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My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen
Chris Bellows is just trying to get through high school and survive being the only stepchild in the social-climbing Fontaine family, whose recently diminished fortune hasn’t dimmed their desire to mingle with Upper East Side society. Chris sometimes feels more like a maid than part of the family. But when Chris’s stepsister Kimberly begins dating golden boy J. J. Kennerly, heir to a political dynasty, everything changes. Because Chris and J. J. fall in love . . . with each other.
With the help of a new friend, Coco Chanel Jones, Chris learns to be comfortable in his own skin, let himself fall in love and be loved, and discovers that maybe he was wrong about his step-family all along. All it takes is one fairy godmother dressed as Diana Ross to change the course of his life.
My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen is a Cinderella retelling for the modern reader. The novel expertly balances issues like sexuality, family and financial troubles, and self-discovery with more lighthearted moments like how one rogue shoe can launch a secret, whirlwind romance and a chance meeting with a drag queen can spark magic and light in a once dark reality.
With the help of a new friend, Coco Chanel Jones, Chris learns to be comfortable in his own skin, let himself fall in love and be loved, and discovers that maybe he was wrong about his step-family all along. All it takes is one fairy godmother dressed as Diana Ross to change the course of his life.
My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen is a Cinderella retelling for the modern reader. The novel expertly balances issues like sexuality, family and financial troubles, and self-discovery with more lighthearted moments like how one rogue shoe can launch a secret, whirlwind romance and a chance meeting with a drag queen can spark magic and light in a once dark reality.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published May 2, 2017
80 people are currently reading
2550 people want to read
About the author
David Clawson
5 books48 followersBorn in Virginia, raised in Pennsylvania, and later living in Arizona, Washington DC, and California, it’s fair to say I have been around. With BAs in Creative Writing and Dramatic Theory from the University of Arizona and an MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Southern California, I’ve written scripts for European and Hollywood companies, both independent and studio. I currently teach Screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 240 reviews
June 21, 2017
A modern retelling of Cinderella but with Cinderella actually being Christopher which is pretty cool I guess for people who want more diversity. Christopher's father commits suicide after the 2008 stock market crash, because all his money disappears, and leaves Christopher with his step family the Fontaine's. The Fontaine family has serious financial issues, which were supposed to be taken care of thanks to Chris's dad, and now his step sister Kimberly must find a way to trap the most eligible bachelor in America, J. J. Kennerly. The trouble is that J.J. is gay and he and Chris like one another. J.J. uses Kimberly as his beard and he and Chris sneak around together but Chris isn't sure how long he can keep pretending.
I actually think the book was surprisingly good, and that the author has a lot of potential as a story teller. I really liked Chris and I was rooting for him through out the story. The problem for me personally was the author's reliance on stereotypes through out the story. Maybe the whole point was that it's supposed to be humorous when he does that but it fell a little flat for me. Especially the whole thing with Coco Chanel Jones being a black drag queen and all her dialogue, both in and out of drag, came out to be a little caricatured. Again I'm sure there are people like that who exist and there's nothing wrong with it, but the way it was in the book just made me feel uncomfortable and it felt like it was being played up for humor. I just couldn't enjoy those parts of the book personally but again I do think the author's writing shows promise and that he's a good story teller. Maybe less reliance on stereotypes used as jokes, even though it would be the easy thing to do, would help. Also I still am confused about the whole party scene where the heck did Coco show up from while Chris is watching his family leave. It was a little discombobulating.
I actually think the book was surprisingly good, and that the author has a lot of potential as a story teller. I really liked Chris and I was rooting for him through out the story. The problem for me personally was the author's reliance on stereotypes through out the story. Maybe the whole point was that it's supposed to be humorous when he does that but it fell a little flat for me. Especially the whole thing with Coco Chanel Jones being a black drag queen and all her dialogue, both in and out of drag, came out to be a little caricatured. Again I'm sure there are people like that who exist and there's nothing wrong with it, but the way it was in the book just made me feel uncomfortable and it felt like it was being played up for humor. I just couldn't enjoy those parts of the book personally but again I do think the author's writing shows promise and that he's a good story teller. Maybe less reliance on stereotypes used as jokes, even though it would be the easy thing to do, would help. Also I still am confused about the whole party scene where the heck did Coco show up from while Chris is watching his family leave. It was a little discombobulating.
July 24, 2017
This is one tremendously emotional, freakishly crazy, guffawing-ly hilarious, and sweet and optimistic retelling of a Cinderella story.
Everything about the book was so far from the norm, or so different from the lovely classic tale, that declaring them to be written by same species of human beings is a huge understatement.
After reading the title and the blurb, I had mistakenly prejudged the book to be a book full of cheese and frills, already mentally preparing myself to forget about it as soon as I was done. Boy, was I wrong! There were so many things that have made it so memorable to me, the first of which was the quirky narrative by the adorable Chris. The second was, no, not J.J., but rather Chris's family. Iris, Kimberly, and Buck had such developed personalities that I was able to picture them in my head completely effortlessly.
The next major selling point was the awesome punctuation (barring the one missing period under the 30% mark). I am a sucker for great punctuation, and this book's was like manna from heaven to me. Even though some 8-10 typos made it to the surface in the later parts, I can still not let them override the great punctuation work.
I won't say I warmed up to J.J. much, and that is because he got very little details and page space. Chris was the narrator, and because he was able to spend a very short amount of time with J.J., the same implied for me too. And that is why I took off a star in my rating. I would have loved to get to know Jason better. Also, what was the second J. in his name?
An amazing story, though. It was such fun to read it and laugh aloud, mostly unexpectedly and surprisingly, at Coco's sass and Buck's brand of self-appreciation and the timing of various funny moments. That was the cherry on top of my pudding.
Everything about the book was so far from the norm, or so different from the lovely classic tale, that declaring them to be written by same species of human beings is a huge understatement.
After reading the title and the blurb, I had mistakenly prejudged the book to be a book full of cheese and frills, already mentally preparing myself to forget about it as soon as I was done. Boy, was I wrong! There were so many things that have made it so memorable to me, the first of which was the quirky narrative by the adorable Chris. The second was, no, not J.J., but rather Chris's family. Iris, Kimberly, and Buck had such developed personalities that I was able to picture them in my head completely effortlessly.
The next major selling point was the awesome punctuation (barring the one missing period under the 30% mark). I am a sucker for great punctuation, and this book's was like manna from heaven to me. Even though some 8-10 typos made it to the surface in the later parts, I can still not let them override the great punctuation work.
I won't say I warmed up to J.J. much, and that is because he got very little details and page space. Chris was the narrator, and because he was able to spend a very short amount of time with J.J., the same implied for me too. And that is why I took off a star in my rating. I would have loved to get to know Jason better. Also, what was the second J. in his name?
