romance?
This book is about what happens when a picture reveals what we can’t say, when art is truer than life, and how falling in love is easy, except when it’s not. Fan Art explores the joys and pains of friendship, of pressing boundaries, and how facing our worst fears can sometimes lead us to what we want most.
While this is not the first time I’ve read a young adult novel, this is the first time I’ve read an LGBT-themed one. It wasn’t because I wasn’t interested in them. It’s just that for some reason, I haven’t encountered one until now. Seriously! And since lately I’ve been reading stuff with themes that are new to me, I immediately signed up to do this review when I first read the novel description.
In the novel, Jamie Peterson has just realized that he has fallen in love with his best friend, Mason. The problem is, he doesn’t know if Mason feels the same way towards him. Jamie doesn’t even know if Mason is gay too. I suppose it would have been easier to just ask, right? But there’s that major problem of Jamie not coming out of the closet yet. What if Mason rejects him? What’s a young guy to do?
This novel is all about the classic case of first love and falling in love with ones best friend. The story revolves around Jamie coming to terms with coming out and his struggle to find the courage to tell Mason that he’s in love with him. I find the story cute but predictable. Reading the first few chapters already gave me an idea about what the ending will be like. However, it was still fun to read the whole thing and see how the story plays out.
I find Jamie’s character easy to relate to. All of us, at some point in our lives, struggle with identity issues as well as with friendships and first loves. He was just a bit frustrating at times because he’s so clueless! There were already a lot of signs from the beginning that show how Mason felt but Jamie failed to recognize them. It’s either he’s really just clueless about love or he was in denial. But still, one can’t help but root for him because he’s such a nice, talented guy who has such mushy thoughts. I love mushy! Case in point, here’s a sample of what’s inside Jamie’s head.
It seems like he says this in slow motion, because a million thoughts pop into my head in the time it takes for the words to form on his lips, starting with, You lose me all the time – I get lost in my fantasies for seconds, minutes, hell, I don’t know. And I’m so glad I didn’t come out to you – then I might lose you for good. And God, I love you. You won’t ever lose me.
I don’t know about you but that part of the book made me gush. You gotta read the book to understand it though. Ohhh, young love. Hahaha!
As for the other characters, I find some of them pretty irritating such as Jamie’s friend, Eden, who I feel is just too pathetic at times. Although I guess she more than made up for it for being very supportive of Jamie coming out and being there for him as a sounding board of sorts. With regard to Mason, at first I didn’t get what was so special about him. But midway into the novel, you will get an idea of how sensitive a guy he really is because of a contribution he made, which I will no longer explain further because I don’t want to spoil the suspense for those who haven’t read the novel yet. The characters I really love though are Jamie’s mom and stepdad, who are just the best parents in the world for being so supportive of him, sometimes in a funny but still emotional way.
Overall, I think Fan Art is an easy, light and fun read. Perfect for those days when you just want to relax and unwind.
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Falling in love with your bestfriend is very common love story. 🙂
Michi recently posted…Custom Rubber Stamps
I think teens would like this.
Kim Reyes recently posted…Adventures, Misadventures, and #MyAirbnbBucketList
Cute. This reminds me of my HS days.
TagaCallCenterBlog recently posted…Juan Miguel, Call Center… represent!
Ooohhhh my friendly friend bekis would enjoy this book, I think! 🙂 Looks like a fun read.
Patty | MrsC recently posted…Sweet Treats From Pink Wasabi
Wow, I’ve never read an LGBT book! I’m supporter pa naman. Will recommend this to my cousin-in-law!
Roxi – Mr. Jacob’s Mom recently posted…Are You Rainy Season Ready?
I will never get tired of young adult fiction. I guess that’s why much has been written about young love 🙂
Sam recently posted…Leyte Landing — A Journey with Operation Compassion
Love and bestfriends! Will recommend this to friends 🙂
Que Sullano – Gavan recently posted…The Nike Pro Bra Collection
I haven’t read young adult novels for quite sometime now. I remember enjoying stories like this.
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