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Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
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Boy Meets Boy (original 2003; edition 2005)

by David Levithan (Author)

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2,6261285,519 (3.79)98
The first thing I gotta say is, I'm mad at myself for not reading this the moment it arrived in the mail!

The other first thing I gotta say is, I want to go to this high school!!! There should be a television show about this high school because I would watch the hell out of it!

This book was just beautiful. I loved the story and the characters. It's about Paul, who is best friends with Joni and Tony, ex-boyfriends with Kyle, and very interested in the new boy, Noah.

Let's talk about Paul. This kid is really put together. And what I mean is, he comes from a loving home with understanding and fun-loving parents and a pretty cool older brother. They all accept Paul and his friends for who and what they are, no questions asked. Besides typical teenaged angst, Paul is very secure in who he is. He's out, he's dated boys in junior high and high school; he's even had his heart-broken. He's the kid all parents wish their kids could be, without him seeming ridiculously fake. He's a good person with family and friends. He goes to school and does well, he participates in school plays and helps to plan school functions. He's supportive of his friends. And, most important, he makes mistakes.

Then we have Tony who is gay and sort of out, but he has devout Christian parents who pray for his soul and fear that he is headed straight for hell if he doesn't get back on the right path. But the catch is, they truly, truly love their child. They haven't thrown him out or tried to send him to a facility to geared to force him straight. But they do continuously pray for his salvation, they are strict about what activities he can participate in, they (sort of) screen his friends and get super excited whenever a girl is mentioned. Tony is so sad and I just want to hug him and adopt him as my own child. His parents mean well, but they haven't gotten to the point where (good parents) realize that loving your child means letting them be who they are and not who you wish they would be.

There's Joni, who loses her damn mind a few chapters into the book. She becomes the epitome of love making you ditch your family and friends and making you do stupid things. She, in my opinion, is a bad friend, and she gets no redemption from me.

Kyle is Paul's ex who broke up with him when being gay and in a relationship freaked him out. He gets halfway to redemption in my book because (and I can only imagine) having an identity crisis at 15-16 years old is insane and would make you do crazy, stupid things that teenagers often do, and then later regret.

And Noah is the new boy in town who is sweet and artsy and has been hurt before. I just wanted to hug him as well because he has the travelling-for-work-parents. They're never really home and have moved him and his sister around quite a bit. He doesn't even realize what he's looking for when he meets Paul and gets a little freaked-out himself. Only he handles his freak-out much better than Kyle did.

Infinite Darlene. She is a drag queen, the star quarter back, and the homecoming queen. 'Nough said.

There are more characters that I won't get into. But they are all wonderfully written. I feel like we were given a glimpse of who they all are as people and teenagers just struggling to get through high school life. The story is funny and sad and sweet and lovely. All-in-all this is a well-written tale of old love, new love, friendship, betrayal, growth and redemption. While I wish it was longer, the length was perfect. It left me wanting more, but I wasn't left unsatisfied. ( )
1 vote ViragoReads | Aug 2, 2017 |
English (125)  German (2)  Swedish (1)  All languages (128)
Showing 1-25 of 125 (next | show all)
I'm tempted to tag this book "fantasy" because it takes place in small town where the PFLAG group is bigger than the PTA. It's not like this book pretends homophobia doesn't exist (in fact, one of the main characters has a very hard time with his parents) but it does seem unreal to me. I sort of thought of it as a hopeful vision of the not-so-distant future. Great for LGBTQ teens, or as a Gay Straight Alliance book club pick.

