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Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World
Stephen Shulevitz remembers the end of the world. Two o'clock in the morning on a Saturday night, in Riverside, Nova Scotia when he realises he has fallen in love - with exactly the wrong person.There are no volcanic eruptions. No floods or fires. Just Stephen, watching TV with his best friend, realising that life, as he knows it, will never be the same.The smart move would be to run away - from Riverside, his overbearing hippie mother, his distant pot-smoking father - and especially his feelings. But then Stephen begins to what would happen if he had the courage to face the end of the world head on?
372 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2013
23 people are currently reading
698 people want to read
About the author
Janet E. Cameron
1 book35 followersJanet E. Cameron was born in 1970 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and grew up in the beautiful Annapolis Valley. In 1991 she graduated from Dalhousie University with a BA in English and spent the next ten years at a number of pursuits: living in a cabin in Nova Scotia, slopping coffee in Vancouver, getting qualified as a teacher in Montreal (specialising in English as a second language), teaching business English in Toronto, and writing plays – her second effort won a student playwriting contest. In 2001 she went to Tokyo for what was supposed to be one year of teaching and stayed for four. During her second year in Japan she met an Irish journalist who was in town for the 2002 Soccer World Cup, married him three years later, and then moved to Ireland where she started writing prose. In November 2011, she completed a Master’s of Philosophy in Creative Writing from Trinity College.
Her first novel, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World, was published in 2013. In 2014 it was nominated for the Atlantic Book Awards' Savage First Book Award and the Ontario Library Association's Evergreen Award. In 2015 Cinnamon Toast was a top ten choice in the American Library Association's Rainbow List of LGBT-themed books for young adults and children.
Yes, I suppose that does read better in the third person.
Her first novel, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World, was published in 2013. In 2014 it was nominated for the Atlantic Book Awards' Savage First Book Award and the Ontario Library Association's Evergreen Award. In 2015 Cinnamon Toast was a top ten choice in the American Library Association's Rainbow List of LGBT-themed books for young adults and children.
Yes, I suppose that does read better in the third person.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
June 20, 2025
✰ 3 stars ✰
When I first read that the author had initially considered Mark as her main protagonist, I understood how that could have worked. A seemingly straight boy who suddenly feels uncertain about his questionable feelings towards his best friend, hoarded by the homophobic comments that plague his head, while also having to reckon with the fact that he would never be able to escape the confinements of his family obligations, that leads him to behave often times violently and cruelly. 😕 But, then I can also see how eighteen-year-old Jewish Stephen Shulevitz would take over the narrative - how his own challenge is that much pressing, if not oppressing in that he knows he's gay. Being gay in a small town in the late 80s, where the gay disease is a mark of scorn and ridicule - 'this game was hard and dangerous and confusing' - that people are too closed-off in their opinions that they turn to violence and cruelty to pass judgment, when all Stephen wants is someone who understands what he feels like to be him, instead of being constantly bullied for who he is. 😥 And who knows with utmost certainty that he is in love with his very much straight best friend. And the idea of ever admitting such a confession would be met with disastrous consequences.
Not to say that Stephen is a saint; far from it. Many a time I was visibly annoyed with his questionable choices, peeved at his irresponsible actions, not at all amused by his relationship with his mother, his desirable, and oftentimes unsuccessful attempts of exploring his sexuality. 🙍🏻♀️ And more often than not, feeling that he was always the unwitting victim, and being helpless to it - drowning his sorrows in those iconic 80s melodies ‘I Want the One I Can’t Have’, and literature that that spoke to him that made him feel connected and not as lost and misunderstood as he was prone to feeling.
“He must have seen a flicker of apology in my eyes because he smiled. I smiled back.
That’s what you do, when you’re in love.”
And that is what he was - he was alone and in love. He was alone without anyone to share his feelings with - to tell someone that he was attracted to boys - to a boy that he absolutely should not be - not in fear of ruining their friendship, which may have had the basis of ‘animal kingdom partnership thing’ but still had fierce traces of ‘I never even thought about whether we liked each other. I mean, how do you feel about oxygen?’. 🥺🥺 But, Mark is not exactly that welcoming to the idea of two guys being together, let alone kissing. It's the 80s and they're in Riverside, Nova Scotia. The very idea is preposterous, let alone unheard of, and anger and confusion is the way to lash out, rather than embrace it with calmness and understanding. So despite how offensively stupid he behaved at times - despite how the writing veered towards one that felt like it was too brash, a part of me still cared for him and hurt for him.❤️🩹❤️🩹
His tumultuous emotions, the explosive expletives, the heartbreaking insecurities, not to mention, the wavering uncertainty of keeping his feelings tight-lipped in fear of being rejected and humiliated by Mark, when all he wants was to be honest and confess. 'It wasn’t sex. That’s not what had scared me. It was love. Love and stupid hope.' 😟 There is so much pain of doubt that grips you till the very end - leading up to something neither of them can turn back from once it has taken place - knowing that these final days of their time together were about to come to a bitter end. 😔
“Oh, except for my friend Mark.’
‘Is he good-looking?’
Everything stopped. I got this nervous, panicky sensation. Something very close to fear.
It was a simple question. Yes, or no.
A simple question, about something I wasn’t allowed to think about.”
And when the final confrontation - the inevitable showdown took place between Stephen and Mark, where those unspoken truths came forth - when Stephen thought he had escaped the heart he left behind... I couldn't read the words on my screen. My vision had blurred. I touched my face, and I realized I was crying. 😢😢💔💔
That must mean something, right? How the plot build up to that moment '– like when you’re about to say goodbye to somebody, something, maybe forever.' The air was thrumming with the longing to forget and deny, where all Stephen wanted was to go back to the good ole days of eating cinnamon toast at his kitchen table with his best friend and mother, rather than facing the harsh reality that was the end of the world, when he was at the cusp of severing the ties to a friendship that had been through thick and thin. 😣😣 ‘I would have missed all this. Just hold on to it, I told myself. It’s such an easy thing to forget.’ It was there the writing hit a nerve with me - it mattered to me - that Stephen did not deserve what had happened, and yet, this was the breaking point of self-acceptance and discovery for both of them. 😭
“What a joke.’ He sounded so lost. ‘What a joke on both of us, man.”
[image error]
So, in a way the author did succeed in making them two main characters - not entirely likeable, but one that we do see both sides of - ones that you try to empathize and understand where these sentiments took root from - '... but nobody was crowded and there was enough for everyone. Where was I in this dream?' 🥺 And from that tipping point that was the first step of the world ending, to Mark challenging Stephen - the feels were real. The steps Stephen took to embrace the truth without remorse gave me a glimmer of hope. 🤍
It is sad that this was the author's Young Adult debut and the only one she ever wrote. It is disappointing that it was an open ending to the next stage of Stephen's life, especially when he was finally at the point that he could find his happiness; getting to see that could have given me that much-needed closure. Heck, when he realized he's no longer beholden to anyone, let alone have to listen to those smearing comments, I inwardly cheered! 😤 But, a part of me agrees that leaving it like that shows that the road to possibilities was never-ending now for Stephen - that he's finally free to make decisions of his own, for maybe there is still a chance that he can have his cinnamon toast again. The end of the world came and went, but it was the start of a new and much promising one that gave him the courage to face another day. 🫶🏻🙏🏻
“Stupid, demented hope. Leave me alone. I’d pray if I knew how. For patience, for more time. For self-control – just enough so that I wouldn’t make a complete disaster out of this.
Impossible things...”
