“They loved me, they hated me, but they could never ignore me.”
I never start a review with a quote, but this one summarises this novel perfectly.
Jude (aka Judy) does not make any excuses for who he is. A gay high school student, flamboyant, and in your face and who could probably rival Miss J. Alexander in heels.
Jude is desperately in love with Luke, the boy he can never have in real life, so as an alternative, he lives life as if on a movie set, creating his own Hollywood “Judy Show”.
I actually really liked Jude as a character, so fragile and in so much pain hiding behind that tough and “doesn’t give a f*ck” exterior that I was routing for him to get out of his hometown to make his way to stardom.
It is amazing what the mind can conjure to make an unsatisfying life bearable, it is sometimes easier to live in your head rather than dealing with the realities of life, until eventually life catches up with you.
In the end, reality was going to be Jude’s undoing.
“When Everything Feels Like The Movies” may be a quick read but it is brutally honest and direct and you will have to either take it or leave it.
LaChouett
Thanking Team @AtomBooks for providing me with a copy of this title.