An amazing story, though. It was such fun to read it and laugh aloud, mostly unexpectedly and surprisingly, at Coco's sass and Buck's brand of self-appreciation and the timing of various funny moments. That was the cherry on top of my pudding.
May 10, 2017
This book is a big no, that's why I feel comfortable dnf-ing only 10% in.
Want to know why ? When you talk about a Black Drag Queen, don't say :
#1 “smooth chocolate skin”
#2 “Him? Her? I still wasn't sure”
#3 “It's always a nice surprise being described as cute, but since I still couldn't figure out which sex was calling me this, I shifted uncomfortably on the cement step.”
#4 “I figured this wasn't the time to ask why, exactly, she felt the need to put in all of that effort to look like the sex other than the one she had been born.”
Hell to the no. I'm not interested in seeing if it gets better, I'm done, these first 10% shouldn't even exist.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Want to know why ? When you talk about a Black Drag Queen, don't say :
#1 “smooth chocolate skin”
#2 “Him? Her? I still wasn't sure”
#3 “It's always a nice surprise being described as cute, but since I still couldn't figure out which sex was calling me this, I shifted uncomfortably on the cement step.”
#4 “I figured this wasn't the time to ask why, exactly, she felt the need to put in all of that effort to look like the sex other than the one she had been born.”
Hell to the no. I'm not interested in seeing if it gets better, I'm done, these first 10% shouldn't even exist.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
April 11, 2017
This is a fairytale remix of Cinderella, except less cardboard villainy and gay.
The tale begins with our Cinderfella languishing on the Upper East Side. Chris has got his head in the game taking care of his grades and schoolwork after a tragedy leaves him alone with his stepfamily. While they're not exactly cruel, they are self-centered and take advantage of Chris for various reasons.
There's a lot of cheekiness, OTT behaviors, and de rigueur teenage angst. Add in family obligations, societal appearances, and a sibling tug-o-war and you've got to expect some drama.
Chris' life isn't the worst, but he's definitely had some knocks. He's the kind of guy that makes the best of a situation. Just, a guy can dream, can't he? And Coco Channel Jones won't be denied. Swept away, Chris gets to go to the ball!
He never dreamed he'd fall in love.
And from there the story proceeds with a lot of angst, and while I'm very sympathetic to coming out issues there was an element surrounding Kimberly that I was not entirely happy with. But I read it straight through and it was entertaining.
Fluffnutter Rating: gooey sweet and nutty.
~Copy provided by NetGalley~
The tale begins with our Cinderfella languishing on the Upper East Side. Chris has got his head in the game taking care of his grades and schoolwork after a tragedy leaves him alone with his stepfamily. While they're not exactly cruel, they are self-centered and take advantage of Chris for various reasons.
There's a lot of cheekiness, OTT behaviors, and de rigueur teenage angst. Add in family obligations, societal appearances, and a sibling tug-o-war and you've got to expect some drama.
Chris' life isn't the worst, but he's definitely had some knocks. He's the kind of guy that makes the best of a situation. Just, a guy can dream, can't he? And Coco Channel Jones won't be denied. Swept away, Chris gets to go to the ball!
He never dreamed he'd fall in love.
And from there the story proceeds with a lot of angst, and while I'm very sympathetic to coming out issues there was an element surrounding Kimberly that I was not entirely happy with. But I read it straight through and it was entertaining.
Fluffnutter Rating: gooey sweet and nutty.
~Copy provided by NetGalley~
April 27, 2017
I received a copy of the book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank the author, David Clawson, and the publisher, Skyhorse Publishing, for the opportunity.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. I believe we need more YA books with LGBTQ+ characters and characters with non-traditional gender expressions, as there's lots of young adults who don't see themselves represented in books due to the lack of them. However, not all representation is good representation and even if the author had good intentions when including said characters in the book it doesn't seem like the author took the time to really understand what it is like to be LGBTQ+ or someone with a non-traditional gender expression. One of the main things I found problematic with this book is how it seems to propagate the erroneous idea that gender identity and gender expression are the same thing and that gender is determined by what's in your pants, as can be seen from this comment: "Bitch, you are one pair of scissors away from going drag queen to transsexual, understand?".
The book also seemed to oversexualize drag queens, including several mentions to tucking that didn't seem to be relevant to the story or be educational to the reader. There were various comments made about not understanding why someone would dress in drag, which could've been replaced by respectfully asking Duane/Coco about it once their friendship developed. The book could've used Duane/Coco as an opportunity to introduce they/their pronouns to the readers and should've used they/their pronouns before Duane's/Coco's preferred pronouns were stated. All mentions of gayness seemed to be tied to stereotypes, including internal dialogue. However, LGBTQ+ stereotypes weren't the only ones to make an appearance in the book; it was assumed that Duane/Coco was from Harlem, just due to skin colour and the following also somehow made it into the book:
"[...] And I'd be married to J.J.-freakin'-Kennerly! Can I get an amen?" Of all the white girls in the world, Kimberly was among the least likely to pull that one off. "You've been spending too much time with Duane," I said.
I wanted to like this book, I really did. I believe we need more YA books with LGBTQ+ characters and characters with non-traditional gender expressions, as there's lots of young adults who don't see themselves represented in books due to the lack of them. However, not all representation is good representation and even if the author had good intentions when including said characters in the book it doesn't seem like the author took the time to really understand what it is like to be LGBTQ+ or someone with a non-traditional gender expression. One of the main things I found problematic with this book is how it seems to propagate the erroneous idea that gender identity and gender expression are the same thing and that gender is determined by what's in your pants, as can be seen from this comment: "Bitch, you are one pair of scissors away from going drag queen to transsexual, understand?".
The book also seemed to oversexualize drag queens, including several mentions to tucking that didn't seem to be relevant to the story or be educational to the reader. There were various comments made about not understanding why someone would dress in drag, which could've been replaced by respectfully asking Duane/Coco about it once their friendship developed. The book could've used Duane/Coco as an opportunity to introduce they/their pronouns to the readers and should've used they/their pronouns before Duane's/Coco's preferred pronouns were stated. All mentions of gayness seemed to be tied to stereotypes, including internal dialogue. However, LGBTQ+ stereotypes weren't the only ones to make an appearance in the book; it was assumed that Duane/Coco was from Harlem, just due to skin colour and the following also somehow made it into the book:
"[...] And I'd be married to J.J.-freakin'-Kennerly! Can I get an amen?" Of all the white girls in the world, Kimberly was among the least likely to pull that one off. "You've been spending too much time with Duane," I said.
April 15, 2017
What an odd little piece.
Oddly charming, oddly sassy and oddly emotional, to be exact.