When I first read that the author had initially considered Mark as her main protagonist, I understood how that could have worked. A seemingly straight boy who suddenly feels uncertain about his questionable feelings towards his best friend, hoarded by the homophobic comments that plague his head, while also having to reckon with the fact that he would never be able to escape the confinements of his family obligations, that leads him to behave often times violently and cruelly. 😕 But, then I can also see how eighteen-year-old Jewish Stephen Shulevitz would take over the narrative - how his own challenge is that much pressing, if not oppressing in that he knows he's gay. Being gay in a small town in the late 80s, where the gay disease is a mark of scorn and ridicule - 'this game was hard and dangerous and confusing' - that people are too closed-off in their opinions that they turn to violence and cruelty to pass judgment, when all Stephen wants is someone who understands what he feels like to be him, instead of being constantly bullied for who he is. 😥 And who knows with utmost certainty that he is in love with his very much straight best friend. And the idea of ever admitting such a confession would be met with disastrous consequences.
Not to say that Stephen is a saint; far from it. Many a time I was visibly annoyed with his questionable choices, peeved at his irresponsible actions, not at all amused by his relationship with his mother, his desirable, and oftentimes unsuccessful attempts of exploring his sexuality. 🙍🏻♀️ And more often than not, feeling that he was always the unwitting victim, and being helpless to it - drowning his sorrows in those iconic 80s melodies ‘I Want the One I Can’t Have’, and literature that that spoke to him that made him feel connected and not as lost and misunderstood as he was prone to feeling.
“He must have seen a flicker of apology in my eyes because he smiled. I smiled back.
That’s what you do, when you’re in love.”
And that is what he was - he was alone and in love. He was alone without anyone to share his feelings with - to tell someone that he was attracted to boys - to a boy that he absolutely should not be - not in fear of ruining their friendship, which may have had the basis of ‘animal kingdom partnership thing’ but still had fierce traces of ‘I never even thought about whether we liked each other. I mean, how do you feel about oxygen?’. 🥺🥺 But, Mark is not exactly that welcoming to the idea of two guys being together, let alone kissing. It's the 80s and they're in Riverside, Nova Scotia. The very idea is preposterous, let alone unheard of, and anger and confusion is the way to lash out, rather than embrace it with calmness and understanding. So despite how offensively stupid he behaved at times - despite how the writing veered towards one that felt like it was too brash, a part of me still cared for him and hurt for him.❤️🩹❤️🩹
His tumultuous emotions, the explosive expletives, the heartbreaking insecurities, not to mention, the wavering uncertainty of keeping his feelings tight-lipped in fear of being rejected and humiliated by Mark, when all he wants was to be honest and confess. 'It wasn’t sex. That’s not what had scared me. It was love. Love and stupid hope.' 😟 There is so much pain of doubt that grips you till the very end - leading up to something neither of them can turn back from once it has taken place - knowing that these final days of their time together were about to come to a bitter end. 😔
“Oh, except for my friend Mark.’
‘Is he good-looking?’
Everything stopped. I got this nervous, panicky sensation. Something very close to fear.
It was a simple question. Yes, or no.
A simple question, about something I wasn’t allowed to think about.”
And when the final confrontation - the inevitable showdown took place between Stephen and Mark, where those unspoken truths came forth - when Stephen thought he had escaped the heart he left behind... I couldn't read the words on my screen. My vision had blurred. I touched my face, and I realized I was crying. 😢😢💔💔
That must mean something, right? How the plot build up to that moment '– like when you’re about to say goodbye to somebody, something, maybe forever.' The air was thrumming with the longing to forget and deny, where all Stephen wanted was to go back to the good ole days of eating cinnamon toast at his kitchen table with his best friend and mother, rather than facing the harsh reality that was the end of the world, when he was at the cusp of severing the ties to a friendship that had been through thick and thin. 😣😣 ‘I would have missed all this. Just hold on to it, I told myself. It’s such an easy thing to forget.’ It was there the writing hit a nerve with me - it mattered to me - that Stephen did not deserve what had happened, and yet, this was the breaking point of self-acceptance and discovery for both of them. 😭
“What a joke.’ He sounded so lost. ‘What a joke on both of us, man.”
[image error]
So, in a way the author did succeed in making them two main characters - not entirely likeable, but one that we do see both sides of - ones that you try to empathize and understand where these sentiments took root from - '... but nobody was crowded and there was enough for everyone. Where was I in this dream?' 🥺 And from that tipping point that was the first step of the world ending, to Mark challenging Stephen - the feels were real. The steps Stephen took to embrace the truth without remorse gave me a glimmer of hope. 🤍
It is sad that this was the author's Young Adult debut and the only one she ever wrote. It is disappointing that it was an open ending to the next stage of Stephen's life, especially when he was finally at the point that he could find his happiness; getting to see that could have given me that much-needed closure. Heck, when he realized he's no longer beholden to anyone, let alone have to listen to those smearing comments, I inwardly cheered! 😤 But, a part of me agrees that leaving it like that shows that the road to possibilities was never-ending now for Stephen - that he's finally free to make decisions of his own, for maybe there is still a chance that he can have his cinnamon toast again. The end of the world came and went, but it was the start of a new and much promising one that gave him the courage to face another day. 🫶🏻🙏🏻
March 13, 2013
A coming of age story told from the point of view of Stephen a teenage boy struggling to accept his sexuality and his love for his best friend Mark. Amazing characterisation, razor sharp and very witty. A stunning debut.
December 18, 2014
I'm feeling too many feelings, so I can't write anything - not even a sentence - about this book right now. Except to say that my heart aches but so does my face from smiling. So go read this.
October 16, 2013
Despite planning my weekend to allow for a slow, careful reading of this book I ended up plowing through it at warp speed. However, my headlong rush through the pages often came to a screeching halt so I could pause to admire a certain scene, sentence, phrase, or even a particularly well-chosen word. Then, I would begin flip, flip, flipflipflipping the pages all over again. This rough pace was entirely my fault but Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World was well worth it and I'm already looking forward to a second smoother and far more leisurely read.
I admit I didn't always like the book's main character and narrator, Stephen, but let me be clear: Stephen, his family, friends, and his life are well written and wonderfully imperfect. I have read books where a character's flaws are obviously out of place, something the author threw in as an afterthought to make their character more relatable. Not so in this case. Stephen's humanity is part of him from start to finish and it is gloriously messy. He is intelligent and insightful but also sometimes frustratingly limited. He is wry, sly, and often laugh-out-loud funny but other times he reflects back on the world the things that hurt him most: thoughtlessness, cruelty, and anger.
This book made me gasp and wince as often as I laughed.
I had read the reviews so I was prepared to like this book. I was prepared to like it a whole lot. Did those reviews prepare me for the range of emotions this book made me feel? Did they prepare me for the rush I got as I read it or the loss I felt when I was done? For how it made me want to go out and buy a copy for everyone out there who hasn't yet read it? I can't say that they did but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that this is an incredibly well-written book and I highly recommend it to everyone out there whether this is a genre you usually read or not.
I can count on one hand how many books I've read that have inspired me to this degree and I count myself lucky to have one more to add to that very short list. This book has the potential to change how many people think about people within the LGBT community because it pushes the reader past dated stereotypes to see Stephen as he struggles to come to terms with his sexual orientation in a town where different isn't always safe, let alone good.
I admit I didn't always like the book's main character and narrator, Stephen, but let me be clear: Stephen, his family, friends, and his life are well written and wonderfully imperfect. I have read books where a character's flaws are obviously out of place, something the author threw in as an afterthought to make their character more relatable. Not so in this case. Stephen's humanity is part of him from start to finish and it is gloriously messy. He is intelligent and insightful but also sometimes frustratingly limited. He is wry, sly, and often laugh-out-loud funny but other times he reflects back on the world the things that hurt him most: thoughtlessness, cruelty, and anger.
This book made me gasp and wince as often as I laughed.
I had read the reviews so I was prepared to like this book. I was prepared to like it a whole lot. Did those reviews prepare me for the range of emotions this book made me feel? Did they prepare me for the rush I got as I read it or the loss I felt when I was done? For how it made me want to go out and buy a copy for everyone out there who hasn't yet read it? I can't say that they did but that doesn't matter. What does matter is that this is an incredibly well-written book and I highly recommend it to everyone out there whether this is a genre you usually read or not.