One picky thing about the writing, though: I've read some of Levithan's other books and this is by far the most precious. Some of the narrators poetical musings were hard to swallow (I think the word I'm looking for is "twee"), but to give the author credit, it's probably not far from how a real 15-year-old romantic would express himself. ( )
  LibrarianDest | Jan 3, 2024 |
YA m/m romance in which, well, boy meets boy, boy has some questionable interactions with his ex-boy and so causes new-boy sadly to bolt, then boy makes romantic gestures to get new-boy back. On the surface it sounds…not great, and if it weren’t for the excellent characters that make up boy’s friends and the fun/funny takes on high school vibes, it would have been. But those good things are really good and make it not only a tolerable read, but a good one. I was recommending it to Charlie by describing it as a story that feels like it happens in the halls of Glee’s high school. ( )
  electrascaife | Sep 28, 2023 |
This one started slow and went faster as I went. The thing I like about David Leviathan's characters is that they do a lot of interesting and unique things and they're loaded with quirky details. Yes, he created a bit of a gay utopia, but I liked how there's a promise of "Life could be like this." It's nice to see the trans star quarterback also be the homecoming queen. The only thing I wasn't happy with was how things went with Joni. I mean, they didn't end in a total dumpster fire, but they weren't completely resolved and I guess that makes me antsy. ( )
  t1bnotown | Aug 28, 2023 |
This book is very cute and quirky... perhaps a little too cute and quirky. Or maybe just not my kind of cute and quirky. Think of a cross between Juno, chick-lit, and any movie with Zooey Deschanel in it... that is basically this book. It's like an indie romantic comedy. Except gay. I can appreciate the social and political value of this book, it's certainly a step forward, but it's just not my kind of book. I found it too whimsical and over-the-top, and the angst too manufactured, although there are definitely some very sweet, heartwarming moments. I wanted to like it, but I just don't think Levithan's style is for me. ( )
  serru | Oct 6, 2022 |
Not bad. Paul is just a little too saccharin sweet at times and I found some of the side characters more interesting in a lot of ways. Paul's friend Toni standing up to his strict religious parents is a nice defining moment. Joanie needed a dose of reality, but she seemed rather happy with Chuck who comes across as a complete jerk. I would have loved more of Infinite Darlene - the drag queen/football player (she was a hoot).

The reason I put this story in the fantasy section is that Paul, his family and friends live in this little bubble utopia where everyone of all perspectives/orientations/etc. seem to get along with a minimal amount of fuss. No one gets picked on for being out and proud or wearing drag or what-have-you. It's an ideal world which we all wish could exist, but rarely does. Humans just don't operate that way sadly. ( )
  fuzzipueo | Apr 24, 2022 |
What if you went to a school where it was actually all right to be who you really are? That's the enchanting place David Levithan has created in his highly acclaimed first novel. But even if the gay kids and the straight kids all get along just fine, even if it's all right for the quarterback to be a cross dresser named Infinite Darlene and the cheerleaders to ride Harleys into the pep rally, the road to true love is still a strange and winding path, as Paul discovers when he meets the boy of his dreams. Charming, funny, delightful, and utterly heartwarming, this YA novel speaks with clarity and depth about our need to love and be loved.
  Gmomaj | Jan 28, 2022 |
I liked this book, but like many reviewers feel like the setting and the characters rang more of a fantasy than a regular fiction. I love the phrase "Gay Utopia" that many Goodreads readers used describing this town and school in this book. Once I let go of the voices that kept saying, "These people, this school, this town CAN NOT EXIST" then I really enjoyed it as a sweet, heartfelt story. I even cried at points. ( )
  KimZoot | Jan 2, 2022 |
Sweet, exactly what I needed. ( )
  embly | Dec 11, 2021 |
3.5 stars
Boy Meets Boy has a very rich and diverse cast of characters and that was what I liked the most. My favourite character is Tony because I feel that he is missing most of the time but when he finally opens up to Paul (I live their friendship) he manages to take things slowly instead of giving up altogether. I admire his courage.
I also wish I could know more about Noah because he seems to be a very interesting character that could have been more explored.

“I could point out that it isn't always easy knowing who you are and what you want, because then you have no excuse for not trying to get it.”

“I find my greatest strength in wanting to be strong. I find my greatest bravery in deciding to be brave. I don't know if I've ever realised it before,[...] I think we both realise it now. If there's no feeling of fear, then there's no need for courage.” ( )
  _Marcia_94_ | Sep 21, 2021 |
Paul is a sophomore in high school, but it's not a high school like one you'll probably see anywhere. From the drag queen quarterback who is also the homecoming queen to the cheerleaders who ride on Harleys to the quiz bowling team that competes in competitions where they bowl while yelling out trivia answers, this school is far from typical. And when Paul meets Noah, he suddenly feels out of his element - he knows he likes Noah but just isn't sure how to make a move, especially when he can't seem to find him again at school.