This is a modern YA GLBT romance that is very (and I mean very) loosely based on the fairy tale of Cinderella. There's a ball, a missing shoe and a fairy godmother involved, as well as a selfish (yet strangely lovable) step-family and some sort of Prince Charming.
It is told from the perspective of adorable 17 year old Chris, who's been living with his step-family since his father's death a few years back. Chris likes his low-key existence, blending in while the rest of his family enjoys the spotlight. He wasn't planning on falling in love with her gorgeous sister's new boyfriend though, who's also arguably the country's most eligible bachelor and future President, nor did he expect to meet a bunch of sassy drag queens who gradually bring him out of his shell. When his life gets turned upside down, he's faced with involuntary outings, decisions he never wanted to have to make, and a love he didn't expect to find so soon.
I'm not sure how long I was lost in my unhappy thoughts before a voice said, "Child, if that frown gets any lower, you're gonna trip someone."
And then I looked up to see standing before me... Diana Ross?
When I first read this book's title, I just knew I had to read it. I also knew I was in for something fun, a lot of banter and quirk, but nothing could've prepared me for the giggles and laughing fits I found myself in during the first 15% of this book, mainly courtesy of Coco, Special Kaye and Aphra, the three gloriously bitchy drag queens. I really need a book that revolves fully around them. Stat.
"Bitch, you are one pair of scissors away from going drag queen to transsexual, understand?"
After the hilarious start though, I was surprised to find that it was actually a lot more than just fun and lunacy. It's also a story of self-acceptance, loyalty and friendship, sometimes emotional, but mostly light and humorous.
Also, there was so much character growth going on, especially in Chris's family. While they started out rather shallow and obnoxious, it wasn't long until their facades started to crumble, and the more layers of their personalities were revealed, the harder it was not to fall for them and their odd idiosyncrasies.
Why, oh, why was life always messing up my attempts to get some order and some metaphorical poetry into it?
This was a truly delightful read.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
April 25, 2017
I needed this story. My run of recent reads have ranged from lackluster to disappointing, so I needed something fun and engaging to bring me back to life, and this was perfect! This modernized Cinderella retelling has so much humor and fun, it’s such a quick read, and I really loved it.
Things I Liked :
-Humor. This story is laugh out loud funny. I had a great time reading it. The situations and the characters create a fun and dramatic environment that carries humor really well. The humor never felt forced to at the expense of others (except the instances noted below) and really makes this book a breeze. The humor flows in the story well and isn’t stiff or awkward.
-Writing. The writing was almost conversational. It was friendly and open. It made Chris instantly likable and accessible and helped me become enveloped in the story immediately.
-Characters & Relationships. The characters felt authentic and that made all the relationships believable. All of the character were well developed and played their parts well without feeling boring. We get more than is expected and that helped the story feel fresh and compelling. I loved that we got to see friendships and family relationships develop as well as romantic relationships. It helped the world feel more real, because it wasn’t only about the romance.
-Modern Retelling. This was a fantastic modernized retelling of Cinderella. We have genderbent characters, more diversity, a fantastic setting. The characters have been modernized incredible well, they aren’t just the stereotypes of the evil stepmom and step siblings, they are real people. They have a life of their own. They just felt like real people and it was fantastic. I liked that the story got into the plot quickly, there wasn’t a bunch of waiting around for Chris and JJ to meet.
Things I Didn’t Like :
-Fat shaming jokes. There were 2 fat shaming instances passed off as jokes, one at the beginning of the story and another about halfway through. I personally thought they were done in poor taste, and were not funny. I could have done without them.
-Ending. The ending was actually awesome. I loved it and it made me happy. It felt earned and had the culminating and grand Cinderella feel, I just wanted more. I wanted to see more of Chris and JJ after the big reveal: their relationship, their families reactions, the public’s reaction. I would have loved to get more.
This was such a great FUN book. I loved this modernized Cinderella tale and thought it was executed very well. I would definitely recommend.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for a honest review.
Things I Liked :
-Humor. This story is laugh out loud funny. I had a great time reading it. The situations and the characters create a fun and dramatic environment that carries humor really well. The humor never felt forced to at the expense of others (except the instances noted below) and really makes this book a breeze. The humor flows in the story well and isn’t stiff or awkward.
-Writing. The writing was almost conversational. It was friendly and open. It made Chris instantly likable and accessible and helped me become enveloped in the story immediately.
-Characters & Relationships. The characters felt authentic and that made all the relationships believable. All of the character were well developed and played their parts well without feeling boring. We get more than is expected and that helped the story feel fresh and compelling. I loved that we got to see friendships and family relationships develop as well as romantic relationships. It helped the world feel more real, because it wasn’t only about the romance.
-Modern Retelling. This was a fantastic modernized retelling of Cinderella. We have genderbent characters, more diversity, a fantastic setting. The characters have been modernized incredible well, they aren’t just the stereotypes of the evil stepmom and step siblings, they are real people. They have a life of their own. They just felt like real people and it was fantastic. I liked that the story got into the plot quickly, there wasn’t a bunch of waiting around for Chris and JJ to meet.
Things I Didn’t Like :
-Fat shaming jokes. There were 2 fat shaming instances passed off as jokes, one at the beginning of the story and another about halfway through. I personally thought they were done in poor taste, and were not funny. I could have done without them.
-Ending. The ending was actually awesome. I loved it and it made me happy. It felt earned and had the culminating and grand Cinderella feel, I just wanted more. I wanted to see more of Chris and JJ after the big reveal: their relationship, their families reactions, the public’s reaction. I would have loved to get more.
This was such a great FUN book. I loved this modernized Cinderella tale and thought it was executed very well. I would definitely recommend.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for a honest review.
July 2, 2017
RATING: ★★☆☆☆ / 2 Disappointed Stars.
REVIEW: I received this book from Sky Pony Press in exchange for an honest review.
In general, I don't like it when a review starts out with "I really really wanted to like it, but...", because of course a reader jumps into any book with the hopes of liking it, and saying so seems a bit redundant. But in this case in actually seems appropriate, so ... People, I really really wanted to like this book but I just, (sigh), didn't. And that makes me sad.
There were several little things that rubbed me the wrong way, things that wouldn't have been so bad in the overall story arc if they weren't added to one very big thing. I hated J.J. Kennerly. The big love interest, the psuedo-Kennedy-esque "it" boy, I hated him. He was unnecessarily selfish and cruel, and for a while I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, but partway through he makes a harsh and unwarranted comment about Kimberly, and it was just over for me. And unfortunately, while the author alludes to the long conversations and time that he and Chris spent together, talking and falling in love, we the reader aren't privy to those conversations. So the love just fell flat.