I can count on one hand how many books I've read that have inspired me to this degree and I count myself lucky to have one more to add to that very short list. This book has the potential to change how many people think about people within the LGBT community because it pushes the reader past dated stereotypes to see Stephen as he struggles to come to terms with his sexual orientation in a town where different isn't always safe, let alone good.
June 8, 2017
The title and cover of this YA novel are a bit deceiving; this is not the whimsical or light-hearted tale you might be expecting. What I really liked about this book was how vividly it brought (80s) rural Nova Scotia to life. Emotionally it was also very vivid, but quite tense and exhausting at times. Not surprisingly given the setting, Stephen's coming out narrative involves encountering a lot of homophobia. There are funny and sweet moments but overall it's a fairly heavy, although beautifully told story (with a happy ending).
Sometimes I wonder if we need these kinds of coming out books anymore. This is a very gay book in one sense of the word but certainly not in the other sense. I do think this will resonate for queer kids growing up in rural conservative places, even today, and it's a good window into coming out in a different era for today's queer teens too. But thank god we have many queer YA books that aren't like this these days.
[TW: scenes of homophobic violence / assault, sexual assault off screen, lots of excessive drinking, self harm]
Sometimes I wonder if we need these kinds of coming out books anymore. This is a very gay book in one sense of the word but certainly not in the other sense. I do think this will resonate for queer kids growing up in rural conservative places, even today, and it's a good window into coming out in a different era for today's queer teens too. But thank god we have many queer YA books that aren't like this these days.
[TW: scenes of homophobic violence / assault, sexual assault off screen, lots of excessive drinking, self harm]
February 18, 2014
With a title like this I hoped for something lighter. The text on the back of the book promised "House parties - Pick-up trucks - Cherry-vanilla ice cream - Prom night - Unrequited Love" and all of those things were actually in the book, but not in the cheerful way I had hoped. It's a coming of age tale that is filled with misunderstandings and miscues but the voice of Stephen comes across loud and clear through Janet Cameron's writing.
It's not a light read but it is so worth reading. I'm sure any parent would benefit from remembering how much thinking is involved in the last few years of high school - thinking about the future, what friends think of you, which university you will attend (or not), and this book lays it all out for you, chapter by chapter until it reaches the end.
It's not a light read but it is so worth reading. I'm sure any parent would benefit from remembering how much thinking is involved in the last few years of high school - thinking about the future, what friends think of you, which university you will attend (or not), and this book lays it all out for you, chapter by chapter until it reaches the end.
January 18, 2015
I expected to really like this book - the premise was interesting, and the blurb made it sound like something I would connect with (young person coming to terms with his sexuality in a small town).
Sadly, the execution left me a bit cold. Sure, it was an interesting story, but it felt a little bit like 'story by numbers', like something a student would produce in a writing class having closely studied all the elements of how a story should work. And the characters, while potentially intriguing, never came off the page for me. Maybe it was the first person narractive, but I never felt like I had a clear handle on who the protagonist was other than 'gay kid with daddy issues', and as a result I didn't really care what happened to him. The supporting characters were similarly two dimensional - the bully with the good heart, the hippy-dippy mom, the edgy out of towner... none of them felt real, which is, ultimately, why this book didn't work for me.
That's not to say there aren't some good elements to it; I wouldn't have read past the first chapter had that not been the case. The author did a good job of having the various supporting characters react differently to Stephen's coming out - not all bad, not all positive. And the fear of AIDs being front and centre for some of the characters felt era-appropriate (it's set in the early 80s), and a lot of the negative reactions stem from ignorance rather than actual hatred, which again felt accurate.
But in the end, the habit of telling rather than showing that the author has bugged me, and while I would hesitate to call this a bad book, it's not one that I would recommend.
Sadly, the execution left me a bit cold. Sure, it was an interesting story, but it felt a little bit like 'story by numbers', like something a student would produce in a writing class having closely studied all the elements of how a story should work. And the characters, while potentially intriguing, never came off the page for me. Maybe it was the first person narractive, but I never felt like I had a clear handle on who the protagonist was other than 'gay kid with daddy issues', and as a result I didn't really care what happened to him. The supporting characters were similarly two dimensional - the bully with the good heart, the hippy-dippy mom, the edgy out of towner... none of them felt real, which is, ultimately, why this book didn't work for me.
That's not to say there aren't some good elements to it; I wouldn't have read past the first chapter had that not been the case. The author did a good job of having the various supporting characters react differently to Stephen's coming out - not all bad, not all positive. And the fear of AIDs being front and centre for some of the characters felt era-appropriate (it's set in the early 80s), and a lot of the negative reactions stem from ignorance rather than actual hatred, which again felt accurate.
But in the end, the habit of telling rather than showing that the author has bugged me, and while I would hesitate to call this a bad book, it's not one that I would recommend.
April 29, 2013
At the beginning of Cinnamon Toast and The End of the World, Stephen Shulevitz’s world as he knows it comes to an end. He’s reached the sudden realisation that he’s in love with his best buddy, Mark, and that he desperately wants to kiss him.
This is a ‘coming out’ novel. You know from the opening scene that Stephen will have to overcome a series of emotional obstacles before eventually coming to terms with his sexuality; that towards the end he’s going to tell Mark that he fancies him, for better or worse; and that there’s going to be some deep issues with Stephen’s parents that he’s going to have to sort out along the way. There’ll probably be a story arc featuring Stephen’s close female friend too. As with any romance novel, where the two paramours are introduced in the opening chapter and you know that on the very last page they will get together, the table is set for a three-course meal you’ve consumed several versions of before.
The desire to keep reading a novel in such a well-trodden genre is founded in questions about how the journey will unfold, and the mark of success is whether it keeps the reader questioning.
Luckily Cameron knows how to keep the questions popping up. She's a talented writer, and the journey she takes us on is always pleasurable, sometimes moving, and has a lyrical literary style that separates it from the masses of ‘coming out’ fiction that litter the queer cannon. It also dares, at times, to jumble up the equation and come up with different answers, as in a later reunion scene between Stephen and his absent, drop-out Dad, Stanley, in which a lesser novelist would have given her readers warm, fuzzy emotional resolution.
Before any conclusion is reached, Stanley says: “I think this conversation has run its course.” Stephen, instead of getting his father to say he loves him, is left in confusion, and Cameron resists any urge to move Stanley centre stage again for the tying up of loose ends.
The tale is set in 1987, mostly in the small Canadian town of Riverside, where boredom rather than outright prejudice drives the violent motivations of its teenage population. Cameron clearly loves the eighties. The book is filled with playful cultural references to the era. When Stephen contemplates suicide, he does so through the filter of watching an umpteenth Friday The 13th sequel. At the inevitably excruciating prom, he dances with rebellious abandonment to Aha’s The Sun Always Shines on TV.
He may be surrounded by stalwarts of the genre – the best girlfriend (Lana) who secretly fancies him, the ambivalent but unavailable love interest, the school bullies – but its in her depiction of supporting characters, like Lana’s immigrant father, Mr. Kovalenko (“a look on his face like he’d been chewing old sardines”), and Stephen’s fleeting, sexually gluttonous girlfriend, Tina Thompson, with her “muscular tongue”, that Cameron really lights up. Stephen himself is a sharply drawn protagonist, his teenage view of the world suitably cynical, but underlined with almost poetic, acute observation.
Towards the end the inevitable happens, and as Stephen’s orientation becomes known to his peers, he becomes more and more vulnerable. Cameron isn’t afraid to shift the lighthearted tone of the first half of the novel into much darker territory, and during the penultimate, chaotic scene between Stephen and Mark, you begin to think this might not turn out the way all ‘coming out’ novels turn out, after all.
You’ll have to read the book to find out if it does, but in the meantime I’m taking bets that Cameron’s second novel will leave the ‘coming out’ genre behind. She’s simply a writer, a good one, who likes to tell a cracking story. That this story is about a gay boy finding himself is incidental.
