I love that Mike and the brother do not turn into a couple. The typical route of getting with another one as a replacement. Mike is gay, the brother is straight but that doesn’t mean they need to be together to be family. The author also doesn’t demonized the mother, instead she is the voice of reason in a lot of time. A gay couple make it work, while the straight couple cant. And it is alright, life goes on.
The portray of homophobia is also really realistic. Most of the time, hate and fear is subtle and quiet. The way the adult talk around the issues, never adress why it is wrong, making excuse of for the child, afraid they might get bullied, afraid they might turn gay, walk away and stay quiet when seeing it, worry that Mike might bring bad influence. They never cursed, never outright shouting at Mike, never beat or say thing outright hateful, so you can’t be really angry with them, yet you can’t help but taste the stench of rejection and prejudice. And it reflect on the kids in the story, a blank canvas. They don’t get prejudice, they cant catch up of the logic of separating two ppl in love just cause their gender. Through Kana and her friend, the author also instilled this idea of hope for a better future. Of understanding the otherside and that LGBT ppl are just people. 10/10. One of the best LGBT story I have ever read in my life.Cry like a bitch !
I love that Mike and the brother do not turn into a couple. The typical route of getting with another one as a replacement. Mike is gay, the brother is straight but that doesn’t mean they need to be together to be family. The author also doesn’t demonized the mother, instead she is the voice of reason in a lot of time. A gay couple make it work, while the straight couple cant. And it is alright, life goes on.
The portray of homophobia is also really realistic. Most of the time, hate and fear is subtle and quiet. The way the adult talk around the issues, never adress why it is wrong, making excuse of for the child, afraid they might get bullied, afraid they might turn gay, walk away and stay quiet when seeing it, worry that Mike might bring bad influence. They never cursed, never outright shouting at Mike, never beat or say thing outright hateful, so you can’t be really angry with them, yet you can’t help but taste the stench of rejection and prejudice. And it reflect on the kids in the story, a blank canvas. They don’t get prejudice, they cant catch up of the logic of separating two ppl in love just cause their gender. Through Kana and her friend, the author also instilled this idea of hope for a better future. Of understanding the otherside and that LGBT ppl are just people. 10/10. One of the best LGBT story I have ever read in my life.Cry like a bitch !