Surrounding my severe dislike for J.J., everything else just started to fall apart. I started to dislike Chris as well. In the beginning you understand the Cinderella connections the author is making but he didn't take it far enough. In an effort to make no-one the "bad guy", but rather misunderstood relationships, so that there can be character growth all around, the author sabotaged his own lead. Chris ends up feeling like the antagonist and the sympathy for him just crashes and burns.
I was so excited for a drag queen to play the part of fairy godmother but once again I felt like the author didn't take it far enough. Apart from the pivotal moment in the beginning, the fairy godmother aspect of the character was largely absent from the rest of the book. It was nice that Coco and Chris become friends but I really missed an element of confidante. And then the ending tried to throw Coco back in again but in such a strange and jarring way that it was a bit baffling.
In fact, the entire ending was incredibly abrupt and open-ended. But by that point I was just glad to be done so I didn't really give it too much thought. Basically, I loved the general idea of the book and what the author was trying to achieve, but in the end I just didn't enjoy it.
REVIEW: I received this book from Sky Pony Press in exchange for an honest review.
In general, I don't like it when a review starts out with "I really really wanted to like it, but...", because of course a reader jumps into any book with the hopes of liking it, and saying so seems a bit redundant. But in this case in actually seems appropriate, so ... People, I really really wanted to like this book but I just, (sigh), didn't. And that makes me sad.
There were several little things that rubbed me the wrong way, things that wouldn't have been so bad in the overall story arc if they weren't added to one very big thing. I hated J.J. Kennerly. The big love interest, the psuedo-Kennedy-esque "it" boy, I hated him. He was unnecessarily selfish and cruel, and for a while I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, but partway through he makes a harsh and unwarranted comment about Kimberly, and it was just over for me. And unfortunately, while the author alludes to the long conversations and time that he and Chris spent together, talking and falling in love, we the reader aren't privy to those conversations. So the love just fell flat.
Surrounding my severe dislike for J.J., everything else just started to fall apart. I started to dislike Chris as well. In the beginning you understand the Cinderella connections the author is making but he didn't take it far enough. In an effort to make no-one the "bad guy", but rather misunderstood relationships, so that there can be character growth all around, the author sabotaged his own lead. Chris ends up feeling like the antagonist and the sympathy for him just crashes and burns.
I was so excited for a drag queen to play the part of fairy godmother but once again I felt like the author didn't take it far enough. Apart from the pivotal moment in the beginning, the fairy godmother aspect of the character was largely absent from the rest of the book. It was nice that Coco and Chris become friends but I really missed an element of confidante. And then the ending tried to throw Coco back in again but in such a strange and jarring way that it was a bit baffling.
In fact, the entire ending was incredibly abrupt and open-ended. But by that point I was just glad to be done so I didn't really give it too much thought. Basically, I loved the general idea of the book and what the author was trying to achieve, but in the end I just didn't enjoy it.
December 22, 2017
"It wasn’t fair, and it wasn’t right. Love is supposed to be the truest and most esteemed emotion in the world, but many of these people would only be willing to admire it on their own terms, under their own rules."
After losing both his parents (at different times), Christopher Bellows is left in the care of his stepmother Iris and his step-siblings, Buck and Kimberley. Having grown up with less fortune than his once rich, social-climbing step family, Chris knows how to live off less. Being the only one with any experience in accomplishing normal everyday house work and responsibilities, he's pretty much been deemed to be the one who takes care of the house chores and everyone in it. Though his family members aren't totally evil, they can be selfish, irresponsible, ignorant, lazy and at times hurtful; which made Christopher mature fairly quickly for his age.
"To put it simply, they just didn’t know any better. They had always lived a certain way and had never learned to adapt."
Being in his seinor year, Chris just wants to focus on his schooling and figuring out what to do next with his life. However, everything changes when the Fountaine family manages to scrounge up enough money for everyone but Chris to attend one of the hottest social events in NY: the Autumnal Ball. Feeling left out and hurt, he wonders why he can't ever be included in these family outings. Luckily, he mets Coco Chanel Jones, who just so happens to be able to grant him his wish of attending the ball, acting as his very own fairy godmother .
When Kimberley starts dating one of NY's hottest bachelors and heir to a political dynasty, J.J. Kennerly, Chris' life gets even more complicated and messy. Because J.J. Kennerly and Christopher Bellows end up falling in love... With each other . Throw in a secret relationship with your sisters boyfriend, a sassy and fierce drag queen as a best friend, being stalked by the paparazzi and media, a nearing graduation and being in love for the first time and you'll have Chris' life.
What will happen when Chris has had enough of telling lies and all the sneaking around? Will J.J. Kennerly expose his true self to the world and risk his political future and his influencial ability to do good in the world? What does being in love truely mean and what would you sacrifice for the person you were in love with?
My Fairy Godmother Is a Drag Queen by David Clawson is a contemporary, modern fairy tale retelling of Cinderella. It focuses on themes such as family and money issues, LGBT+ culture, sexuality and self discovery and love.
My favorite thing about this book was the writing style! While I didn't love this book, I would definitely read another one of David Clawson's novels. His writing is witty, entertaining and very captivating. There were a couple of times I felt the author overused a certain "joke" (the gasping thing got a little annoying) or focused too much on stereotypes to get a laugh, but there were a lot of super funny parts for me through out the story.
My favorite character is Chris (the MC), he was well fleshed out and it was easy to feel for him whenever he hit a high or a low point. My least favorite is Iris - I hated everything about her money scheaming, "better than thou" personality and her strong need to always be sedated. Although, Buck and Kimberley (even if I did feel bad for her at times) weren't very high on my list either. I also really loved Coco / Duane - such an awesome character (despite the author playing a little heavy on certain stereotypes). J.J. Kennerly was just alright for me - I didn't hate or love him. He was well fleshed out, and so was his political world, but I didn't grow very attached to him. I wanted to read more from his and Chris' relationship, rather than read about it. They share a bunch of moments we get to read about first hand, but a lot of the growth and bonding between them was sort of skimped out on and just explained rather than shown, if that makes sense?
This book is advertised as a Cinderella retelling with a twist, but besides the "fairy godmother takes me to the ball" (which is the only fariy godmother-ish thing that person does), the insta-love, the "evil" step family and a missing shoe (which I think was a little tacky), this book could almost stand as its own, honestly.
I didn't love this book, but I did enjoy it. I love how David Clawson wrote a YA book full of diverse characters that struggle with their sexuality and self discovery, among the many other important issues that were brought up in his book.
**** I received and eBook copy of this title via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ****
After losing both his parents (at different times), Christopher Bellows is left in the care of his stepmother Iris and his step-siblings, Buck and Kimberley. Having grown up with less fortune than his once rich, social-climbing step family, Chris knows how to live off less. Being the only one with any experience in accomplishing normal everyday house work and responsibilities, he's pretty much been deemed to be the one who takes care of the house chores and everyone in it. Though his family members aren't totally evil, they can be selfish, irresponsible, ignorant, lazy and at times hurtful; which made Christopher mature fairly quickly for his age.