This is a ‘coming out’ novel. You know from the opening scene that Stephen will have to overcome a series of emotional obstacles before eventually coming to terms with his sexuality; that towards the end he’s going to tell Mark that he fancies him, for better or worse; and that there’s going to be some deep issues with Stephen’s parents that he’s going to have to sort out along the way. There’ll probably be a story arc featuring Stephen’s close female friend too. As with any romance novel, where the two paramours are introduced in the opening chapter and you know that on the very last page they will get together, the table is set for a three-course meal you’ve consumed several versions of before.
The desire to keep reading a novel in such a well-trodden genre is founded in questions about how the journey will unfold, and the mark of success is whether it keeps the reader questioning.
Luckily Cameron knows how to keep the questions popping up. She's a talented writer, and the journey she takes us on is always pleasurable, sometimes moving, and has a lyrical literary style that separates it from the masses of ‘coming out’ fiction that litter the queer cannon. It also dares, at times, to jumble up the equation and come up with different answers, as in a later reunion scene between Stephen and his absent, drop-out Dad, Stanley, in which a lesser novelist would have given her readers warm, fuzzy emotional resolution.
Before any conclusion is reached, Stanley says: “I think this conversation has run its course.” Stephen, instead of getting his father to say he loves him, is left in confusion, and Cameron resists any urge to move Stanley centre stage again for the tying up of loose ends.
The tale is set in 1987, mostly in the small Canadian town of Riverside, where boredom rather than outright prejudice drives the violent motivations of its teenage population. Cameron clearly loves the eighties. The book is filled with playful cultural references to the era. When Stephen contemplates suicide, he does so through the filter of watching an umpteenth Friday The 13th sequel. At the inevitably excruciating prom, he dances with rebellious abandonment to Aha’s The Sun Always Shines on TV.
He may be surrounded by stalwarts of the genre – the best girlfriend (Lana) who secretly fancies him, the ambivalent but unavailable love interest, the school bullies – but its in her depiction of supporting characters, like Lana’s immigrant father, Mr. Kovalenko (“a look on his face like he’d been chewing old sardines”), and Stephen’s fleeting, sexually gluttonous girlfriend, Tina Thompson, with her “muscular tongue”, that Cameron really lights up. Stephen himself is a sharply drawn protagonist, his teenage view of the world suitably cynical, but underlined with almost poetic, acute observation.
Towards the end the inevitable happens, and as Stephen’s orientation becomes known to his peers, he becomes more and more vulnerable. Cameron isn’t afraid to shift the lighthearted tone of the first half of the novel into much darker territory, and during the penultimate, chaotic scene between Stephen and Mark, you begin to think this might not turn out the way all ‘coming out’ novels turn out, after all.
You’ll have to read the book to find out if it does, but in the meantime I’m taking bets that Cameron’s second novel will leave the ‘coming out’ genre behind. She’s simply a writer, a good one, who likes to tell a cracking story. That this story is about a gay boy finding himself is incidental.
June 12, 2016
To begin with, the writing in this book is atrocious on almost every level. Most glaringly, the pacing is an absolute trainwreck. Periodically Cameron will decide to go back in time to review either Stephen's childhood or his first few months in college (why didn't we get to see this stuff chronologically?) and the way she would summarize all the events that happened there would make the whole section feel very pasted on, as if it were added after the fact. This effect is only exacerbated by the voice Cameron uses for Stephen, which sounds, at turns, like a middle aged man (all that "this was back in the summer of 1982" nonsense - what teenager talks like that?) and a particularly immature 12-year-old. Many times, when Stephen would make some kind of "joke" or reference I thought that I had missed a few pages because so many of his narrative asides come from completely out of nowhere.
This entire book feels unbalanced. Events that seem like they should have a huge aftershock (like Stephen's coming out at a high school party) end up barely rippling (given that this was set in the 1980's there should've been way, way more than a few nasty comments and a swirly as a result). So many things here seem like they weren't really thought through. Plotlines are picked up (Adam) and then abandoned (Adam) with barely more than a few sentences tying them up. And the sentence level is just as clumsy as the rest of the book. At best, the writing here is dull. At worst, it's cringe inducing. Not only does this read like a first novel, it reads like a first attempt at writing, period.
I honestly don't understand how this book was allowed out into the world, but I can definitively say that I wouldn't recommend it.
This entire book feels unbalanced. Events that seem like they should have a huge aftershock (like Stephen's coming out at a high school party) end up barely rippling (given that this was set in the 1980's there should've been way, way more than a few nasty comments and a swirly as a result). So many things here seem like they weren't really thought through. Plotlines are picked up (Adam) and then abandoned (Adam) with barely more than a few sentences tying them up. And the sentence level is just as clumsy as the rest of the book. At best, the writing here is dull. At worst, it's cringe inducing. Not only does this read like a first novel, it reads like a first attempt at writing, period.
I honestly don't understand how this book was allowed out into the world, but I can definitively say that I wouldn't recommend it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2014
"Hey" shouted a lady in the playground yesterday, "Isn't that your little girl crying at the top of the climbing frame?"
I pulled myself reluctantly out of "cinnamon toast and the end of the world" and back into my own humdrum world.
I started the book at 10 am and finished it at 10 pm, standing beside the Easter Sunday Roast, reading with one hand and basting with the other, and I think that's all I really need to say about it.
It's not nearly as literary as the books I tend to read, but it contains fantastic lines and images that will stick with the reader for a long time.
I loved learning, very casually and unobtrusively about what winter in Canada is really like, the darkness, the cold, the puddles of snowmelt in the linoleum; great stuff
I pulled myself reluctantly out of "cinnamon toast and the end of the world" and back into my own humdrum world.
I started the book at 10 am and finished it at 10 pm, standing beside the Easter Sunday Roast, reading with one hand and basting with the other, and I think that's all I really need to say about it.
It's not nearly as literary as the books I tend to read, but it contains fantastic lines and images that will stick with the reader for a long time.
I loved learning, very casually and unobtrusively about what winter in Canada is really like, the darkness, the cold, the puddles of snowmelt in the linoleum; great stuff
September 6, 2016
This is a beautifully written book. Like life, it's full of as much pain as laughter. A truly incredible first book and a story that speaks volumes about the complexity of growing up gay in a small town. Not only to be enjoyed by the LGBT community - we can all relate to being an extreme outsider at some stage in our lives. Read it; you won't regret it.
February 27, 2013
I was able to read an advance of this book prior to its publication and I really enjoyed the read! Even though the character is in his last year of high school and lives a very rural life that is definitely unlike mine, I found him very relatable. Great book, I hope it does well!
December 4, 2013
If you've ever been a teenager, you will enjoy this. I missed Stephan when he was gone.... great book about growing up. Not for the very faint-hearted, but a great story, really well written.
July 7, 2013
Very good, captures perfectly what it's like to be an outsider in high school.
February 14, 2014
I ADORED this book. I loved the story, but also loved Janet Cameron's use of language. Beautiful. Love, love, LOVE this book!
September 1, 2017
oh yay he fell in love with his homophobic best friend
June 27, 2015
I felt drained, lifeless. I was sure that everything was ruined. I'd never feel the same way around Mark. It would never be easy and comfortable between us again.
I was right, as it turned out.
Now you tell me that's not the end of the world.
What a bittersweet read. I'd say it was way more bitter than sweet. It'd be polite to start off with a warning: the synopsis and design of the book does not prepare you for how quietly heartbreaking this story is. Not at all.
Stephen Shulevitz is on his last year of high school and has plans to leave his small town to go to university in Halifax. It should be an easy move. He's always been picked on by the jocks or left alone by the rest of the school. Ever since he's moved here with his parents - his dad has since abandoned the family so it's just him and his mom for years now - he's never belonged. His only two friends are Lana and Mark.
