Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan gives us beautiful insight into the lives of several gay and transgender teens, and gives us an even greater appreciation for the LGBTQ book genre.
The two boys kissing are Craig and Harry. They’re hoping to set the world’s record for the longest kiss. They’re not a couple, but they used to be.
Peter and Neil are a couple. Their kisses are different.
Avery and Ryan have only just met and are trying to figure out what happens next. Both of them worry that something will go wrong.
Cooper is alone. It’s getting to the point where he doesn’t really feel things anymore.
These boys, along with their friends and families, form a tapestry that will reveal love of all kinds: open and eager, tentative and cautious, pained and scared.
Review: ‘Two Boys Kissing’
Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan takes the stories of all these boys and spins them into an interconnecting web that will leave you emotionally exhausted and absolutely thrilled to have read something so beautiful and unique.
This particular novel is narrated in a much different way than any other book we’ve read. The voices telling you the story of Peter, Neil, Avery, Ryan, Harry, Craig, and Cooper are all of a much older generation than these characters. They’re the men who’ve passed away from the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and ’90s, and have been watching over the younger generation in hopes to see them grow and make the better decisions in life.
Our narrators give us insight not only into the lives of these characters but the lives they’ve led and the decisions they’ve made. They inspire us and educate us about their lifestyles and the changes that society has gone through that they wish they could’ve experienced.
What’s amazing about the type of narration Levithan uses is the numerous points of view we get because of it. We’re not just guided by the men who’ve partied all night long and led wild lives, but also the men who’ve studied all night and been more cautious and got hurt anyway.
These men have loved, been loved, and missed love completely; they’ve died alone and they’ve died surrounded by family. They are the entire generation, and they give us better insight into these characters than any other narrator could’ve possible done on their own.
We start the novel with Neil and Peter, a pair of 15-year-old boys who’ve been dating for a year. Their journey in this novel isn’t as much about understanding themselves like it is for the other characters, but understanding what they have and where it’s going. We watch as Neil discovers exactly what being in love means, and in that discovery we witness his relationship with Peter go through the same hills and valleys that so many of us have gone through ourselves.
We’re then introduced to Tariq Johnson, a character that’s been through a particularly rough night and part of the inspiration for Harry and Craig’s attempt to break the kissing record. He’s both the spark of inspiration and a support beam for the couple as he helps them stay awake for the thirty-three hours the record is supposed to last.
Cooper Riggs is the most broken. After an altercation with his parents, he spends the novel away from everything, trying to find a human connection in people, but in all the wrong ways. He’s spending his time flirting and fake flirting with men on apps and websites, and as he’s discovering himself and figuring out where he’s going, we’re rooting for him the entire time to discover the things in life worth living for.
We meet Ryan and Avery at a gay prom in a small town, which is where they meet each other for the first time. Their particular story is one that’s not just about meeting someone new but also about being proud of who you are and who you choose to be as you put yourselves out there.
Avery was born a girl and has known since childhood he was born in the wrong body, and he’s lucky enough to have parents who supported him and helped him feel more comfortable. He and Ryan go out, and we’re filled with excitement, nerves, and curiosity when we witness Avery telling Ryan his story, and we spend the novel rooting for their date to go as well as it possibly can.
Finally, we’re introduced to Harry and Craig, who’ve broken up but agreed to stay on better terms. It was Craig’s idea to attempt and break the record for the world’s longest kiss of 32 hours, 12 minutes and 10 seconds, and Harry says yes. While Craig is still in love with Harry and Harry isn’t in love with Craig, that’s not the reason he wants to do the kiss. He and Harry want to send a message of support and equality for their friends and for strangers around the world who tune into the kiss via live stream and news outlets coming to report on their kiss.
We watch as both Craig and Harry struggle to keep the kiss going due to not only the physical restraint it puts on them but the emotional strains it causes Craig and his family, who he hasn’t come out to.
Each character in Two Boys Kissing has an internal struggle that we find ourselves rooting them through, and by the end of it we realized we were more emotionally invested in each and every one of them than we planned to be.
While there are some moments when the narrators seem overly-preachy, their message of acceptance, love, and living life is one that we couldn’t agree with more, and we’re so glad we got a chance to read it.
Whether you’re part of the LGBTQ community or not, Two Boys Kissing will give you valuable insight into the struggles they have gone through for generations, and a new appreciation not just for the strengths that they show today but also the experiences and knowledge that the older generation have given us from the past.
Two Boys Kissing will be available to purchase in the United States this coming Tuesday August 27 through retailers like Amazon and your local book store.
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