Honestly, I thought this was a cute story, but it was also one with which I had difficulty to engage. The town and the school are so obviously fictional that it was hard to take the story seriously. I almost found myself tagging this with 'fantasy' for that very reason. But if you can look past that, there is a complicated story of young romance here that is worth a read. ( )
  crtsjffrsn | Aug 27, 2021 |
I want to live in the town this book was set in, go to this high school, be friends with these kids and especially live my life always knowing Infinite Darlene and all her wonder. Sigh. This book made me happy. So so happy. ( )
  Stacie-C | May 8, 2021 |
It's a good story but as an adult, it's very junior high. It does read much better than the audio book. ( )
  perkykeri | Mar 2, 2021 |
Sorry I think his writing is too self-aware. ( )
  klandring | Nov 8, 2020 |
“I find my greatest strength in wanting to be strong. I find my greatest bravery in wanting to be brave […] If there’s no feeling of fear, then there’s no need for courage.”

I enjoyed Boy Meets Boy. It’s short, sweet, funny, and very touching. David Levithan is great at painting characters so well and making you feel like you truly know them with nothing more than a few lines of dialogue. It’s quick witted and relatable. The world that’s painted in Boy Meets Boy is exactly how I wish my high school years were – LGBT kids growing up in a close knit and supportive community, a town where homophobia seems to blissfully be a thing of the past. It’s a great form of escapism from reality, but in the end, it's hard not to see it as something that's all a little too good to be true.

My favourite thing about Boy Meets Boy was the side characters and the friendships. Paul’s friendship with his best friend Tony is so precious and caring and I loved them more than anything else. Tony as a character was perhaps my favourite, I (like Paul) felt an immense need to protect him and help him seek happiness and freedom from his exhausting parents. I loved his quiet companionship with Paul, their secret language and the support they gave each other. Another character who made this book for me was Infinite Darlene, the star quarterback/homecoming queen - she’s hilarious and perfect.

On the other end we have Joni, Paul’s other best friend who honestly… She’s easily dislikeable. Despite both her best friends being gay, she continuously falls for grossly homophobic guys and pushes her friends aside for her boyfriend’s wants and attention. I found it nearly impossible to sympathize with her in any way (I would be angry with her too, Paul).

What honestly let down Boy Meets Boy a little bit was the strange love triangle. I am not the biggest fan of love triangles, I find them played out, but I’m usually more tolerant when it comes to love triangles in LGBT fiction. This was a strange one however, I was super torn and felt a little all over the place especially considering Paul’s main love interest Noah has only been around for like 2 weeks. They were cute, but I did find it hard to get invested in such an insta-love relationship and feel like this was True Love after such a short time. I found myself a lot more interested in Paul’s friendships and the other characters than his romantic relationships.

Boy Meets Boy was a quick, cute, funny (if a little unbelievable at times) read. Even though I wasn’t too emotionally attached to the relationship, what really made it for me was Paul’s friendships, particularly with his best friend Tony. They had such a touching friendship and Tony’s side story and development was definitely what I was most invested in, and ultimately was what made me enjoy this Boy Meets Boy.

