Spy Stuff

by Matthew J. Metzger

Yes, I'm on a spree of Metzger books. I am unashamed. They're worth it.

Anton was driven out of his old school for being trans, so he's determined to go stealth at his new one. His binder is a 'back brace', he doesn't go out for football in case anybody feels anything, and nobody comes over on Sundays because that's when Dad shows up, and Dad still calls him Natasha. But it's really hard to stay closeted to your boyfriend, especially when you're pre-transition, and Jude--well, Jude's smile gives Anton butterflies from day 1. CW for slurs. Probably some homophobic ones that I honestly don't really notice anymore, but notably an ethnic slur for Polish people, the r-slur, the t-slur, and the k-slur*. None of it's meant to harm.

Everything I've come to expect and adore out of a Metzger book. New, refreshing plot that I couldn't predict the end of at any point, death to all the tropes, and, more importantly, a trans character that rings true as written by a trans author. Most of the uneducated-about-trans-shit characters caused no major trauma and were really supportive, Mom and aunt were completely on board, the therapist was written like a good therapist, and we pretty much avoided all the problematic trans narratives that I could think of. Take notes, all ye queer writers! Added to my gifts for other folks list. 5/5.

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*ret*rded, tr*nny, and k*ke respectively.

The Italian Word for Kisses (and an epiphany about fiction plots)

by Matthew J. Metzger
From Amazon and Goodreads, because I didn't feel like trying to write a summary:
"It’s no secret Tav and Luca are going out. After the accident, it’s also no secret that new kid Jack Collins has a raging case of homophobia, and is not best pleased about having given the kiss of life to a gay guy. Either Luca quits swimming, or Jack is going to make him.
Tav favours the tried-and-true method of knocking Jack’s teeth down his neck, only he can’t really afford another school suspension. Luca favours just ignoring him, only ignoring a penknife being held to your throat at New Year’s Eve is downright stupid.
Thing is, Luca suspects Jack is a victim of something himself. And time is running out for Luca to get through to Jack, before Jack gets rid of him."
TW: Canon-typical racism and homophobia, in context of being acknowledged as bad things. Casual ableism, not addressed, including the r-slur. Implied/referenced sexual assault and pedophilia.

As always, I have gobs of praise for Metzger's writing. He's, impossibly, improved since Rhapsody on a Theme.
I never noticed how many tropes exist in published fiction (I say, because fanfiction frequently subverts them, more on that later) until The Italian Word for Kisses kept not going there.
Tav is jealous of Aaron kissing Luca for a play? That's supposed to get out of control and cause major fights, probably including a love triangle. But instead, they talk about it, acknowledge the irrationality, accept that the feeling exists, and move on.
Luca wants to keep what's going on a secret? He's supposed to build an ever-increasing complex web of lies to keep it, until the truth comes out in the end and a proportionally large blowout occurs. But instead, when pressed for details, he admits what's going on.
Even more, since the book begins with Tav and Luca happy together, their relationship ought to end up in serious jeopardy at some point, and spoiler alert, it doesn't.
This is not a book where the whole thing could have been solved early on if everyone had just sat down and talked. Tav and Luca disagreed on it, yes, but we got inside both their heads and saw where both of them were coming from. And where both of them were coming from are such intensely emotional places, it's no wonder they can't come to a decision they both like.
Writers are taught--certainly I was--to pack as much drama as is humanly possible into everything. And only now is it driven home to me that the price is predictability. The number of times something happened to make me go, "OK, the plot is going to be..." before I actually got a handle on what kind of story I was reading. Because normally, all I have to do to figure it out is to figure out how the first conflict that turns up can be made The Most Bad.
Back on fanfiction, I think this is one of the reasons I'm less thrilled about published fiction. Leaving out genre fiction for a bit--those are difficult to predict simply because of the universe they're in--published books have to be a certain length, and so they have a certain amount of plot that needs to happen, and an expectation to pump as much out of the possibilities as they can. One of the most popular genres in fanfiction is hurt/comfort, and when's the last time that was the actual plot of a book you read? That the hurt wasn't a plot device for something more sinister to be revealed in their interpersonal connection, that the comfort doesn't wait until after an internal debate on the part of the comforter? What about fluff?
When was the last time a book surprised me, I'm asking myself. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (surrealist)? Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (also surrealist)? No, probably either Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie (sci-fi) or The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde (humor/fantasy). Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick kept me on the edge of my seat, but did it actually surprise me? When was the last time a book surprised you?

TL;DR: Buy Metzger books. Support an asexual transgender writer and be prepared to have your socks knocked off. I'm buying everyone this book for the foreseeable future holidays.