"To put it simply, they just didn’t know any better. They had always lived a certain way and had never learned to adapt."
Being in his seinor year, Chris just wants to focus on his schooling and figuring out what to do next with his life. However, everything changes when the Fountaine family manages to scrounge up enough money for everyone but Chris to attend one of the hottest social events in NY: the Autumnal Ball. Feeling left out and hurt, he wonders why he can't ever be included in these family outings. Luckily, he mets Coco Chanel Jones, who just so happens to be able to grant him his wish of attending the ball, acting as his very own fairy godmother .
When Kimberley starts dating one of NY's hottest bachelors and heir to a political dynasty, J.J. Kennerly, Chris' life gets even more complicated and messy. Because J.J. Kennerly and Christopher Bellows end up falling in love... With each other . Throw in a secret relationship with your sisters boyfriend, a sassy and fierce drag queen as a best friend, being stalked by the paparazzi and media, a nearing graduation and being in love for the first time and you'll have Chris' life.
What will happen when Chris has had enough of telling lies and all the sneaking around? Will J.J. Kennerly expose his true self to the world and risk his political future and his influencial ability to do good in the world? What does being in love truely mean and what would you sacrifice for the person you were in love with?
My Fairy Godmother Is a Drag Queen by David Clawson is a contemporary, modern fairy tale retelling of Cinderella. It focuses on themes such as family and money issues, LGBT+ culture, sexuality and self discovery and love.
My favorite thing about this book was the writing style! While I didn't love this book, I would definitely read another one of David Clawson's novels. His writing is witty, entertaining and very captivating. There were a couple of times I felt the author overused a certain "joke" (the gasping thing got a little annoying) or focused too much on stereotypes to get a laugh, but there were a lot of super funny parts for me through out the story.
My favorite character is Chris (the MC), he was well fleshed out and it was easy to feel for him whenever he hit a high or a low point. My least favorite is Iris - I hated everything about her money scheaming, "better than thou" personality and her strong need to always be sedated. Although, Buck and Kimberley (even if I did feel bad for her at times) weren't very high on my list either. I also really loved Coco / Duane - such an awesome character (despite the author playing a little heavy on certain stereotypes). J.J. Kennerly was just alright for me - I didn't hate or love him. He was well fleshed out, and so was his political world, but I didn't grow very attached to him. I wanted to read more from his and Chris' relationship, rather than read about it. They share a bunch of moments we get to read about first hand, but a lot of the growth and bonding between them was sort of skimped out on and just explained rather than shown, if that makes sense?
This book is advertised as a Cinderella retelling with a twist, but besides the "fairy godmother takes me to the ball" (which is the only fariy godmother-ish thing that person does), the insta-love, the "evil" step family and a missing shoe (which I think was a little tacky), this book could almost stand as its own, honestly.
I didn't love this book, but I did enjoy it. I love how David Clawson wrote a YA book full of diverse characters that struggle with their sexuality and self discovery, among the many other important issues that were brought up in his book.
**** I received and eBook copy of this title via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ****
December 29, 2017
My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen
BY David Clawson
Sky Pony Press, 2017
Five stars
“But how can you hope to do any good in the world if you’re not at least a little bit happy?”
David Clawson’s wonderful, witty, silly, but at bottom serious book about a boy named Chris Bellows is a superior example of a YA story that focuses on a gay seventeen-year-old and his coming out. A nicely updated riff on the Cinderella story, it has all the madcap energy of a Disney movie or a sitcom (but of course such a thing will never be made in my lifetime). Thus it is in books like this that gay teens (as well as adults who used to be them) will be able to find solace, and laughter, and gentle romance as they wend their way through the shoals of coming out in America.
To step back a moment, I’m a G. When my boyfriend and I were activists in the 1980s, it was only G. Then GL. Then LG (because patriarchy must be overthrown). Then LGB, then LGBT. And so forth. I’m not being facetious, I experienced the addition of every letter in the course of the 1980s and 90s and within the shadow of the AIDS holocaust that killed off so many of my generation. It’s not something I joke about. I’m also old, by the way, and have been with my boyfriend for forty-two years, living in suburbia and raising children. And dogs. Assimilating, but not really. The truth is, I really don’t matter to the LGBTQ+ world any more.
My point: nowadays G is apparently unsatisfactory. We’re privileged and spoiled and cis-gendered and we get all the attention. Not that you can tell this from Hollywood or Broadway or the Music Industry or even Ballet and Opera. For them, it’s still all about the straights, and we’re still left with tokens and crumbs. But G still matters to me, because that sad, scared sixteen-year-old that I was when I accepted that I was gay in 1971 is still alive inside my 62-year-old heart. As a result, I read gay-themed Young Adult literature with great love and interest, and I find that the journey from the closet to being gay and proud is just as hard for most teenage boys as it was for me when I came out in 1975. Sure, some kids have it easier, and God knows the world (even the crazy world we’re in right this moment in 2017) is far more open to gay folk (and queer folk) than they were 42 years ago.
But it’s still not easy. Not even for a cis-white-G boy who lives in a faded townhouse on New York’s Upper East Side.
I loved Chris Bellows, although he is not a particularly distinguished teenage boy. I love the way he is sort-of Cinderella for his step-family, the once-rich Fontaines. I say sort-of, because he doesn’t hate them, and while they are lazy and spoiled and take advantage of him, they see him as family. It is only because of his own nature and his competence that he becomes the orphaned parent to this family of downwardly-mobile social climbers.
I also loved Duane Jones, who Chris meets in his title character as Coco Chanel Jones, at a moment of crisis that fits neatly into the Cinderella trope. Duane/Coco is not magical, except in his enormous talent as a fashion design student. Duane might teeter dangerously on the edge of archetypal “sassy black gay friend” territory; but Clawson makes him so strong, so funny, so full of self-confidence and genuine artistic brilliance, that he becomes a powerful Q to Chris’s mild-mannered white-boy G. Duane also becomes one of the lenses through which Chris begins to see his step-family differently. The ravishing Kimberly, the jocky muscle-bound Buck, and the chardonnay-infused Iris all become more complex and more…interesting, once Duane enters the picture and begins to work his magic on the Bellows-Fontaine household. My one quibble here is that Iris Fontaine’s evident alcoholism is treated as a sort of running joke, and I wasn’t entirely comfortable with that. Clearly her drinking comes from anxiety over her family’s precarious financial condition, but then it is something that needs to be resolved in the end, but never is.
