Oh ARC, My ARC – My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen

Received from Netgalley.

All opinions expressed are mine.

Stars: 1

Warnings: Homophobic language. Offensive language. Offensive remarks towards drag queens. Racism.

Note that I have expressed some thoughts towards drag queens. Now, as I am not a drag queen, nor do I know any drag queens, the opinions I express about them are solely on a general thought and not exclusive towards drag queens.

Ok, so I needed a cute read to get me over an arc that I dnf and about halfway through this book I so wanted to dnf as well, and then I decided to keep on reading it, to see how the ending would be. The title and description of this book are what drew me in and while I love a Cinderella retelling, a gay Cinderella hits all the right buttons. And I thought it would be this book. And then it really wasn’t. Well, it was like a quarter of what I wanted.

I like that it changed from the usual two stepsisters to a stepsister and –brother. But then they screwed that up by making the stepbrother a total douche, and the stepsister mostly annoying (she had some redeeming qualities).

I was confused about the title. It seemed like there would be an emphasis on the drag queen (Coco), but even though there was a greater emphasis on the fairy godmother than usual, I’m still confused as to why the title was more about Coco than Chris (so proud of myself that I actually remembered his name).

So let me get this straight (ha) – Chris, the main character, just decides to leave with this random person (Coco). Nahuh hun. Didn’t horror movies or your parents or literally your conscious teach you anything? And Chris also lets a random person (still Coco) into his house. How bloody American of him. I see that apparently you guys just let pizza delivery people in, like nee man, disse reg nie. Like, please, guys. Stop just willy-nilly letting people into your house. That’s why you have so many horror movies.

So Chris is mean to be like 17…but he acts more like the 12 year old I look after.

There are tons of homophobic comments, most of them coming from Chris’s supposed family – which they later try to justify by saying they only said those comments (which were homophobic, I might add) as a way of showing him support. How is a person supposed to see those comments as anything else than plain wrong?

And then the whole introduction of Duane/Coco to Chris and as a matter of fact, how the entire book treats drag queens was very offensive. From assuming that just because Chris knows what gender Duane was assigned to at birth, that is the gender Duane wants to be known as (which means Chris using he/him pronouns when Duane is Coco – like no please, correct pronouns).

All in all, there were good quotes about lgbt+ and all that jazz, which did in fact, make me want to give the book two stars, but then I decided on one star after I saw how the book treated its drag queens. There are also a few times where Chris explains a view of gay (all about emotional connections and being gay doesn’t go away) that is great and all, but then he mucks it up by saying that being gay had certainly never made me want to dress or look like a woman – which just sets his previous arguments about gay and what it means back like a few paces. Then there’s another quote about drag queens that really irked me: Coco slipped a gloved hand between me and Special Kaye, looking up into her much taller friend’s heavily made up face. “Bitch, you are one pair of scissors away from going drag queen to transsexual, understand?” – that, that quote nearly made me put the book down.

Ooh and continuing with drag queens – there’s a scene where Duane tells Chris this: I haven’t been to bed yet. But Kevin – that’s Special Kaye’s real name… – real name…

There’s also this part where Chris asks Duane if he’s bi (because he’s drag queen) and I think I had to exit Kindle for a few minutes and go read Sterek. A person isn’t bi because the way they dress. Similarly, they are also not gay or lesbian due to the way they dress.

The next paragraph involves a quote that I was super upset about it as it implied something extremely rude and I’m not sure as to whether it was what I thought it was or just an actual joke (note that I will be ranting a bit on this). So it follows on the previous paragraph (Chris asking Duane if he’s bi because he’s a drag queen) and Duane replies that (and I quote) the only fish I eat is at Red Lobster. So because he reveals that he is in fact, gay, does this quote mean he thinks of women, or rather their genitals and how it supposedly smells like a fish. Listen here, bra. You can’t say something like that about a woman (this is where I was wondering what gender the author was. I guessed male. I was right) when you possibly have female characters – now how are they supposed to feel good about themselves and their bodies when you write such a terrible quote – which is fucking is, I’m very sorry (actually not) but it is. And if it turns out to be that this quote is meant to allude to female genitalia, I will scream and write a long paragraph.

– This paragraph, not counting this sentence, is over 200 words. Trust me, I will do it.

Me with the whole ‘fish’ thing

In conclusion, no I most do certainly not recommend this book and if anyone does know if that fish quote does allude the female genitals, please tell me and I’ll happily write various lengthy paragraphs.

Quotes:

Besides, homework could always wait until tomorrow.

– Ahh. A way to spot a high schooler. Because a college student would be lying, surrounded by books and crying.