Official Review: Focus by C. Downing
Posted: 17 Apr 2016, 11:35
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Focus" by C. Downing.]
4 out of 4 stars
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Focus by C. Downing tells a story of revolution through the eyes of Jack, a gay, genderqueer teenage boy. After being kicked out of his home by his abusive mother and absent father, Jack lives alone. With drug and alcohol abuse, molestation, and promiscuity all under his belt, Jack does his best to survive, his only help coming from Christy and Thomas, his best friends. That is, until he meets Patrick. Patrick gives Jack the idea of protesting the way gay people are treated, thinking that this will help Jack channel his anger in a positive way. Jack, along with Patrick, Christy, and Thomas, gathers up every queer person he knows, pulls them out of school, and uses them for his protest. As their numbers grow, their protests gain more attention and become more violent. All the while, Patrick is changing things for Jack, who finally has to learn how to love and be in love.
I loved this book. There wasn’t anything I didn’t love about this book. To start, I loved the writing style. It was as if Jack was speaking directly to me; it was a very personal, almost conversational style. It was raw, allowing direct access into Jack’s mind. It was very artistic as well, giving a poetic sound to the writing. It is clear Downing has an understanding of how to make words flow together. I will, however, say it’s a style of writing that some people may not enjoy, because it’s much more stylistic and unique than what you’d find in many other books, but personally I had no problem with it. I found it beautiful and it made the book very enjoyable to read.
The subject matter itself is something that I enjoyed a lot. It’s a controversial book, considering the main character seems to hate anyone who isn’t like him. While this may offend some people, I didn’t mind it, as the views of the character don’t necessarily reflect the views of the author. Just because a character acts problematic, doesn’t make the book itself problematic. Just like an author will write a homophobic or racist character, an author will write a “heterophobic” or anti-religious character in order to make their story more realistic. That being said, the book manages to deal with a lot of problems that queer teenagers face without the plot becoming cluttered. It deals with anger (hatred, even) towards the oppressor, sex, drugs, depression, anxiety, abuse, rape, so on and so forth. Plenty of books nowadays will include a gay or lesbian person as a side character to seem quirky or to look like an ally, but rarely will the character be developed. Rarely will any of the issues Downing utilized be brought up. Downing managed to capture perfectly many of the issues that queer people face every day, giving the book an authenticity missing in many other young adult books.
Then there were the characters, all of which I fell in love with, even the bad guys. Downing made not only his main characters, but each character, feel developed and real. They weren’t just angry lesbian or gay characters; each character had a personality, a story, or something other than gay activism that they believed in (for example, Sarah, who believed in tearing down the patriarchy). Downing’s ability to make the majority of his characters seem 3D only added to the meaning of the story: that people who are gay are not just “the gays”, they’re people.
If I had to find something I didn’t like about this book, I’d say that despite Downing’s incredible style and voice that was developed throughout the story, occasionally there was awkward phrasing. Though there was nothing incorrect about these phrases, they were worded in such a way that I would have to stop and reread what I’d just read in order for it to make sense. These could have been fixed so they flowed better and still fit in with the tone of the book. However, this happened only a handful of times and, like I said, the sentences made sense after a second read, so I wasn’t too bothered.
Overall I loved Focus, and give it 4 out of 4 stars. It absolutely blew me away. I loved the characters, the subject, and the deeper meaning behind it. I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in activism and young adult fiction that actually touches on things that are raw and real, but I would particularly recommend it to young LGBTQA+ people. While the message of the book is often accompanied by sadness or anger, it is residual and clear: stay strong because you are strong, help those like you, and never stop fighting. To quote the book itself, “We are important. We are strong. And we will not be silenced.”
******
Focus
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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4 out of 4 stars
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Focus by C. Downing tells a story of revolution through the eyes of Jack, a gay, genderqueer teenage boy. After being kicked out of his home by his abusive mother and absent father, Jack lives alone. With drug and alcohol abuse, molestation, and promiscuity all under his belt, Jack does his best to survive, his only help coming from Christy and Thomas, his best friends. That is, until he meets Patrick. Patrick gives Jack the idea of protesting the way gay people are treated, thinking that this will help Jack channel his anger in a positive way. Jack, along with Patrick, Christy, and Thomas, gathers up every queer person he knows, pulls them out of school, and uses them for his protest. As their numbers grow, their protests gain more attention and become more violent. All the while, Patrick is changing things for Jack, who finally has to learn how to love and be in love.
I loved this book. There wasn’t anything I didn’t love about this book. To start, I loved the writing style. It was as if Jack was speaking directly to me; it was a very personal, almost conversational style. It was raw, allowing direct access into Jack’s mind. It was very artistic as well, giving a poetic sound to the writing. It is clear Downing has an understanding of how to make words flow together. I will, however, say it’s a style of writing that some people may not enjoy, because it’s much more stylistic and unique than what you’d find in many other books, but personally I had no problem with it. I found it beautiful and it made the book very enjoyable to read.
The subject matter itself is something that I enjoyed a lot. It’s a controversial book, considering the main character seems to hate anyone who isn’t like him. While this may offend some people, I didn’t mind it, as the views of the character don’t necessarily reflect the views of the author. Just because a character acts problematic, doesn’t make the book itself problematic. Just like an author will write a homophobic or racist character, an author will write a “heterophobic” or anti-religious character in order to make their story more realistic. That being said, the book manages to deal with a lot of problems that queer teenagers face without the plot becoming cluttered. It deals with anger (hatred, even) towards the oppressor, sex, drugs, depression, anxiety, abuse, rape, so on and so forth. Plenty of books nowadays will include a gay or lesbian person as a side character to seem quirky or to look like an ally, but rarely will the character be developed. Rarely will any of the issues Downing utilized be brought up. Downing managed to capture perfectly many of the issues that queer people face every day, giving the book an authenticity missing in many other young adult books.
Then there were the characters, all of which I fell in love with, even the bad guys. Downing made not only his main characters, but each character, feel developed and real. They weren’t just angry lesbian or gay characters; each character had a personality, a story, or something other than gay activism that they believed in (for example, Sarah, who believed in tearing down the patriarchy). Downing’s ability to make the majority of his characters seem 3D only added to the meaning of the story: that people who are gay are not just “the gays”, they’re people.
If I had to find something I didn’t like about this book, I’d say that despite Downing’s incredible style and voice that was developed throughout the story, occasionally there was awkward phrasing. Though there was nothing incorrect about these phrases, they were worded in such a way that I would have to stop and reread what I’d just read in order for it to make sense. These could have been fixed so they flowed better and still fit in with the tone of the book. However, this happened only a handful of times and, like I said, the sentences made sense after a second read, so I wasn’t too bothered.
Overall I loved Focus, and give it 4 out of 4 stars. It absolutely blew me away. I loved the characters, the subject, and the deeper meaning behind it. I’d recommend this book to anyone interested in activism and young adult fiction that actually touches on things that are raw and real, but I would particularly recommend it to young LGBTQA+ people. While the message of the book is often accompanied by sadness or anger, it is residual and clear: stay strong because you are strong, help those like you, and never stop fighting. To quote the book itself, “We are important. We are strong. And we will not be silenced.”
******
Focus
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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