A refreshing difference in Clawson’s narrative is that rich people are not automatically selfish and greedy. The Prince Charming of the tale is J.J. Kennerly, scion of a hugely rich and socially powerful New York family. Destined to go into politics, J.J. is surrounded by money and privilege, but is also warm, charismatic, generous and selfless. His parents are truly charming and unabashedly liberal, and the family uses its considerable clout to do good in the world. In a time in America when rich white people are looking pretty dodgy to many of us, it is a relief to be reminded that it doesn’t need to be so.
There is much in this story that is predictable and expected. Indeed, that’s the fairy-tale appeal of this whole production. But Clawson throws in little twists and surprises along the way to knock you off track, and make you appreciate the characters even more, letting them become deeper, more vivid, and worthier of our admiration. The emotion is all teen-angst, but who among us can’t tap into such memories? For a young person reading this book, there’s the perfect kind of pride-instilling conversation about self-acceptance, self-confidence, and being true to oneself that continues to inspire long after we’ve outgrown our adolescence and made our way in the world.
BY David Clawson
Sky Pony Press, 2017
Five stars
“But how can you hope to do any good in the world if you’re not at least a little bit happy?”
David Clawson’s wonderful, witty, silly, but at bottom serious book about a boy named Chris Bellows is a superior example of a YA story that focuses on a gay seventeen-year-old and his coming out. A nicely updated riff on the Cinderella story, it has all the madcap energy of a Disney movie or a sitcom (but of course such a thing will never be made in my lifetime). Thus it is in books like this that gay teens (as well as adults who used to be them) will be able to find solace, and laughter, and gentle romance as they wend their way through the shoals of coming out in America.
To step back a moment, I’m a G. When my boyfriend and I were activists in the 1980s, it was only G. Then GL. Then LG (because patriarchy must be overthrown). Then LGB, then LGBT. And so forth. I’m not being facetious, I experienced the addition of every letter in the course of the 1980s and 90s and within the shadow of the AIDS holocaust that killed off so many of my generation. It’s not something I joke about. I’m also old, by the way, and have been with my boyfriend for forty-two years, living in suburbia and raising children. And dogs. Assimilating, but not really. The truth is, I really don’t matter to the LGBTQ+ world any more.
My point: nowadays G is apparently unsatisfactory. We’re privileged and spoiled and cis-gendered and we get all the attention. Not that you can tell this from Hollywood or Broadway or the Music Industry or even Ballet and Opera. For them, it’s still all about the straights, and we’re still left with tokens and crumbs. But G still matters to me, because that sad, scared sixteen-year-old that I was when I accepted that I was gay in 1971 is still alive inside my 62-year-old heart. As a result, I read gay-themed Young Adult literature with great love and interest, and I find that the journey from the closet to being gay and proud is just as hard for most teenage boys as it was for me when I came out in 1975. Sure, some kids have it easier, and God knows the world (even the crazy world we’re in right this moment in 2017) is far more open to gay folk (and queer folk) than they were 42 years ago.
But it’s still not easy. Not even for a cis-white-G boy who lives in a faded townhouse on New York’s Upper East Side.
I loved Chris Bellows, although he is not a particularly distinguished teenage boy. I love the way he is sort-of Cinderella for his step-family, the once-rich Fontaines. I say sort-of, because he doesn’t hate them, and while they are lazy and spoiled and take advantage of him, they see him as family. It is only because of his own nature and his competence that he becomes the orphaned parent to this family of downwardly-mobile social climbers.
I also loved Duane Jones, who Chris meets in his title character as Coco Chanel Jones, at a moment of crisis that fits neatly into the Cinderella trope. Duane/Coco is not magical, except in his enormous talent as a fashion design student. Duane might teeter dangerously on the edge of archetypal “sassy black gay friend” territory; but Clawson makes him so strong, so funny, so full of self-confidence and genuine artistic brilliance, that he becomes a powerful Q to Chris’s mild-mannered white-boy G. Duane also becomes one of the lenses through which Chris begins to see his step-family differently. The ravishing Kimberly, the jocky muscle-bound Buck, and the chardonnay-infused Iris all become more complex and more…interesting, once Duane enters the picture and begins to work his magic on the Bellows-Fontaine household. My one quibble here is that Iris Fontaine’s evident alcoholism is treated as a sort of running joke, and I wasn’t entirely comfortable with that. Clearly her drinking comes from anxiety over her family’s precarious financial condition, but then it is something that needs to be resolved in the end, but never is.
A refreshing difference in Clawson’s narrative is that rich people are not automatically selfish and greedy. The Prince Charming of the tale is J.J. Kennerly, scion of a hugely rich and socially powerful New York family. Destined to go into politics, J.J. is surrounded by money and privilege, but is also warm, charismatic, generous and selfless. His parents are truly charming and unabashedly liberal, and the family uses its considerable clout to do good in the world. In a time in America when rich white people are looking pretty dodgy to many of us, it is a relief to be reminded that it doesn’t need to be so.
There is much in this story that is predictable and expected. Indeed, that’s the fairy-tale appeal of this whole production. But Clawson throws in little twists and surprises along the way to knock you off track, and make you appreciate the characters even more, letting them become deeper, more vivid, and worthier of our admiration. The emotion is all teen-angst, but who among us can’t tap into such memories? For a young person reading this book, there’s the perfect kind of pride-instilling conversation about self-acceptance, self-confidence, and being true to oneself that continues to inspire long after we’ve outgrown our adolescence and made our way in the world.
dnf
August 14, 2017DNF at 34%
I received a free e-copy from netgalley for review.
While I found this funny at times it was also very uncomfortable. Upon meeting Coco, Chris immediately becomes weirdly obsessed about what's under Coco's dress, and then the next day when Chris meets Coco out of drag he describes Duane (Coco's real name) as looking "thuggish" (Duane is black). And then we reach the point where I couldn't put this book down fast enough. Chris' stepsister Kimberly decides it's okay to slip her mother some Xanax without her consent. Chris is fine with this and thinks he would do the same thing. While I understand that Chris's stepmom can be a lot it's never okay to give somebody medication without their consent! Especially since the stepmom is mostly likely an alcoholic and Xanax and alcohol should not be mixed.
Besides all that this book is about love at first sight. My demiromantic self can barely handle insta-love when two characters have had at least a few conversations with each other. I personally am not going to enjoy a book where a relationship is based off just looking into each other eyes. I'm not saying love at first sight doesn't happen, just that it doesn't work for me.
Edit: I also found some notes I had written in my phone.
The Positive: Chris talks about how being gay isn't all about sex.
The Negative: One of the characters makes a joke wishing they were bulimic.
I received a free e-copy from netgalley for review.
