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Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens
Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens
Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens
Audiobook10 hours

Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens

Written by Tanya Boteju

Narrated by Soneela Nankani

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

“Poignant and important.” —Refinery29
“A bright and sparkly celebration of love and self-acceptance.” —Kirkus Reviews

Judy Blume meets RuPaul’s Drag Race in this funny, feel-good debut novel about a queer teen who navigates questions of identity and self-acceptance while discovering the magical world of drag.

Perpetually awkward Nima Kumara-Clark is bored with her insular community of Bridgeton, in love with her straight girlfriend, and trying to move past her mother’s unexpected departure. After a bewildering encounter at a local festival, Nima finds herself suddenly immersed in the drag scene on the other side of town.

Macho drag kings, magical queens, new love interests, and surprising allies propel Nima both painfully and hilariously closer to a self she never knew she could be—one that can confidently express and accept love. But she’ll have to learn to accept lost love to get there.

From debut author Tanya Boteju comes a poignant, laugh-out-loud tale of acceptance, self-expression, and the colorful worlds that await when we’re brave enough to look.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 7, 2019
ISBN9781508295730
Author

Tanya Boteju

Tanya Boteju is a teacher and writer living on unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations (Vancouver, British Columbia). Part-time, she teaches English to clever and sassy young people. The rest of her time, she writes and procrastinates from writing. Her novel, Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens was named a Top Ten Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association, as well as selected for the American Librarian Association 2020 Rainbow List. Her work appears in the anthology Out Now and her latest young adult novel, Bruised, has been selected as a Gold Standard book by the Junior Library Guild. In both teaching and writing, she is committed to positive, diverse representation. Visit her at TanyaBoteju.com.

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Reviews for Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens

Rating: 3.7815789436842104 out of 5 stars
4/5

190 ratings12 reviews

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    It was an okay read but a terrible audiobook. Do recommend the book if it sounds like something you might be into but please stay away from the audiobook.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The story was good, the audiobook not so great. The audiobook kept switching quality between professional and what you find in YouTube. Still, I recommend.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Beautiful story of coming of age, finding community and seeing your parents as people for the first time. All the awkwardness, angst and cuteness of being a teenager
    So many interesting characters
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I enjoyed listening to this, but I think I would've preferred reading a physical copy!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pretty cute story, had some cringey parts but then again coming of age stories normally do
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    The story seems great but there are issues with the audiobook skipping all over
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    DO NOT BIND WITH ACE BANDAGES. They can cause permanent damage to your ribs and severely restrict your ability to breathe. That is so incredibly dangerous to be promoting in 2021. Which yeah, in case you couldn't tell this book has the strongest "written by a cis woman" vibes, which given the nature and history of drag makes this whole book feel a little flat. Also, I don't know who needs to hear this, but someone in their mid twenties actively pursuing a 17 year old is so predatory and I wish the queer community would stop glamourizing it. Frankly this book was kind a a trainwreck, but I just had to come back and finish it. Found the ending super disappointing

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This writer's writing style is so different to other things I've read, It was such a unique voice It would have made any subject matter interesting to read, on top of that there was an interesting culture and subject exploration. There were times I was laughing out loud or crying for the characters.

    Empaths beware: our main character gets herself into some embarrassing situations that made me have to close the book, cringe, cover my face, and wait until I had the strength to continue... But it was always worth it.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    diverse teen fiction (adorable biracial Sri Lankan/white 17 y.o. girl with abandonment anxiety from meets colorful LGBTQ community near her small town and her world explodes in a brilliant way, but it does get a little messy)
    I love how complex and real these characters are, and how I can watch their situations develop and unravel while I turn the pages. Parental notes: includes underage drinking (and subsequent puking), occasional language; one character has alcoholic/physically abusive dad.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Great, empowering story, but too many loose ends at the end, and whatever happened to her dad?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The descriptive bit: Nima is “brown and queer”, in love with her straight best friend, Ginny and awkward as hell. The day she met Ginny, Nima threw up on her Reeboks; that’s the way her life goes. At the exact moment that she finally gets the courage to tell Ginny how she feels, Ginny stops her by telling her that she “loves her as a friend.”

    Finding herself stuck in, what she perceives to be a rut, Nima vows to spend her summer … differently. She wants to try new things, change her world and be someone interesting. She wants to make new and different choices!

    My thoughts bit: Determined as she is to have a non-boring, not-bland summer, Nima is convinced she needs to try new things. She heads to a local festival and one of the shows is announced as boys in dresses and girls in suits. Intrigued, Nima gets into the line up for the show and meets my favorite character in the book, Dee Dee La Bouche (Deirdre). This glorious gender-defying being takes Nima under her wing and introduces her to the world of Drag Kings and Drag queens.

    The show is all sequin gowns, Lady Ga-Ga, fairy wings, glamour, tattoos, black silk, and dancing. In the midst of the craziness of the show, Nima sees Winnow perform and feels a strong attraction to her. The problem is that Nima feels she isn’t good enough for someone like Winnow to be interested in and is convinced she needs to change herself.

    There are some marvelous characters in this book. I loved the way that the performers welcomed Nima into their world. They were all very respectful about gender and sexual orientation and it was a joy to read about a group of people being so inclusive.

    While the main plot of the story is about Nima exploring who she is, exploring her sexuality and gender, there are a couple of other interesting stories happening.

    Nima’s mother left her and her father without a word. As Nima learns about herself she learns some truths about her mother that are shocking and hurtful. The storyline wasn’t as resolved as I might have liked … but life doesn’t always get tied up neatly with a bow on top.

    Another interesting story is about Gordon… the local bully. He comes from an abusive home and while he was once on friendly terms with Nima, he has become an aggressive bully. Nima runs into Gordon one day at the art room and discovers that he is clearly having identity issues. I enjoyed reading about Gordon interacting with Deirdre and frankly, would have enjoyed a book about him. Again, Gordon’s story didn’t resolve itself at all – so I was a little disappointed in that because Boteju had created such an intriguing character. I’m guessing that Gordon is queer just from the limited things he says, but it’s difficult to guess how his life will have played out. I would really like to have read more about him.

    Overall, the story is lovely. There are some parts that are difficult to read. Some of Nima’s misadventures were quite heart-wrenching and I found myself concerned for her safety on numerous occasions. It was lovely to read the way that she found a way through the puzzles and trials going on in her life to a new beginning.

    The warnings bit: Please be aware, I’m by no means an expert on what may or may not have the potential to disturb people. I simply list things that I think a reader might want to be aware of. In this book: mentions of potential Body dysmorphic disorder, substance abuse, domestic abuse, Queerphobic behavior, and name-calling, underage drinking, binge drinking
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Kings, Queens , and In Betweens was one of the most fun books I've read in a long long time. I was expecting a run of the mill book but was totally surprised by how good it was. I highly recommend it.Nima has a crush on Ginny who is straight. Charles has a crush on Tessa who doesn't care at all about him. Nima and Charles are best friends. At the annual town festival, Nima wanders into a tent that has a drag show and immediately falls for the lovely Winnow. But, at 17 years old, Nima is waiting for her first kiss. Her inexperience and dull life bore into her soul.She also meets Deldre, a larger than life drag queen who takes Nima under her wing in matters amorous and life in general.Readers will fall in love with Nima and Deidre and root for Nima to break out of her shell and for her and Winnow to get together. Kings, Queens and In-Betweens reminded me of James St. Sames' Freak Show, another over the top book that will get you going. Have fun, folks.