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Everyone wanted to break me. But stars aren’t broken, they explode. And I was the ultimate supernova.
My name was Jude. They called me Judy. I was beautiful either way.
School was basically a movie set. We were all just playing our parts. The Crew, the Extras, the Movie Stars. No one was ever real . . . especially me. I didn’t fit any category.
All the girls watched me – I could walk so much better than them in heels, and my make-up was always flawless.
All the boys wanted to, well, you know . . . even if they didn’t admit it.
They loved me, they hated me, but they could never ignore me.
I only had eyes for Luke. A red carpet rolled out from my heart towards him and this year, on Valentine’sDay, I was going to walk that carpet and find my mark next to him. It would be like a dream.
But my dream was going to turn into a nightmare.
This is my story.
#WEFLTM
My name was Jude. They called me Judy. I was beautiful either way.
School was basically a movie set. We were all just playing our parts. The Crew, the Extras, the Movie Stars. No one was ever real . . . especially me. I didn’t fit any category.
All the girls watched me – I could walk so much better than them in heels, and my make-up was always flawless.
All the boys wanted to, well, you know . . . even if they didn’t admit it.
They loved me, they hated me, but they could never ignore me.
I only had eyes for Luke. A red carpet rolled out from my heart towards him and this year, on Valentine’sDay, I was going to walk that carpet and find my mark next to him. It would be like a dream.
But my dream was going to turn into a nightmare.
This is my story.
#WEFLTM
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Reviews
Raziel Reid is a really extraordinary guy. He's got a great thing going
Engrossing and incredibly real, When Everything Feels Like the Movies is too good to leave to the teenagers - it's one of the most exciting things to happen in gay fiction for years.
Raunchy, riotous, and real, this book is a total breath of fresh air. Hilarious and original, Jude is my new bae. A triumph.
An uncompromising and often uncomfortable read, but also very compulsive and funny.
An important novel, about what can happen when you inspire hatred because you don't fit into any supposed 'normal' category . . .. a raw and original book
A tightly constructed life-as-a-stage allegory, complete with filmic idolatry and requisite amounts of love, lust, and all associated melodrama.
Reid's novel is truly a no holds barred examination of a young man attempting to explode into adulthood, with all the raw sexuality and gritty realism that such a journey entails.
A young adult novel with bite
Raziel Reid's debut novel beautifully and brutally spotlights how boundless the queer imagination is, especially as a survival instinct. The protagonist Jude Rothesay is a glamorous and brassy teenager, most inspiring for his persistent devotion and commitment to himself. I wish I had a role model or friend like Jude and a beacon like When Everything Feels like the Movies when I was in high school
Brave, powerful, and can hopefully go some way toward helping young readers understand gender and sexuality
Brave and caustic . . . After winning Canada's Governor General's Award for children's literature, Reid's novel was the subject of a petition protesting its 'vulgar' content. Just another example of the ugly prejudice it so affectingly indicts.