The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde - UPDATED REVIEW

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde  Genre : Classics Blurb (on back of book) : Oscar Wilde’s only novel is the dreamlike story of a young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. In this celebrated work Wilde forged a devastating portrait of the effects of evil and debauchery on a young aesthete in late-19th-century England. Combining elements of the Gothic horror novel and decadent French fiction, the book centers on a striking premise: As Dorian Gray sinks into a life of crime and gross sensuality, his body retains perfect youth and vigor while his recently painted portrait grows day by day into a hideous record of evil, which he must keep hidden from the world. For over a century, this mesmerizing tale of horror and suspense has enjoyed wide popularity. It ranks as one of Wilde's most important creations and among the classic achievements of its kind. UPDATED REVIEW MY OPINION : ****** I would like to start out this review by stating that this is undoubtedly m...
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Two Boys Kissing - David Levithan

Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction

Image result for two boys kissingBlurb (on back of book): New York Times bestselling author David Levithan tells the based-on-true-events story of Harry and Craig, two 17-year-olds who are about to take part in a 32-hour marathon of kissing to set a new Guinness World Record—all of which is narrated by a Greek Chorus of the generation of gay men lost to AIDS. 
While the two increasingly dehydrated and sleep-deprived boys are locking lips, they become a focal point in the lives of other teen boys dealing with languishing long-term relationships, coming out, navigating gender identity, and falling deeper into the digital rabbit hole of gay hookup sites—all while the kissing former couple tries to figure out their own feelings for each other.

MY OPINION: ****

I truly enjoyed reading this book. It was one of the most unique and emotional books I have ever read. It was beautiful, sad, and tragic.

The book centers around different couples.

1. Craig and Harry. They're not really a couple. They've been broken up. And yet, they're the main characters who are a part of the Kissathon, which is a large part of this book. Despite not being together, they plan to break the world record for longest kiss: around 32 hours. Everything is set up. They aren't there to catch feelings all over again. Instead, they are trying to prove a statement, to show the world that two boys kissing isn't a bad thing. To give people, other boys, the strength to come out and believe that it is okay, and that it isn't wrong.

I really liked Craig and Harry's story. The kissing wasn't romantic. I really liked the idea behind their story. I felt really bad for Craig, especially. He had to deal with his feelings for Harry while also facing his parents and family's disapproval for who he was.

2. Neil and Peter. They were cute, but towards the end, I was not feeling the chemistry anymore. They started to grow apart from each other and even though they never broke up or anything like that, I didn't know how to feel about their distance apart from each other. Neil's family was not the most accepting of Neil being gay, which I found unbelievably sad. They tried to ignore it and pretend it wasn't real, and that's almost worse than them hating him. If they had hated him, they would have at least acknowledged who their son was.

Peter. I don't really know how I felt about him. Since it was such a short book, I didn't really get a lot of character development from him, but he was such a complicated and yet simple person at the same time. I would have liked more backstory.

3. Cooper. He's been going around on dating sights and the like, talking to men and boys who are looking for their own escape. When his parents find out, he runs away. The book constitutes of him living his life on the streets, looking for random hookups and feeling like nothing. His story was the saddest for me, especially towards the end. He had this feeling that nothing was real, that he wasn't existent, that the world would be better off without him, and that truly hit hard. It was so sad and tragic and I spent a good amount of time waiting to read more about Cooper.

4. Ryan and Avery. I loved their story. The mini-golf course date was my favorite by far. Avery has been navigating with gender identity and Ryan has been dealing with bullies his whole life. I would have loved to see more of them, but they were definitely my favorite couple.

The story is interrupted quite often by a Greek-chorus-esque group of those lost to AIDS. They talk about being dead and how they lived their lives. I thought that this was unique and quite interesting and I loved the idea of it. However, I wasn't the most interested while actually reading it. For some reason, I personally felt that it drew away from the overall story and I would have liked it more if there was less of these interruptions. I wouldn't cut them away completely but instead of having it on every page, I would have it more sparsely interspersed.

I loved this book. I have always been a fan of David Levithan and I am interested in reading more of his work. I would recommend this book to readers looking for a short, sad, haunting tale of the generation of boys living during the time of the AIDS epidemic while looking for themselves and for each other.

Main Character: Cooper, Neil, Peter, Craig, Harry, Ryan, Avery
Sidekick(s): Friends, family, etc
Villain(s): AIDS, families, suicide, etc
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was real to life.

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