While I found this funny at times it was also very uncomfortable. Upon meeting Coco, Chris immediately becomes weirdly obsessed about what's under Coco's dress, and then the next day when Chris meets Coco out of drag he describes Duane (Coco's real name) as looking "thuggish" (Duane is black). And then we reach the point where I couldn't put this book down fast enough. Chris' stepsister Kimberly decides it's okay to slip her mother some Xanax without her consent. Chris is fine with this and thinks he would do the same thing. While I understand that Chris's stepmom can be a lot it's never okay to give somebody medication without their consent! Especially since the stepmom is mostly likely an alcoholic and Xanax and alcohol should not be mixed.
Besides all that this book is about love at first sight. My demiromantic self can barely handle insta-love when two characters have had at least a few conversations with each other. I personally am not going to enjoy a book where a relationship is based off just looking into each other eyes. I'm not saying love at first sight doesn't happen, just that it doesn't work for me.
Edit: I also found some notes I had written in my phone.
The Positive: Chris talks about how being gay isn't all about sex.
The Negative: One of the characters makes a joke wishing they were bulimic.
September 11, 2017
Okay. This is a case of I should have come on goodreads and read some damn reviews before buying this book.
But I was swayed by the cover and the title. I couldn't help myself.
I should have put it back.
Honestly one of the most racist and transphobic YA books I've read in a long time. Just utter trash. I read this on an airplane and I was about to vibrate out of my seat with pure rage. The MC has a really bizarre obsession with finding out about Coco's genitals and it's gross.
But I was swayed by the cover and the title. I couldn't help myself.
I should have put it back.
Honestly one of the most racist and transphobic YA books I've read in a long time. Just utter trash. I read this on an airplane and I was about to vibrate out of my seat with pure rage. The MC has a really bizarre obsession with finding out about Coco's genitals and it's gross.
March 8, 2017
Chris Bellows is just trying to get through high school and survive being the only stepchild in the social-climbing Fontaine family, whose recently diminished fortune hasn’t dimmed their desire to mingle with Upper East Side society. Chris sometimes feels more like a maid than part of the family. But when Chris’s stepsister Kimberly begins dating golden boy J. J. Kennerly, heir to a political dynasty, everything changes. Because Chris and J. J. fall in love . . . with each other.
With the help of a new friend, Coco Chanel Jones, Chris learns to be comfortable in his own skin, let himself fall in love and be loved, and discovers that maybe he was wrong about his step-family all along. All it takes is one fairy godmother dressed as Diana Ross to change the course of his life.
My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen is a Cinderella retelling for the modern reader. The novel expertly balances issues like sexuality, family and financial troubles, and self-discovery with more lighthearted moments like how one rogue shoe can launch a secret, whirlwind romance and a chance meeting with a drag queen can spark magic and light in a once dark reality.
Rating: 4/5 Penguins
Quick Reasons: just a bit stereotypical; love the humor and personality of the voice; entertaining, endearing, wholly recreated characters; I was sucked in from start to finish; tons of delicious angst, drama, and fun; the snark is on point; LOVE how David Clawson made this retelling wholly his own
Huge thanks to David Clawson, Sky Pony Press, and Edelweiss for sending me a free digital ARC of this read in exchange for an honest review! This in no way altered my read of or opinions on this book.
He drew out one of the cookies, handing the bag back to me, and I watched as he inspected the cookie, broke off a piece, then put it into his mouth. As he chewed, the look which had started out skeptical and critical melted into one of almost sexual pleasure.
"Was I right?" I asked.
He put out a hand to me. "Shut up. I'm in the middle of a food-gasm."
"Cookie interruptus?"
By now, I'm sure ALL my loyal penguins know full well that I am all about retellings. They are the bread to my readerly sandwich, after all! I am ALSO all about snarky characters, uniquely individualized reads, and reinvented story lines (especially if it's a retelling being reinvented)! There's nothing quite like stepping into a world you're pretty sure you've seen from every angle...and being proven wrong.
David Clawson did exactly this for me with this title. I'll be honest with you guys--when I stumbled upon this title on Edelweiss and saw it was up for instant download, I didn't think twice. I read the title, laughed out loud like a lunatic, and promptly hit "download." I didn't even stop to read the blurb, which means, when I picked this book up to read.... I had no idea it was a retelling. It took only a couple of pages for me to realize that's exactly what I was reading...and only a couple more after that to realize it was going to be entirely different from the story I thought I already knew. David Clawson took this fairy tale, and molded it into his own witty, snarky, entertaining beast--and I ADORED every second of it!
Love is supposed to be the truest and most esteemed emotion in the world, but many of these people would only be willing to admire it on their own terms, under their own rules.
This was a fast-paced, entertaining read with some well-written, complex, and wholly unique characters. Trust me, penguins--this is not the Cinderella cast you know, but that doesn't mean you won't love them to tuna fish pieces. Honestly, I feel like the relationships sewn and nurtured in this book are SO MUCH BETTER than those I've been reading in the recent months. They are realistic, they grow and change as the characters do, and they're all, in some tiny way, flawed...but they're also easy for readers to relate to. In the original Cinderella story, and the subsequent retellings I've had the pleasure of reading/watching... I was never quite sure WHY the stepmother and sisters hated Cinderella so much. There never seemed to be an actual reason. David Clawson approached this in a new and unique way, and managed to wrap it up in the process!
I had a ton of fun with this book, and while it leans a bit heavily on certain stereotypes, I feel the personality and uniquely individualized characters really set this apart from other Cinderella retellings. The snark was heavy-handed, the morals (being true to yourself, feeling comfortable in your own skin) are handled with sensitivity, and I just ADORED me some Coco Chanel Jones--seriously, one of the best characters EVER! I recommend this to lovers of fairy tale retellings, diverse reads, and a strong focus on the sewing and building of familial relationships. If you're seeking YOUR Prince Charming, maybe you should wear shoes that are much too big for you...you never know whose face you'll kick one into!
August 13, 2017
I'm not sure why I finished this book.
I've read many modern day Cinderella retellings, and I was excited when I heard about one where the fair godmother was a DRAG QUEEN.
Yaas, girl, represent.
Except, it's not the best representation. I've known drag queens, and while they can be over-the-top, they aren't this... I don't know the word, but they aren't this bad. A lot of the quotes I read from Coco/Duane just rubbed me wrong?
And tell me, how does an 18 year old gay boy in New York know NOTHING about drag queens, and not know the proper way to respond to anybody with a shred of human decency?
"I wasn't sure which gender was speaking to me" is such a terrible sentence I hope I never have to read (OR THINK ABOUT) again.
Also, theres's some terrible insta-love happening, and a lot of peer-pressure.
I just didn't like this.
I'm not even sorry.
I've read many modern day Cinderella retellings, and I was excited when I heard about one where the fair godmother was a DRAG QUEEN.
Yaas, girl, represent.