Mark McAllister. Best friend. Protector. Acts like his older brother most of the time and gets him out of trouble. Keeps him from being beat up by the other guys who calls him slurs when he's on his own. They've had this solid relationship for years, with their own routines and traditions and familiarity, but Stephen's always held back a part of himself. He's had feelings for Mark for a while now. He knows his life would be over if anybody knew. If Mark knew.
My heart ached so much for Stephen the entire time. The writing in this can be sparse at times but layered on perfectly. I can't remember the last YA read that got the atmosphere and anxiety down like this. You could feel the unease of Stephen as he's talking to you inside his head. He's either looking away and there'll be some detail or random moment, a brief linger of a sensation that'll come up because he lets himself drift, then it vanishes and he's popped back into reality. He tries all these different strategies to avoid confrontation and it hurts, because I can see myself in his shoes, to some extent. Sometimes the more quiet you are, the more you're letting yourself be noticed, like putting up this giant 'kick me' sign on your back. If you didn't have some good memories at school, this book may bring some of those rushing back. The nitty-gritty of every scene is captured in all its ugliness. These teenagers are not adorably awkward or clumsy with these teeny flaws and still loved. No, there are real consequences to being different with these people, and they'll pick and pick at you until there's nothing left. There's no sugarcoating any of it.
In the end, I think I couldn't help but feel for so many of these characters. They're so trapped, in a sense. I like that every one of them are flawed in their own way, some more than others, even Stephen. He isn't always in the right. You don't root for him in every situation. He makes some awful decisions, and yet, you can understand why.
I'm so glad I picked this up out of the blue. It's one of the few times where I haven't heard anything about this book: nothing via ads or word-of-mouth or lists, but just old school browsing the shelves. A tough but beautiful read.
June 12, 2016
5/5 stars!!!!
I just don't know how to write this review in a way that will carry across how much I love this. Cinnamon Toast follows seventeen year old Stephen Shulevitz at the end of the world- AKA when he realises/accepts that he's in love with his best friend, Mark. And this is just the first chapter. What follows is a look at Stephen's life as he graduates from high school and starts college/university, with a large part of the book centring around Stephen's struggle with sexuality.
First off, I loved Stephen. I related to Stephen on a level I had no idea I would when I started (I struggled a bit at the start to get into it), and this meant that I felt twice as much about him as a character. His experiences and fears were something I could connect a lot too, and the projection of his fears came in the form of self harm, both external and internal- so if you’re triggered by self harm and depression, this is a lot more heavily relevant at the start of the novel. I just felt myself caring about Stephen, more than any other character in a book pretty much ever, and that really did affect my reading experience.
I loved the plot. I loved that this was so heavily centred around coming to terms with sexuality while also not being about that- a lot of this book follows Stephen in social situations and finding out about his experiences growing up. I know loads of people complain about LGBT+ books being mainly around coming to terms with sexuality, but it's just such an important struggle for so many people, both young people and adults alike, and this is a really good book about this struggle. It shows what it’s like to be seeking safety but being constantly afraid that your safe spaces aren't as safe as you first thought, that anyone who knows about your sexuality- or anything about you that you've got some internalised fear of- will just tell everyone about it.
The last part of the book once Stephen goes to uni seems very rushed but I loved that writing style. One of the big things I took away from this book is that things go quick, that big changes to your life happen because of several small events and encounters, and the last part being rushed really just shows how quick life is. Cameron’s writing is just beautiful, and made me love this book even more.
I know I haven’t said a lot about this to completely justify my five stars and my overwhelming love for this book and Stephen, but it’s really just the way Cameron wrote such a wonderful main character, a wonderfully simple yet hard hitting plot, that made me love this so much. I recommend this with all of my heart, and it’s without-a-doubt a new favourite.
I just don't know how to write this review in a way that will carry across how much I love this. Cinnamon Toast follows seventeen year old Stephen Shulevitz at the end of the world- AKA when he realises/accepts that he's in love with his best friend, Mark. And this is just the first chapter. What follows is a look at Stephen's life as he graduates from high school and starts college/university, with a large part of the book centring around Stephen's struggle with sexuality.
First off, I loved Stephen. I related to Stephen on a level I had no idea I would when I started (I struggled a bit at the start to get into it), and this meant that I felt twice as much about him as a character. His experiences and fears were something I could connect a lot too, and the projection of his fears came in the form of self harm, both external and internal- so if you’re triggered by self harm and depression, this is a lot more heavily relevant at the start of the novel. I just felt myself caring about Stephen, more than any other character in a book pretty much ever, and that really did affect my reading experience.
I loved the plot. I loved that this was so heavily centred around coming to terms with sexuality while also not being about that- a lot of this book follows Stephen in social situations and finding out about his experiences growing up. I know loads of people complain about LGBT+ books being mainly around coming to terms with sexuality, but it's just such an important struggle for so many people, both young people and adults alike, and this is a really good book about this struggle. It shows what it’s like to be seeking safety but being constantly afraid that your safe spaces aren't as safe as you first thought, that anyone who knows about your sexuality- or anything about you that you've got some internalised fear of- will just tell everyone about it.
The last part of the book once Stephen goes to uni seems very rushed but I loved that writing style. One of the big things I took away from this book is that things go quick, that big changes to your life happen because of several small events and encounters, and the last part being rushed really just shows how quick life is. Cameron’s writing is just beautiful, and made me love this book even more.
I know I haven’t said a lot about this to completely justify my five stars and my overwhelming love for this book and Stephen, but it’s really just the way Cameron wrote such a wonderful main character, a wonderfully simple yet hard hitting plot, that made me love this so much. I recommend this with all of my heart, and it’s without-a-doubt a new favourite.
September 2, 2018
It's been a while since a book has surprised me, but Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World did just that.
Going into the novel, I was expecting a coming out story with some strife but more humor and lightheartedness than drama or danger. Was I ever wrong. Cameron delivers a gut-punch of reality to the reader, brutally and unflinchingly portraying 1980s small-town homophobia. Combine that with some deeply flawed but ultimately likeable characters and a fast-paced narrative, and Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World ends up being a really good book.
Going into the novel, I was expecting a coming out story with some strife but more humor and lightheartedness than drama or danger. Was I ever wrong. Cameron delivers a gut-punch of reality to the reader, brutally and unflinchingly portraying 1980s small-town homophobia. Combine that with some deeply flawed but ultimately likeable characters and a fast-paced narrative, and Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World ends up being a really good book.
October 1, 2017
I love a well-crafted coming-of-age story with a tough and intelligent protagonist. Cameron delivers beautifully. I loved the complexity of the characters and their reactions, and I was comforted by the hopefulness of the ending. All around, an excellent story.
October 24, 2023
I have forgotten who recommended this to me, but I remember it from ONTD. Great book that definitely affected me in 2014 when I needed clarity about myself. I liked it a lot I made a Spotify playlist about it lol. :)
June 12, 2023
This is the worst book I've ever read in my life
I usually DNF when I know I'm gonna really dislike a book, but I felt I had to finish because I read so much of it during the 24 hour readathon
So fucking stupid, insensitive and unrealistic. I am in disbelief.
It was just trauma after trauma after trauma for no fucking reason.
I actually laughed out loud multiple times at the ridiculous dialogue and events.
GOOD-BYE!
I usually DNF when I know I'm gonna really dislike a book, but I felt I had to finish because I read so much of it during the 24 hour readathon
So fucking stupid, insensitive and unrealistic. I am in disbelief.
It was just trauma after trauma after trauma for no fucking reason.
I actually laughed out loud multiple times at the ridiculous dialogue and events.
GOOD-BYE!
February 24, 2016
4.5/5 stars
Tse kinets' svitu Ukrainian proverb to say when everybody's running around acting crazy
Dunia Stephen Shulevitz berakhir pada pukul dua dini hari, saat dia bersama sahabatnya, Mark McAllister, sedang merokok sambil nonton tivi. Stephen membayangkan bahwa akhir dunia bakalan kayak tivi meledak karena kecelakaan saat menyalakan rokok misalnya. Atau yg lebih ekstrim lagi, seperti ramalan suku Maya atau Nostradamus. Tapi tidak dengan apa yg dialami Stephen. Dunianya berakhir saat dia menyadari bahwa dia jatuh cinta pada orang yg keliru, yaitu sahabatnya sendiri.
