AUSSIE YA MONTH: Review - Pink by Lili Wilkinson

I honestly feel like this entire theme month has been me like cyberly grabbing hold of you guys by the shoulders and jumping up and down like crazy, chanting READ THIS READ THIS OMG READ THIS READ IT OMGGGGG!!!!!!!! So picture that in your mind eye, because that is PRECISELY what I am doing now. I am grabbing you and shouting right in ur face. And you love it.

Because Pink is a book that ur going to want to read. Srsly. This is like contemporary fiction at its absolute best, and Wilkinson is a gangsta, sat in the corner with her brandy and smokes, laughing a gravely evil laugh because she just KNOWS ur going to read this book and fall in love. Then next thing you know, ur living a life of crime; stealing books off’a peoples shelves, skulking in corners of bookstores, holding the library at ransom because YOU NEED ANOTHER CONTEMPORARY FIX AND SHE’S TURNED YOU INTO A JUNKIE.

I literally have no idea where this review is headed or why I just called Fiona a gangsta. I’m actually pretty sure she’s a real nice lady.

Ava is like srsly, what the heck is happening. Her gf Chloe is super duper amaze and all that shit, and it’s tres amazing to be in a fun relationship with someone you like. But can you really be happy in a relationship if you don’t truly know who YOU are. So, she decides that transferring to Billy Hughes is the way to go. Because there she can wear something that’s not black and y’know, join in and stop pretending she is too cool for school. So she transfers! And starts wearing PINK and dating BOYS! (penis alert!) But things go decidedly jacked up, because as easy as it sounds to forge a new identity in a new place, when ur hiding bits of urself away, the line between who you are and who you are pretending to be gets a little blurred. And you can only be you. The you that you are.

You know, a lot of books that feature LGBT teens really don’t quite hit the spot, y’know? Like you feel happy because YAY equality and YAY real life things are happening!! Because people aren’t all white and straight. I KNOW, SHOCKER! But then you just realize they don’t even add to the story, they’re just thrown in to be the “token gay character” and guess what? THAT REALLY PISSES ME OFF. And then in saunters Wilkinson, like BITCH PLEASE. Stand back and watch how it’s done. AND SHE HAS SERIOUS BOOK GAME Y’ALL. SHE BRINGS IT. In such an understated way, like its normal, which it TOTALLY IS!! It doesn’t feel forced, it’s just this perfectly beautiful representation of how ambiguous teenage sexuality can be. Because Ava doesn’t know if she’s gay or not. (which I love, because I hate that people need to put labels on things, why can’t you simply just *be*)

Also, Ava is a total dork. Like complete and utter nerd face. JUST LIKE US. Well, I can only speak for myself, but I think we are all nerds just a little right? I mean, we have friends inside our computers. That’s definitely nergasm worthy. So the banter was right up my street – so far up my street in fact, that it almost banged on my front door like YAY I AM SO WITTY WITH MY BANTER LETS BANTER IT UP. And guess what? THIS BOOK IS NOT WHAT YOU EXPECT.

And theatre. THEATRE. OMG REALLY I LOVE BOOKS THAT HAVE A THEATRE SETTING! The crew! The drama! Off stage and on stage dilemmas! The bright lights! The roaring crowd. I LOVE IT.

I mean, with a title like that, I was expecting fluff and cuddles and all the sloppy disgusting stuff that comes with the visual representation of said colour. Except, its ironic how it is NOTHING like its title. It’s not sweet as candy or soft and fluffy like gooey marshmallows. If I could describe this book in a word, it would be BAZINGA or you know SPUNK.