Read more of my reviews on my blog A Gay Reads. ( )
2 vote angelgay | Jul 1, 2020 |
One of the most-praised novels in the LGBT genre, Boy Meets Boy weaves a lovely story about a gay high-school boy figuring out his love life and friendships, a twist on a number of plot devices, including the boy-meets-girl/boy-loses-girl trope. The language alternates effortlessly between hilarious and thoughtful and paints pictures that come alive and pull the reader into the world of this small town and its charming characters. The plot itself isn't spectacular or very unpredictable, but the way Levithan writes makes the story so engaging and beautiful. Really loved this :) ( )
1 vote piquareste | Jun 3, 2020 |
I think this a book you need to read before a certain age. It was a jumble of disproportional angst and overly sentimental nonsense. All the characters came off as pretentious and none were very likeable. This isn't a bad book, and I'm sure teenagers would love it, however I can't say it brought me any particular joy. ( )
  Fardo | Oct 15, 2019 |
This was whimsical and super cute. The audio with a full cast and music definitely made this entertaining. The whole idea of a high school with so many LGBTQ kids and allies and no one getting bullied for being who they are is awesome. I loved the drag queen quarterback and motorcycle-riding cheerleaders. The whole town was so accepting and good to each other, with just a couple exceptions. Paul was a cute lead character and I enjoyed his perspective on things. I wish real life was like this, everything would be so much better. ( )
  AlyP59 | Apr 25, 2019 |
An interesting and wonderful book about one of the aspects of growing up: the definition of who the main character Paul becomes when he falls in love with Noah.

One of the things I found fascinating about this story is that even in a 'Gaytopia', where coming out is (mostly) not required because all variations of sexuality are accepted, the struggle about who these teenagers are and what happens when they fall in love is pretty much the same as in the 'normal' world we all know. I think that is part of its charm: it shows young GLBTQI people what life might be like if they were fully accepted. It reassures them in a very unique way that the reasons they might feel awkward at times isn't just the fact that they're GLBTQI. It's the fact that they are growing up.

I recommend this book to all young people and their parents as well as members of the GLBTQI community.

( )
  SerenaYates | Oct 14, 2017 |
The first thing I gotta say is, I'm mad at myself for not reading this the moment it arrived in the mail!

The other first thing I gotta say is, I want to go to this high school!!! There should be a television show about this high school because I would watch the hell out of it!

This book was just beautiful. I loved the story and the characters. It's about Paul, who is best friends with Joni and Tony, ex-boyfriends with Kyle, and very interested in the new boy, Noah.

Let's talk about Paul. This kid is really put together. And what I mean is, he comes from a loving home with understanding and fun-loving parents and a pretty cool older brother. They all accept Paul and his friends for who and what they are, no questions asked. Besides typical teenaged angst, Paul is very secure in who he is. He's out, he's dated boys in junior high and high school; he's even had his heart-broken. He's the kid all parents wish their kids could be, without him seeming ridiculously fake. He's a good person with family and friends. He goes to school and does well, he participates in school plays and helps to plan school functions. He's supportive of his friends. And, most important, he makes mistakes.

Then we have Tony who is gay and sort of out, but he has devout Christian parents who pray for his soul and fear that he is headed straight for hell if he doesn't get back on the right path. But the catch is, they truly, truly love their child. They haven't thrown him out or tried to send him to a facility to geared to force him straight. But they do continuously pray for his salvation, they are strict about what activities he can participate in, they (sort of) screen his friends and get super excited whenever a girl is mentioned. Tony is so sad and I just want to hug him and adopt him as my own child. His parents mean well, but they haven't gotten to the point where (good parents) realize that loving your child means letting them be who they are and not who you wish they would be.

There's Joni, who loses her damn mind a few chapters into the book. She becomes the epitome of love making you ditch your family and friends and making you do stupid things. She, in my opinion, is a bad friend, and she gets no redemption from me.

Kyle is Paul's ex who broke up with him when being gay and in a relationship freaked him out. He gets halfway to redemption in my book because (and I can only imagine) having an identity crisis at 15-16 years old is insane and would make you do crazy, stupid things that teenagers often do, and then later regret.

And Noah is the new boy in town who is sweet and artsy and has been hurt before. I just wanted to hug him as well because he has the travelling-for-work-parents. They're never really home and have moved him and his sister around quite a bit. He doesn't even realize what he's looking for when he meets Paul and gets a little freaked-out himself. Only he handles his freak-out much better than Kyle did.

Infinite Darlene. She is a drag queen, the star quarter back, and the homecoming queen. 'Nough said.