I tried to imagine myself having a normal, happy life. Chatting with people easily, not worried if I was saying the right thing or standing right or if they liked me
Stephen dan Mark bersahabat baik sejak kecil dan keduanya berasal dari keluarga yg berantakan. Stephen sendiri sering di-bully karena dia dianggap lemah dan pemalu, dan setiap kali Stephen diperlakukan begitu, Mark selalu datang sebagai penyelamat. Mark sendiri juga bukan anak yg 'teladan'. Dia berandal yg gak segan-segan main pukul (pernah meng-K.O pacar ibunya yg notabene lebih tua dan lebih besar), rokok, drugs dan alkohol adalah hobinya, dan dia benci-banget-sama-gay. Bisa dibayangkam dilema yg dialami Stephen saat menyadari cintanya pada sahabatnya. Untung ada Lana, sahabat perempuan Stephen yg masih mendukungnya. Namun, keinginan Stephen untuk mengungkapkan perasaannya pda Mark begitu besar, dan di sisi lain, dia gak mau mati konyol karena reaksi sahabatnya tersebut. Buku ini menyajikan dilema tersebut dan cara Ms. Cameron menuliskannya bikin susah meletakkan buku ini.
Jangan terkecoh dengan judulnya yg kayak teenlit atau light-contemporary-YA (eh..ini masuk contemporary YA tapi buat gw sama sekali nggak 'light'). Isinya banyak banget diisi scenes mabuk, nyimeng, free-sex dan kegilaan ala remaja 80'-an. Yep, settingnya memang tahun segitu, saat The Smith, Duran-Duran, Bowie dan band-band semacam itu lagi nge-hits. Kehidupan Stephen di Riverside, Nova Scotia, bisa dibilang messy abis. Selain ke sekolah, bisa dibilang dia (dan kebanyakan remaja di buku ini) cuma party, mabuk, ngerokok, nyimeng, kelayapan gak jelas dan mengutuk perasaannya pada Mark. Ayahnya sendiri juga agak 'aneh', dia minta Stephen memanggil dirinya dengan Stanley atau Stan, daripada ayah atau Papa. Katanya 'Like friends'. Namun yg dia lakukan hanya menelantarkan anak istrinya, minggat ke Montreal, nikah lagi dan minta Stephen ke sana buat bantu Sheila, sang istri baru, ngerawat anak-anak perempuannya. Can u imagine how damaged that man personality? (ok...I'm judging here, but I can't stand with this man!).
Mengikuti kegalauan Stephen dalam mengungkapkan jati dirinya membuat gw bener-bener pengen meluk ni anak. Dan gw bahkan bener-bener nangis saat Granny Dawd bisik-bisik I supposed shes' proud of herself. Raising that. I'd hang my head in shame. I certainty wouldn't sit it at the dinner table. With children. With married couples!. Gw paling gak bisa kalo ada orang yg gak dianggap, maybe it quite personal, but...it always break my heart. Sepanjang buku ini gw terus penasaran gimana Stephen bakal ngasih tau Mark, gimana reaksi Mark dan gw bener-bener berharap kisah ini happy ending. Dan karena settingnya masih taun segitu, perlindungan dan reaksi terhadap kaum homoseksual masih bisa dibilang minim dan negatif. Jadi, mau gak mau mungkin kita bakalan dihadapkan pada kenyataan pahit banget bahwa mereka akan selalu 'diasingkan', dimanapun mereka berada. Dan pemikiran Stephen tentang betapa tidak wajarnya kehidupan 'normal' adik-adik tirinya, terasa sangat wajar.
Buku ini pastinya menjadi salah satu buku favorit di tahun ini.
Tse kinets' svitu Ukrainian proverb to say when everybody's running around acting crazy
Dunia Stephen Shulevitz berakhir pada pukul dua dini hari, saat dia bersama sahabatnya, Mark McAllister, sedang merokok sambil nonton tivi. Stephen membayangkan bahwa akhir dunia bakalan kayak tivi meledak karena kecelakaan saat menyalakan rokok misalnya. Atau yg lebih ekstrim lagi, seperti ramalan suku Maya atau Nostradamus. Tapi tidak dengan apa yg dialami Stephen. Dunianya berakhir saat dia menyadari bahwa dia jatuh cinta pada orang yg keliru, yaitu sahabatnya sendiri.
I tried to imagine myself having a normal, happy life. Chatting with people easily, not worried if I was saying the right thing or standing right or if they liked me
Stephen dan Mark bersahabat baik sejak kecil dan keduanya berasal dari keluarga yg berantakan. Stephen sendiri sering di-bully karena dia dianggap lemah dan pemalu, dan setiap kali Stephen diperlakukan begitu, Mark selalu datang sebagai penyelamat. Mark sendiri juga bukan anak yg 'teladan'. Dia berandal yg gak segan-segan main pukul (pernah meng-K.O pacar ibunya yg notabene lebih tua dan lebih besar), rokok, drugs dan alkohol adalah hobinya, dan dia benci-banget-sama-gay. Bisa dibayangkam dilema yg dialami Stephen saat menyadari cintanya pada sahabatnya. Untung ada Lana, sahabat perempuan Stephen yg masih mendukungnya. Namun, keinginan Stephen untuk mengungkapkan perasaannya pda Mark begitu besar, dan di sisi lain, dia gak mau mati konyol karena reaksi sahabatnya tersebut. Buku ini menyajikan dilema tersebut dan cara Ms. Cameron menuliskannya bikin susah meletakkan buku ini.
Jangan terkecoh dengan judulnya yg kayak teenlit atau light-contemporary-YA (eh..ini masuk contemporary YA tapi buat gw sama sekali nggak 'light'). Isinya banyak banget diisi scenes mabuk, nyimeng, free-sex dan kegilaan ala remaja 80'-an. Yep, settingnya memang tahun segitu, saat The Smith, Duran-Duran, Bowie dan band-band semacam itu lagi nge-hits. Kehidupan Stephen di Riverside, Nova Scotia, bisa dibilang messy abis. Selain ke sekolah, bisa dibilang dia (dan kebanyakan remaja di buku ini) cuma party, mabuk, ngerokok, nyimeng, kelayapan gak jelas dan mengutuk perasaannya pada Mark. Ayahnya sendiri juga agak 'aneh', dia minta Stephen memanggil dirinya dengan Stanley atau Stan, daripada ayah atau Papa. Katanya 'Like friends'. Namun yg dia lakukan hanya menelantarkan anak istrinya, minggat ke Montreal, nikah lagi dan minta Stephen ke sana buat bantu Sheila, sang istri baru, ngerawat anak-anak perempuannya. Can u imagine how damaged that man personality? (ok...I'm judging here, but I can't stand with this man!).
Mengikuti kegalauan Stephen dalam mengungkapkan jati dirinya membuat gw bener-bener pengen meluk ni anak. Dan gw bahkan bener-bener nangis saat Granny Dawd bisik-bisik I supposed shes' proud of herself. Raising that. I'd hang my head in shame. I certainty wouldn't sit it at the dinner table. With children. With married couples!. Gw paling gak bisa kalo ada orang yg gak dianggap, maybe it quite personal, but...it always break my heart. Sepanjang buku ini gw terus penasaran gimana Stephen bakal ngasih tau Mark, gimana reaksi Mark dan gw bener-bener berharap kisah ini happy ending. Dan karena settingnya masih taun segitu, perlindungan dan reaksi terhadap kaum homoseksual masih bisa dibilang minim dan negatif. Jadi, mau gak mau mungkin kita bakalan dihadapkan pada kenyataan pahit banget bahwa mereka akan selalu 'diasingkan', dimanapun mereka berada. Dan pemikiran Stephen tentang betapa tidak wajarnya kehidupan 'normal' adik-adik tirinya, terasa sangat wajar.
