faerie_writer: Another Kind of Cowboy

maggie l. wood (

faerie_writer) wrote,
@ 2007-10-23 07:47:00

Current mood:

satisfied

Another Kind of Cowboy
Another writer friend of mine recently took a risk in her writing. Susan Juby, who is without a doubt Canada's leading queen of Chick-Lit with her hilarious Alice, I Think series, made a foray into gay YA (I swear I could not find a better word than foray.) with her latest book Another Kind of Cowboy.

Now, being a rabid fan of her Alice series, I admit to being a little concerned about Susan writing about somebody other than Alice. I mean, how could said author possibly top Alice? Will the humour be as funny? Will the new characters feel like a rehash of old ones? These were some of my worries.

I'm happy to say, though, that I thought Another Kind of Cowboy really showed Susan Juby's growth as a writer. It still had her trademark humour but in a much more subtle way than the Alice books. Alex, the gay cowboy, was just a *fabulous* character, so well-drawn and believable. And Cleo, the misunderstood rich girl, was the perfect foil! I just loved their clashing viewpoints. Even the minor characters were wonderful. And who knew that dressage could be so interesting?!

Honestly, I'm not a horsey person at all, but I found all the dressage stuff quite fascinating and am looking for it on TV now wanting to see some competitions.

Yay, Susan! I FOR ONE AM HOPING FOR A SEQUEL (as you know, you still have that loose end to tie up with Rio)!

*Edit - Just heard Another Kind of Cowboy got nominated for Ontario's White Pine Award! Yay again, Susan!!!

(Post a new comment)

	mroctober 2007-10-23 01:09 pm UTC (link)
	Cool, thanks for posting about this book. I added it to my wishlist. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	faerie_writer 2007-10-23 02:34 pm UTC (link)
	The rest of the week I'm going to be posting reviews on LJ friends' books, so keep an eye-out for your review! :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

	m_stiefvater 2007-10-23 01:33 pm UTC (link)
	DRESSAGE rocks! Um - cough - that's all. I just rode dressage when I was in college. . . it's gorgeous in person (the high-level stuff). (Reply to this)(Thread)

	faerie_writer 2007-10-23 02:39 pm UTC (link)
	The funnest thing about Susan's portrayal of dressage is the flamboyant dressage instructors. Fergus and Ivan are HILARIOUS. :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

	quiller77 2007-10-23 02:51 pm UTC (link)
	Good review. I bought the book for the library so it will be interesting to see if anyone raises objections (rural Canada and all that). Mind you, most kids read books without parental input and I don't say anything because it's not my place to police what anyone reads. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	faerie_writer 2007-10-23 03:10 pm UTC (link)
	Good for you! :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

astres
2007-10-23 03:32 pm UTC (link)

I read and reviewed this one, too.

I loved Alex's character, but Cleo I found to be a controversial, distracting character with absolutely no moral substance. It frustrated me, a lot. And it was a little awkward that every other male character except the fathers were gay X.x

I do give Alex props for being a strong character, but I think he could have been the main focus and the novel would have been a lot stronger.

But, once again, that's just my POV

(Reply to this)(Thread)

faerie_writer
2007-10-23 03:57 pm UTC (link)

but Cleo I found to be a controversial, distracting character with absolutely no moral substance.

See, to me Cleo was like the opposite of Alex and the perfect foil for his shy but growing self-assurance. She's a rich, spoiled girl with neglectful parents. I would *expect* her to have no moral substance. But I thought both she and Alex grew at the end of the story, which, to me, is always what I want to happen in what I'm reading.

And it was a little awkward that every other male character except the fathers were gay X.x

I'm not sure why you would find this awkward. Like is drawn to like. Gay guys are naturally drawn to other gay guys. I, again, would expect Alex to be drawn to other gay guys and them in turn to be drawn to him.

But, yeah, we all have our own opinions and no one can please everyone. :)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

astres
2007-10-23 08:37 pm UTC (link)

I saw Cleo learn a little, but she certainly didn't gain a foundation I would have liked for her to have. She was really disappointing for me and that seemed to take down a bit of the story.

Gays and lesbians can be hard to find. Sure, I have some gay guy friends, and have been assigned to work with some, but lesbians? I only have my girlfriend. No other lesbians, not even bisexual women. It's nifty to say like draws like but, in real life, it won't be that every male around is gay. It's just not logical. His school friend was, which was nice, but Cleo's guy was too, and the dressage guys, sure I can understand that...But I think the tipping point was with Cleo's guy being gay. It was TOO MUCH. It just felt like the 'gay community' in the novel was too contrived.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

faerie_writer
2007-10-23 09:10 pm UTC (link)

I saw Cleo learn a little, but she certainly didn't gain a foundation I would have liked for her to have.

There is some talk of a sequel. Maybe it'll be reversed and Cleo will get more attention.

it won't be that every male around is gay.

Well, from what you just said, it was *2* guys (as you can't *really* count the dressage guys) - Alex's friend and Cleo's guy. That's hardly every male around. It may just seem that way in the context of a story as you only have 200-300 pages to work with and can only focus on so much.

Gays and lesbians can be hard to find.

Heh. Heh. Obviously, you've never lived in Vancouver or Vancouver Island. All my gay relatives live there (or have at some point lived there) and, um, population-wise, I'd say the gay-percentage is abnormally high. ;)

Anyway, nothing in the story felt wrong to me, so I can only go on my own gut instincts as you can only go on yours. :)

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	astres 2007-10-23 09:15 pm UTC (link)
	Why can't you count the dressage couple? I'm just saying, all the males in the story who had dialogue were gay except for Alex's father. It just was a little skewed. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

faerie_writer
2007-10-23 09:49 pm UTC (link)

Why can't you count the dressage couple?

Because they're *expected* to be gay. They pretty much are a stereotype of dressage instuctors. ;)

I'm just saying, all the males in the story who had dialogue were gay except for Alex's father.

This didn't seem a problem for me. Alex is shy. He didn't have a lot of friends. It did not draw a red flag for me while I was reading it.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

	morningstorms 2007-10-23 10:24 pm UTC (link)
	Oooohhh, this sounds really lovely. Another book I'm going to have to read. :) (Reply to this)(Thread)

	faerie_writer 2007-10-23 10:52 pm UTC (link)
	Definitely! :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

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