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A review by booksandfin
The Boy with a Bird in His Chest by Emme Lund
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I’ve taken a couple days to really think about what I want to say about this book and I keep coming back to one sentence:
If you haven’t read this book, you need to.
The Boy with a Bird in His Chest struck to my ribs in the way Lund hoped for. I feel like this is a book I will always carry with me. I know what everything looks like, smells like and feels like in Owen’s world. I could feel every emotion he experienced. I was tearing up in the first 20 pages alone and cried over the book in such a way that I cannot describe. Everyone should read this book.
If you are queer in any way, I can almost guarantee that you will see youself on the page in a real and profound way. If you claim to be an ally to the queer community this is on your required reading.
This book is a true coming of age story that centers queer characters without focusing on them reconciling with their queerness. It’s also about toxic masculinity in so many ways as well as generational trauma and breaking those patterns of abuse.
Owen and Tennessee’s relationship is so vital to this story and it hurts to not see more people talk about this. Their relationship really hit home for me. Not to mention that Ariel has been forever changed for me. Listened to ‘Part of Their World’ the other day and started crying because all I could think about was Owen. Also screw Owen’s mom. She made me so upset consistently throughout the book. Also: Clyde is so lovely. Give that boy a hug.
If you haven’t read this book, you need to.
The Boy with a Bird in His Chest struck to my ribs in the way Lund hoped for. I feel like this is a book I will always carry with me. I know what everything looks like, smells like and feels like in Owen’s world. I could feel every emotion he experienced. I was tearing up in the first 20 pages alone and cried over the book in such a way that I cannot describe. Everyone should read this book.
If you are queer in any way, I can almost guarantee that you will see youself on the page in a real and profound way. If you claim to be an ally to the queer community this is on your required reading.
This book is a true coming of age story that centers queer characters without focusing on them reconciling with their queerness. It’s also about toxic masculinity in so many ways as well as generational trauma and breaking those patterns of abuse.