Buku ini pastinya menjadi salah satu buku favorit di tahun ini.
July 5, 2013
I was at the library, staring at the shelves and bemoaning the fact that I couldn't find anything to read! And there on a trolley, lying on top of several books waiting to be shelved was a book with a drawing toast popping out of a toaster and the words, Cinnamon Toast and The End of the World a novel Janet E. Cameron
I opened it and read the first paragraph:
What does it say about me that this passed my "first page of the book" test? But it did.
And initially, I really liked the book.
I should have known from that where the book was heading. Things began to unravel. Really unravel. While it's not strictly a horror novel, it is definitely a tragedy. Alcohol, drugs, duplicity, close-mindedness, misery, unkindness, violence, cruelty. There seemed to be no balance in the other direction.
Don't get me wrong; it's well written. But I'm not sure I could say I liked it, the characters - or myself - as I closed the book after reading the final sentence. Even though there is, at last, a brief glimpse of the tiniest hint of hope in the final sentence.
So. If you're in the mood to wallow about the hideous direction that our empty shallow lives have taken and relive the anguish of your highschool years, this is the book for you.
a favourite passage:
I opened it and read the first paragraph:
'It's not the end of the world.'
That's what people will tell you. That's what people will tell you when they want to say, 'Your problems are stupid, your reaction to them is laughable, and I would like you to go away now.'
'Oh, Stephen, for God's sake, it's not the end of the world,' my mother willl say, over and over, in tones of sympathy or distraction. Or sometimes plain impatience.
So of course if she's ever running around looking for her keys and cursing, I'll always tell her, 'It's not the end of the world, Mom.' And if she's really been pissing me off, I'll scoop the keys up from wherever she's left them and stick them in my coat pocket. Then I'll settle back to watch with a sympathetic expression while she tears the house apart looking. Lost keys? Not the end of the world.
p. 1
What does it say about me that this passed my "first page of the book" test? But it did.
And initially, I really liked the book.
This is where I lived. Riverside, Nova Scotia (population 1,816) The kind of place where all those movies about small-town America seem to get filmed. You know the kind I'm talking about. The camera rambles down the street and you see people chirping greetings and friendly chit-chat at each other, waving from their houses, old people raking leaves, with a soundtrack of quick, bouncy notes on the strings. For a horror movie, just run the same scened but add a slow, tense cello.
I was falling asleep behind this maze of sheets with a lit cigarette in my hand.
So, was my life a comedy or a horror? I'd prefer a horror movie. At least you know what you're dealing with there.
- p. 16, 17
I should have known from that where the book was heading. Things began to unravel. Really unravel. While it's not strictly a horror novel, it is definitely a tragedy. Alcohol, drugs, duplicity, close-mindedness, misery, unkindness, violence, cruelty. There seemed to be no balance in the other direction.
Don't get me wrong; it's well written. But I'm not sure I could say I liked it, the characters - or myself - as I closed the book after reading the final sentence. Even though there is, at last, a brief glimpse of the tiniest hint of hope in the final sentence.
So. If you're in the mood to wallow about the hideous direction that our empty shallow lives have taken and relive the anguish of your highschool years, this is the book for you.
a favourite passage:
I didn't understand time. It could freeze like cement in an hourglass. It would be Wednesday and I couldn't imagine it would ever be Friday. It would be February and I knew it would never be June. And then one day I was on my way to the hardware store where my best friend worked and hoping I wouldn't run into him there, with my college acceptance letter in my backpack and less than three months of high school left for the both of us. It had all gone by like one afternoon.
p. 108
May 3, 2018
Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World
“Cinnamon Toast” was a surprise. Someone had said it was the best book they’d read that described being a gay guy, so I picked it up and had a scan of the first page. After that I think I just swallowed the book whole. You know how sometimes you don’t recall reading at all, because you’re so busy living and breathing with the characters?
Stephen was like that. I’m still surprised he doesn’t have physical hair, or that he’s not somewhere reading Donald Trump twitter exchanges. Stephen was so real to me.
Stuck in one of those stereotypical small towns—population two thousand including the grocer’s neighbour’s dog, probably—Stephen gets by with his two friends Mark and Lana. Lana covers her face in white makeup, rings her eyes in black. “I wouldn’t call her fat. Everyone else did, though.” And Mark. He’s a hardened guy, but a loner too. He stops other kids beating Stephen up, sticks with him most of the time, but some parts of Stephen always seem to piss him off. Some parts of Stephen seem to piss everyone off.
Here’s another quote for you:
“Cinnamon Toasts” is peppered with these shocks of intense fear. They’re akin to the sensation of being dropped (“a sick little trap-door jolt”), and paired with what-did-they-say. Underlying this is silent suffocation from an immense pressure. Stephen’s uneasy in his own skin, going through the motions in a hostile small town. This book has all the heightened extremes of being young. There’s self-revulsion, confusion, heartache… but also self-development. Watch this boy harden, watch him grow.
What love I have for Stephen, and for this book.
Rest of review!
“Cinnamon Toast” was a surprise. Someone had said it was the best book they’d read that described being a gay guy, so I picked it up and had a scan of the first page. After that I think I just swallowed the book whole. You know how sometimes you don’t recall reading at all, because you’re so busy living and breathing with the characters?
Stephen was like that. I’m still surprised he doesn’t have physical hair, or that he’s not somewhere reading Donald Trump twitter exchanges. Stephen was so real to me.
Stuck in one of those stereotypical small towns—population two thousand including the grocer’s neighbour’s dog, probably—Stephen gets by with his two friends Mark and Lana. Lana covers her face in white makeup, rings her eyes in black. “I wouldn’t call her fat. Everyone else did, though.” And Mark. He’s a hardened guy, but a loner too. He stops other kids beating Stephen up, sticks with him most of the time, but some parts of Stephen always seem to piss him off. Some parts of Stephen seem to piss everyone off.
“Anyway, so there I’d be, hunched over on a bench in Grade Eight gym class […] Then—whack! A ball would go slamming into the side of my face. And I’d think, Bad spot. I better move. But that ball would find me wherever I went. It was the usual guys, most of the time.
Then one morning I looked up from my book to see Mark firing a basketball right at me.”
Here’s another quote for you:
“Underneath [Mark] looked soft, like something unshelled. But you could see muscle moving under his skin. A few light-brown hairs curled up from the waistband of his jeans.
I could feel my face going hot, and my ears. I looked away, but it was too late.”
“Cinnamon Toasts” is peppered with these shocks of intense fear. They’re akin to the sensation of being dropped (“a sick little trap-door jolt”), and paired with what-did-they-say. Underlying this is silent suffocation from an immense pressure. Stephen’s uneasy in his own skin, going through the motions in a hostile small town. This book has all the heightened extremes of being young. There’s self-revulsion, confusion, heartache… but also self-development. Watch this boy harden, watch him grow.
What love I have for Stephen, and for this book.
Rest of review!
July 28, 2019
I was excited to find a story set in rural Nova Scotia, because I had taken my family for a vacation in the Maritimes last summer, and I’ve been searching for good Canadian novels all year. Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World is the debut novel of Janet E. Cameron, a first-person story of Stephen, a confused kid trying to get through his last year of high school. His world is thrown into chaos when he discovers difficult truths about his parents, friends, and about himself. It is a delicious chaos, a heart-thudding emotional ride in small-town in Nova Scotia, a barn-burner of a novel that leaves nothing sacred save for Stephen’s quest for the catharsis of escape. There is nothing black and white here, no solid ground, save for the clear and intimate voice of this kid who rails against all the unfairness of the world.
