The Gifted, the Talented and Me
William Sutcliffe
Fifteen-year-old Sam is average. Apologetically average. Which is fine until he moves to London and finds himself attending the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented. Football is banned, and creating poetry and beat-boxing in class is highly recommended. Will Sam ever find his feet, or is he doomed to wander the school grounds alone and average?
I picked up this novel, read the first chapter, and then put it down again. Last night I wanted something light to read so I picked it up again. I find it hard to come up with things to say about it, because it wasn’t anything special. I think that’s its allure though because not everyone can draw brilliantly or be a musical genius. Sam brings to life the average teenage guy (including his dick) and his humour.
I’d never really thought about or even considered the term ‘Queerbaiting’ until recently. Basically it seems to mean that there is a character who comes out as gay, or that seems gay, and then suddenly they turn out to be incredibly straight. For me, that’s what ruined Starworld, but I didn’t find it impacting me very much for this novel.
Something I did find upsetting was Sam’s mother’s blog. She uses her own name on it, and then just blanks out her children’s names with just the first initial. Imagine if the school bully had gotten their hands on that sort of information? It’s not ok for her to be writing that – and after Sam catches her out she should have given it up. I’m not going to make excuses for her behavior, even as I laughed about the Japanese stool.
It’s frankly an average book about an average guy. There’s nothing amazing in this novel that made me want to keep reading it desperately – but maybe that’s going to appeal to some readers. So many YA novels have ‘special’ protagonists with mental health issues, family issues, queer issues, etc etc. So it’ll be nice for normal people to have a humorous novel about them! 3 stars from me (since I can hit all three of those issue boxes!).
Bloomsbury | 17th June 2019 | AU$16.99 | paperback
I loved Moosie! Aya’s interactions with him really brought her to life for me. Her friendship with Dotty made me feel a bit ambivalent, because Dotty made me feel angry in a way – how inconsiderate she is, and how nice Aya is in comparison. But I’m sure Aya wasn’t nice all the time either – what 11 year old can do that all the time?
Ugh! I didn’t want them to be in love! What I wouldn’t give right now for a YA friendship novel. It sets up unrealistic expectations for young adults – they’re somehow supposed to have a love that makes them defy their parents and overcome their stage fright. It’s ok to be single, and it’s ok to just have friends.
I am warning you now, this novel is not a comfortable or comforting read. I found myself thinking about it while I should have been working, and worrying about Lilian. I even dreamed about it, that’s how powerful this novel was. I wanted Lilian to succeed, even though I knew that it was very unlikely that she would.
I hated Noah and Min’s relationship. Honestly, I was disgusted by Noah most of the time, and I couldn’t believe that Min would fall for him. What about Tack? He would give her anything! And I’d take that any day in a killing scenario like what these guys find themselves in.
Ah, I wouldn’t have called this The Bride Test. Is Esme really tested? Or is it Khai who has to decide what he really wants? I loved reading their different perspectives and how the times almost overlapped, and that arg! How could they both think such different things about the same interactions? Well, since Khai identifies as having Autism, yes, it’s clear how that can be the case. It’s nice to see a non-neurotypical writer commenting and writing on a topic that she is surely intimately familiar with.
You know, you’d think that fiction characters, particularly those that have adopted children, would learn to be more open about things. Every time I get a side conversation being held between parents I automatically think that something is going to go wrong – and unfortunately that’s normally the main plot point of the novel, just as it is here.
How dumb can one girl be? It’s clearly obvious which side she’s going to pick. Oh boo hoo, your boy toy isn’t from the same place. Oh no! You might war with your parents for forever! Get over it! Choose based on what you see, not what people tell you. She’s all about being strong and kicking people in the balls (literally and figuratively) and then she’s just bowled over by good old Killian because he smells good.
This novel was very, very slow and I considered giving up on it about half way through. Min and Noah are like two magnets that kept changing polarities. Oh, and then when the perspectives started changing I started feeling very irritated. Just stick with a side guys! Noah, please get over yourself, I get that you might have anxiety, but I don’t think you’re really convincing me with your character consistency.
I didn’t feel convinced that Felix was 13. I felt that maybe he was a bit younger? I feel like by 13 I was a bit more put together, but maybe that’s because I’m a girl and we develop slightly faster than boys. I loved his relationships with his friends! And I liked how the novel was a mix of past and present tense – initially I felt a bit hesitant of it, but in the end it made sense.