Jerkbait

For a middle-aged woman, I read a lot of YA. And a lot of the YA included, if not stars, LGBTA+ characters. Jerkbait was a book with which I struggled, because I had trouble liking any of the characters. We are given a cursory explanation of why the mother character seems like an utter homophobe, which amounts to her actually having loved her gay brother. It doesn't make any more sense in the book.

The main thing is that we have this very suicidal character, Robbie. By the use of “very,” I mean he is actively and repeatedly trying to kill himself, and no one is helping him. I mean, ostensibly, this is because his parents want him to be recruited, drafted, whatever, and make buckets of money as a hockey player, and they fear if his suicidal desires come to light, this will be ruined. But they're doing nothing to keep him alive, either. This is before they find out he is gay, as opposed to their theater-loving son. Which I appreciate makes a good point about stereotypes.

His twin brother, Tristan the Theater Kid, who is technically the main character, is beyond selfish as well. Yes, he is been pushed aside by his horrible parents due to his lack of interest in, and lesser ability on, the ice, but he spends a lot of time whining about not being close to his brother, only to shut down his brother's desperate efforts to engage. We are told his brother is abusive and cold, and there is certainly some evidence, but most of the time he is simply asking for help and being ignored.

Tristan is more concerned with his own interests than helping his brother. He ignores his brother's pleas for help, doesn't meet him when he is supposed to in order to keep an eye on him, and within minutes of one of Robbie's suicide attempts actively being hateful to his brother. He also seeks to capitalize on it. This last one is what really lost me. As much empathy as I have, Tristan's legitimate need to attention crossed a line for me, making me concerned that no one in this story was capable of being altruistic.

Maybe that's just exactly what this family would produce.

The story has a lot of secondary characters acting hateful or kind based on, what comes across as, the needs to the plot. And then the plot needs the brothers to have a Twin-based Psychic Hotline to one another, and so that happens. The ending is sorta happy, but based on the personalities of the characters, it doesn't feel realistic or lasting. Parents are terrible, brothers – particularly Tristan – are terrible. Other characters, terrible. I do think there is a version of this story that could have existed where people were merely challenging, conflicted, and flawed, like real people.

The writing is technically good, which means I would consider other books by this author. Go figure. :) I truly see my issues being with plotting, here and there, and characterization as opposed to any issue with Mia Siegert being able to tell a good story. Different characters in a different setting, creating a different dynamic? I could see myself very much enjoying that.

My suggestion for a YA book with a gay male character who is also into sports would be True Letters from a Fictional Life.l had some issues with this book, but I'd easily call that story worthy of a 1/2 to 1 star more based on those characters having complexity enough to be imperfect, but still relatable.