As coming-of-age stories go, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World is about all the things that we deal with in high school – exposure to sex, to alcohol, and to drugs. We all try (or tried) to fit in and realize that the people we want to fit in with are less than ideal. We learn friendship can endure, even when the end of school means separation from those friends, and even though our actions are irrational, and hurtful. But what makes this story so fascinating and unique, and elevates it beyond, is that it does this under a backdrop of the nineteen nineties and the mystery of why Stephen’s father abandoned his family. We feel the heartbreak and the fear, the loneliness that drives Stephen to question his life’s purpose.
Cameron writes about sex and violence well. But not just about “sex and violence” – no, the kind of real and uncomfortable sexual tension of average, flawed people, who are uncomfortable in their own skin, and trying to like themselves amid the quiet confusion and messiness of life. And not the two-dimensional faceless violence, but the intimate violence of abuse and longing, of rejection and painful unrequited love. The violence of anger and hate and homophobia and untruths spat out while intoxicated. My only criticism is that violence can be a bit much. Especially when it’s self-inflicted, and sought out, repeated, and infuriating in the lack of repercussions. There are characters I would like to see in prison. But it was convincing and realistic, and even though I got that crawly feeling that I didn’t want to be there, I realize that’s exactly what those passages are supposed to do.
And nothing was out of place. Which is to say that even though there were confusing overlaps and flashes back to Stephen’s childhood, I was able to make sense because the recall was true to how we all recall our histories. This is about reality, and it’s a clearly woven, intricate story, handled with love and humility. One of my favourites this year so far.
5/5
As coming-of-age stories go, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World is about all the things that we deal with in high school – exposure to sex, to alcohol, and to drugs. We all try (or tried) to fit in and realize that the people we want to fit in with are less than ideal. We learn friendship can endure, even when the end of school means separation from those friends, and even though our actions are irrational, and hurtful. But what makes this story so fascinating and unique, and elevates it beyond, is that it does this under a backdrop of the nineteen nineties and the mystery of why Stephen’s father abandoned his family. We feel the heartbreak and the fear, the loneliness that drives Stephen to question his life’s purpose.
Cameron writes about sex and violence well. But not just about “sex and violence” – no, the kind of real and uncomfortable sexual tension of average, flawed people, who are uncomfortable in their own skin, and trying to like themselves amid the quiet confusion and messiness of life. And not the two-dimensional faceless violence, but the intimate violence of abuse and longing, of rejection and painful unrequited love. The violence of anger and hate and homophobia and untruths spat out while intoxicated. My only criticism is that violence can be a bit much. Especially when it’s self-inflicted, and sought out, repeated, and infuriating in the lack of repercussions. There are characters I would like to see in prison. But it was convincing and realistic, and even though I got that crawly feeling that I didn’t want to be there, I realize that’s exactly what those passages are supposed to do.
And nothing was out of place. Which is to say that even though there were confusing overlaps and flashes back to Stephen’s childhood, I was able to make sense because the recall was true to how we all recall our histories. This is about reality, and it’s a clearly woven, intricate story, handled with love and humility. One of my favourites this year so far.
5/5
May 8, 2018
Spoilers ahead. So, I went into this expecting a lovely, light-hearted coming of age story. That is not what I got at all, but I am not sorry for it. What I did get is an incredibly honest and emotional story that challenges the idyllic idea that everything will work out how you want it to in the end. Which I think is really important. So many of these coming of age stories end on a hopeful guy-gets-the-guy (or any variation of gender) note, but part-way through this, I knew that wasn't going to be the case. It didn't prove me wrong. In a lot of ways, I am thankful for that. Because while it is nice to read books that tie themselves up in a neat and happy bow at the end, it is also nice to read books that mirror your own experiences of first love and growing up as a queer kid. And this did it so wonderfully and brutally, while also ending on a hopeful note where the protagonist didn't NEED to get the guy in order to find himself and make his own way. I loved every second of it, despite all of the tears I shed.
July 9, 2013
This, for me, was a coming-of-age story full of the awkward joys of NOT being the most popular kid in school complicated further by the protagonist, Stephen, coming to terms with being gay and what that means for the rest of his life. His parents are characters that have been truly well explored and some of the dialogue with his estranged father is sad, it will really hit home for anyone who comes from a divorced family. There were a few moments in the book where I experienced sharp-indrawing-of-breath-AAAAGH moments, despite it probably not being touted as a suspense novel! Which I enjoyed! I really liked Mark, the jock best friend. The relationship between the two reminded me of S.E. Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, one of my favourite books as a teen. Actually, Cinnamon Toast is certainly accessible for teens and would be valuable for young gay men as I'm sure there isn't much in the way of teen gay fiction out there. I am looking forward to Janet Cameron's follow up. I think she would do a superb multi-character melee-type of novel. If I could change one thing about this book, I would love to have known sneak peeks of Lana and Maryna's view on things peppered into Stephen's view, but I guess it was his story to tell and well it was told indeed. Favourite scene - Lana and Stephen hiding in the larder, listening to his drunk mother telling mortifying stories. The river scene near the end is a good old fashioned Shakespearean sort of struggle and toil, a wonderful denouement. One wonders whatever happened to poor old Mark. Maybe he can crop up again in a cameo in a future novel in Nova Scotia. In any event, looking forward to more from this author. I think she can always look back on her debut and be proud!
June 27, 2015
So i had to read this book for Grade 10(ISU, you get to choose your own book from a list of Canadian author books and then write an essay answering a question that the teacher assigns you). I choose Cinnamon Toast without knowing much about the book so it was kind of a shock that this book was centered around a gay teen who was in love with his best friend. Although i have nothing against the LGBT community, this was the first book i read that contained this particular subject matter. But the shock wore off and i immediately fell in love this book after reading just the Prologue. This book has many different sides, its funny, sad, contains some dark subject matter about self harm but the way it is written could not have been better. This book takes the reader through a roller coaster ride, there are many twists and turns and right when you think you can predict what might happen next, the author surprises you with something totally unexpected. The ending also follows that same pattern with some really unexpected stuff happening but it also leaves a smile on your face. The only thing i do not like about the ending of this book is the fact hat it ended, i honestly wish this book could have gone on forever and we could have seen how Stephen lives the rest of his life. All in all i enjoyed reading this book so much that i have recommended this book to many people and have only gotten good responses back. And i recommend anyone to try this book because i guarantee you will love it .
August 13, 2013
When Stephen realises at the age of 15 that he is in love with his best friend Mark, he knows he’s in for a bumpy road ahead, but no-one could foresee just how bumpy. Growing up gay is not easy in the small Nova Scotia town of Janet E. Cameron’s making and the author does not hold back from exposing us to the full extent of the cruelty and violence of Stephen’s journey. There are times I found myself clutching my belly as I read this book!
Stephen is a very real hero. He is naïve in terms of wanting to declare his feelings to Mark, persistently mean to his rather needy mother and understandably angry with his feckless father. I loved the honesty of all this. I especially loved that the author refused to serve up easy answers around the very painful desertion of his father. What is most satisfying is Stephen’s growth throughout the novel, how he learns to stand on his own two feet and to live life on his own terms.
The prose is fast, compelling and witty and at times downright funny, and of course, set against the soundtrack of 80s music, it sings aloud to the reader!
This is a brave, sharp and highly original debut. I look forward to seeing what Janet E Cameron has up her sleeve for the next book.
Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World
Stephen is a very real hero. He is naïve in terms of wanting to declare his feelings to Mark, persistently mean to his rather needy mother and understandably angry with his feckless father. I loved the honesty of all this. I especially loved that the author refused to serve up easy answers around the very painful desertion of his father. What is most satisfying is Stephen’s growth throughout the novel, how he learns to stand on his own two feet and to live life on his own terms.
The prose is fast, compelling and witty and at times downright funny, and of course, set against the soundtrack of 80s music, it sings aloud to the reader!
This is a brave, sharp and highly original debut. I look forward to seeing what Janet E Cameron has up her sleeve for the next book.
Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World
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