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smalltimereads) wrote2022-02-20 09:16 pm
smalltimereads) wrote2022-02-20 09:16 pm
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Review: Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman
Vintage: A Ghost Story by Steve Berman was originally published by gay press Harrington Park Press, which went out of business. The 13th Anniversary edition, which I read, was published by Berman's Lethe Press, which I wrote about last year.
This book has been on my radar since it came out- so for nearly 15 years- and I've only just got around to reading it. At first, it was on my radar because it was, novelly, a gay YA book, which was rarer in 2007 than it is today, and also because it was a spooky gay YA book. It never really left my radar, but it was always on the edges. But now I've read it! And it was pretty good.
Vintage: A Ghost Story is a quick read, and does a good job at integrating the supernatural ghost stuff with the story of the protagonist trying to make a life for himself in a new town. He's a high school dropout, which both adds a layer to his character and life and also deals with the whole "ok but how does the character balance school and all this other stuff" question. I really liked the narrator's friendships with Trace and the others, and how even though he hasn't been in town for all that long there's still a sense of history there, and his romance with Mike was cute. The spooky scenes were great, too.
The pacing felt off, though- there were times where Josh was barely even a second thought, and I think if the book had been a little longer there would have been time to explore the other subplots that cropped up, as well as allowing the whole Josh problem to creep through everything. There were a few points where it turned out that people knew Josh was gay and just didn't say anything, which sort of felt convenient but also a) happens, and b) didn't actually bother me considering homophobia is present throughout the book (don't love homophobia but writing a book that takes place in 1997 America without even mentioning it would be weird).
Was the book "worth" waiting nearly 15 years to read? Not particularly. But I liked reading it, and it gave me Holly Black and Poppy Z Brite/Billy Martin vibes.
This book has been on my radar since it came out- so for nearly 15 years- and I've only just got around to reading it. At first, it was on my radar because it was, novelly, a gay YA book, which was rarer in 2007 than it is today, and also because it was a spooky gay YA book. It never really left my radar, but it was always on the edges. But now I've read it! And it was pretty good.
Vintage: A Ghost Story is a quick read, and does a good job at integrating the supernatural ghost stuff with the story of the protagonist trying to make a life for himself in a new town. He's a high school dropout, which both adds a layer to his character and life and also deals with the whole "ok but how does the character balance school and all this other stuff" question. I really liked the narrator's friendships with Trace and the others, and how even though he hasn't been in town for all that long there's still a sense of history there, and his romance with Mike was cute. The spooky scenes were great, too.
The pacing felt off, though- there were times where Josh was barely even a second thought, and I think if the book had been a little longer there would have been time to explore the other subplots that cropped up, as well as allowing the whole Josh problem to creep through everything. There were a few points where it turned out that people knew Josh was gay and just didn't say anything, which sort of felt convenient but also a) happens, and b) didn't actually bother me considering homophobia is present throughout the book (don't love homophobia but writing a book that takes place in 1997 America without even mentioning it would be weird).
Was the book "worth" waiting nearly 15 years to read? Not particularly. But I liked reading it, and it gave me Holly Black and Poppy Z Brite/Billy Martin vibes.