Do you have a bookish babe in your life with an upcoming birthday, special event or Thursday? Might I suggest following in my sweet husband’s footsteps and getting that girl a book?! This amazing read was his pick for an anniversary gift for me.
“Aren’t anniversary gifts supposed to be…?”
Stop and ask yourself why you are the way you are. Books are a perfect gift for every occasion. Full stop.
While there are many reasons to love a book gift one of my favorites is that I love reading something picked for me. This wasn’t on any of my lists and I had never read this author before. My sweet partner decided it sounded like something I would read AND something I’d write and he was not wrong. Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle is an incredibly spooky thriller with unique monsters and the kind of heartfelt message that will leave you crying at the end. In a good way!
***THE REST OF THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS***
This book is BUSY, but Tingle keeps it tight. There are several different threads to follow but at no point did I feel overwhelmed or have trouble following it. He expertly makes every word count while avoiding a rushed/dragging pace. Our protagonist, Misha, is struggling with the fact that as a gay man he is “LA out” and not “Montana out.” While he’s been able to make a name for himself in LA as a TV/movie writer, he maintains a lot of baggage from back home that is causing a disruption in his relationship with his boyfriend. Oh, and the studio he works for wants him to kill off his two lesbian characters from his long-running show, destroying a tense will they/won’t they he had been building for a long time. Apparently gay tragedy’s where the $$$ is.
As if these two problems weren’t enough Misha begins seeing his characters. Like, in real life. Each one a grotesque concoction of Misha’s mind using details from his troubled childhood. At first he’s convinced that these are just cosplaying fans until it becomes clear that no human could pull this off. He faces The Smoker, a haunting ghoul that asks you for a light. If you’re caught without matches or a lighter he gives you seven days to live. Think that’s creepy? Then there’s Mrs. Why…
Imagine a freakishly tall woman with eerie, lidless eyes. All she has to do is touch you and you will suffer a fate worse than death. A gentle brush of her hand and your mind will be opened to the secrets of the universe. She grants you the gift, as she sees it, of peeking beyond the veil to know the secrets of space, time and the origins of the universe. Those left in her wake are found curled up on themselves. Puddled by what they’ve witnessed. Talk about dark!
While Misha struggles to figure out how these characters entered reality he also has to come to terms with how much of himself he left in that deep, dark closeted space. Readers are gifted with a few powerful, painful chapters dotting Misha’s childhood that help us understand his struggle in this regard. This all culminates with him, in the bathroom of an awards show, carving open his chest to both literally and metaphorically exorcise himself of his demons.
For those who like neatly satisfying endings all tied up with a bow, Tingle’s got you. We are treated to what can only be described as a beautiful representation of LGBT+ characters finding their joy.
Five whole stars!
briennedaugherty.com 