There are more characters that I won't get into. But they are all wonderfully written. I feel like we were given a glimpse of who they all are as people and teenagers just struggling to get through high school life. The story is funny and sad and sweet and lovely. All-in-all this is a well-written tale of old love, new love, friendship, betrayal, growth and redemption. While I wish it was longer, the length was perfect. It left me wanting more, but I wasn't left unsatisfied. ( )
1 vote ViragoReads | Aug 2, 2017 |
Interesting, fun characters but no real story

BOY MEETS BOY by David Levithan is a YA LGBT contemporary romance.

I had high hopes for this book. The reviews on Amazon were very positive, and the blurb sounded interesting. It was also very short, and I was between books at the time.

There wasn’t much of a plot described in the blurb for this book, and I know why. Even now, as I try and summarize the story for this review, I'm at a loss. In essence, this is a story about Paul and his friends and their daily lives without a plot arc or story climax or any stakes to speak of. There's just not much to discuss when it comes to "what happens" in this book.

I spent the first part of the book trying to determine where this was taking place. The setting is obviously some sort of high school, though the country isn't clear. The term “sophomore” was used to describe Paul's grade (clearly USA), yet “snogging” was used to describe his friend kissing someone (that would be more likely used in the UK than the US). We just don't say “snogging” in the U.S. and the British don't use “sophomore.” This happened several times throughout the book. The area is described as a small town, yet the school has so many students, Paul and Noah have trouble finding one another. The school also has transgender, gay, lesbian, and drag queen students who are accepted openly. I wish this were normal in the United States but unfortunately that's not the case. This left me thinking it must be a whimsical setting for this story, but I was confused. Ultimately, I decided the book took place somewhere that doesn’t exist on any map. My confusion over the setting and my wondering whether this was a a true contemporary or a fantasy romance added to the utter lack of plot arc left me filling disappointed in this book. While I enjoyed some of the humor and the characters were very strong and fun, I wish there were some sort of goal or stakes or "story" for me to enjoy.

I give this book 2.5 North of Normal stars owing to its outstanding characters. ( )
  cmmccoy | May 24, 2017 |
I bought this as a birthday gift for my sister Cecilie several years ago. There was a death of queer stories or outlets in our hometown, and for that reason it was such a pleasure to see this fantasy world where there is no struggle in one's sexual or gender identity. It was refreshing to read a gay romance without a tragic ending or copious amounts of suffering. I think that's important, but it's also important to talk about the fact that it's not a viable political option, however sincere a wish it may be. Still, stories have power and stories allow us to escape, which was what this offered quite sweetly, and it was the panacea to the binary of either heterosexual or tragic-homosexual stories that overwhelmed me in the past. ( )
  likecymbeline | Apr 1, 2017 |
3.5 stars

This is more of a read for teens than adults I think. It’s about the drama of the high school years. It’s very open with sexual orientation so no matter where someone falls in the hetero or QUILTBAG spectrum (so basically everyone alive), there is something to relate to.

*SPOILER* For me, the best part was when they all show up together to pick the one boy up for a date. That was a magic moment, and the rest of the story after that as well. ( )
  ToniFGMAMTC | Jan 19, 2017 |
3.5 stars

This is more of a read for teens than adults I think. It’s about the drama of the high school years. It’s very open with sexual orientation so no matter where someone falls in the hetero or QUILTBAG spectrum (so basically everyone alive), there is something to relate to.

*SPOILER* For me, the best part was when they all show up together to pick the one boy up for a date. That was a magic moment, and the rest of the story after that as well. ( )
  ToniFGMAMTC | Jan 19, 2017 |
3.5 stars. This was a fun read. I heard of some people not liking it so much because it was almost too perfect, but that didn't really bother me. It was definitely "fluffy" but fun ( )
  Gaiagirlie | Jan 12, 2017 |
Leviathan’s idyllic paradise he’s created for the LGBTQIA+ community is saccharine sweet to the point of nausea. Generally, in literature, characters are portrayed as mere mortals with a the regular gamut of virtues, vices, flaws, and flatteries. In this book the characters are almost portrayed as near-perfect aside from the fatal flaw – the Achilles heel – that drives their individual plot. It’s just really weak character development. ( )
  benuathanasia | Jan 5, 2017 |
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