Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: The Good Guys
AUTHOR: Francis Gideon
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 58 pages
BLURB:
When Oliver meets a really cute elf while out Live Action Role Playing, he thinks he’s found the Sam to his Frodo. He tries to find out more about Oakenshire the Elf, but comes up with nothing. When summer vacation forces the LARPing group to take a break, Oliver throws himself into his upcoming play, where he is one of the main leads. There he meets a new person to captivate his attention: Avery.
She’s smart, funny, and into all the same things that Oliver is into, even LARPing. As their friendship progresses, Oliver begins to notice the similarities the young woman has to Oakenshire the Elf. It could be his final chance to see his elf again—or another case of mistaken identity that will leave Oliver fumbling with pronouns, excuses, and hurt feelings.
REVIEW:
Oliver is the geek’s geek, and he likes it that way. When he comes across a cute elf on the last day of his group’s LARP event, he is sad that they will not get a chance to talk again for months. But with a chance encounter at a doctor’s office, Oliver may get his shot at a real life geek romance.
I think it would be fair to say that I don’t really get the whole LARPing thing. That’s like level 4 geek, and I’m stuck comfortably somewhere between levels 1 and 2. But despite my lack of understanding, I kinda wanted to give this book a shot. The fact that there is a trans character was just an extra incentive.
However a lot of this story seemed to focus on the Trans Experience…and less on the story of a trans character. I like that the author tried to work all this stuff in, but it felt too much like the purpose of the story was to educate the public instead of telling a story about two characters who just happen to be trans and non-binary.
The geek stuff was cool, and Avery was awesome, but I was just kept wanting more actual story out of this than I did.
RATING:
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