Except, it's not the best representation. I've known drag queens, and while they can be over-the-top, they aren't this... I don't know the word, but they aren't this bad. A lot of the quotes I read from Coco/Duane just rubbed me wrong?
And tell me, how does an 18 year old gay boy in New York know NOTHING about drag queens, and not know the proper way to respond to anybody with a shred of human decency?
"I wasn't sure which gender was speaking to me" is such a terrible sentence I hope I never have to read (OR THINK ABOUT) again.
Also, theres's some terrible insta-love happening, and a lot of peer-pressure.
I just didn't like this.
I'm not even sorry.
May 13, 2017
DNF at 24%
I was all over this premise after being hooked by the title.
Sadly, the parts I read were filled with gay slurs {from his so-called family}, several pejorative statements about gender and sexuality, and one passage about special needs children that had me cringing. Not to mention the fairly horrible thoughts Chris had about Coco/Duane. And from what I'm seeing from other reviews, there's an entire plot line of JJ pretending to date a woman while he's in a relationship with Chris.
Between all of that, I'm not really interested to continuing to read.
**Huge thanks to Sky Pony Press for providing the arc free of charge**
I was all over this premise after being hooked by the title.
Sadly, the parts I read were filled with gay slurs {from his so-called family}, several pejorative statements about gender and sexuality, and one passage about special needs children that had me cringing. Not to mention the fairly horrible thoughts Chris had about Coco/Duane. And from what I'm seeing from other reviews, there's an entire plot line of JJ pretending to date a woman while he's in a relationship with Chris.
Between all of that, I'm not really interested to continuing to read.
**Huge thanks to Sky Pony Press for providing the arc free of charge**
June 2, 2017
*I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way shapes my opinion of the book.*
TW: transphobia, misgendering, ableist language surrounding medication.
While I was intrigued by the premise—a gay retelling of Cinderella—My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen really disappointed me.
The representation of a gay teen coming to terms with his identity, as well as falling in love for the first time, was the redeeming quality to this story. Chris is a sweet kid who volunteers himself to take care of his step-family after his father’s tragic suicide. His progression from completely closeted to ultimately out and proud was really compelling. I enjoy reading about “baby gays,” kids who are closeted, afraid, and learning about themselves and the queer community. Stories like this do have the potential to be educational, both for queer teens and allocishet readers.
That being said, this book fell far short of my expectations for several reasons.
mediocre writing style
I don’t like to bring writing into my reviews—both because I’m picky, as a writer myself, and because I feel that good storytelling can make mediocre writing less noticeable. Unfortunately, I really struggled to get into this story in the first place because of its heavily expositional style. Rather than showing us what’s going on, the story relies heavily on Chris narrating events, so I had trouble connecting with and caring about what was going on.
drag queen stereotypes
For a book with “drag queen” in the title, I expected a little less stereotypical representation. Chris’s “fairy godmother,” Coco, is a caricature of the black drag queen, and her gay male counterpart, Duane, is little better. Duane/Coco never escapes their racial status, and several characters make subtly racist comments throughout that are never addressed in a meaningful way. On top of that, Coco and her drag queen friends are overtly sexual and borderline predatory both toward Chris and his straight step-brother, Buck. Again, this is never addressed as problematic behavior.
Let me state, for the record, that I’ve interacted with a lot of drag queens in my day. I spent a lot of my time in New York City in the gay scene. In that sense, the drag queens portrayed in this book behaved much like the ones I met—they mock literally everyone and everything, as if their goal is to make everyone uncomfortable. While this book was perhaps a realistic representation, I don’t think it was necessary. The drag queens make jokes about uncomfortable topics—references to tucking, boob jobs, bulimia, and more—but at no point is their behavior called out as problematic.
Additionally, the treatment of Duane/Coco’s gender is a constant conversation in the book, but I didn’t appreciate the way it was discussed. Initially, Chris really struggles with misgendering Coco and is preoccupied with sex/gender binaries. This could’ve been a great opportunity to deconstruct the gender binary—as drag queens literally call it into question by performing gender. Instead, there’s a preoccupation with genitals and not a real conversation about the difference between biological sex, gender identity, and gender expression.
(A side note: as far as ableist language about mental health, Chris’s stepmother is an alcoholic, and at one point Chris and his stepsister drug their mom with Xanax—and jokes ensue that are incredibly dangerous, as Xanax shouldn’t be mixed with alcohol.)
not quite insta-love
Although Chris and J.J.’s relationship develops over the course of months, it’s mostly established through exposition. What this means it that the reader misses out on valuable conversation between the two, so we don’t really see them getting to know each other. So while it’s not necessarily “insta-love” (in that Chris himself points out he doesn’t believe in love at first sight), we don’t really get to see the relationship in action for the most part.
I was really disappointed in the missed opportunity for a discussion of gay sex as well. There’s quite a bit of build-up to Chris and J.J.’s first sexual encounter, but the actual sex is completely cut out of the story. While I get not wanting to go into graphic detail in a YA setting, there’s plenty of “not kid appropriate” content that comes out of Duane/Coco’s mouth (as well as other characters). I felt that this was a missed opportunity to talk about queer sex—and safe queer sex specifically.
the bottom line:
If you’re going to market a book for the LGBT+ community, you have to make sure you address potentially problematic content within said community. Drag queens might be blunt, offensive jokesters, but they should be called out within a book marketed for queer teens who are often learning about their own gender identity. This book could be very helpful for the young G in the community, but it’s potentially really harmful for trans spectrum teens in its treatment of gender, as well as its stereotyping of POC. Ultimately, this could have been a really educational book, but it relies so heavily on stereotypes that it misses its opportunity to really help queer kids—and leaves itself open to allocishet readers and their existing biases.
TW: transphobia, misgendering, ableist language surrounding medication.
While I was intrigued by the premise—a gay retelling of Cinderella—My Fairy Godmother is a Drag Queen really disappointed me.
The representation of a gay teen coming to terms with his identity, as well as falling in love for the first time, was the redeeming quality to this story. Chris is a sweet kid who volunteers himself to take care of his step-family after his father’s tragic suicide. His progression from completely closeted to ultimately out and proud was really compelling. I enjoy reading about “baby gays,” kids who are closeted, afraid, and learning about themselves and the queer community. Stories like this do have the potential to be educational, both for queer teens and allocishet readers.
That being said, this book fell far short of my expectations for several reasons.
mediocre writing style
I don’t like to bring writing into my reviews—both because I’m picky, as a writer myself, and because I feel that good storytelling can make mediocre writing less noticeable. Unfortunately, I really struggled to get into this story in the first place because of its heavily expositional style. Rather than showing us what’s going on, the story relies heavily on Chris narrating events, so I had trouble connecting with and caring about what was going on.
drag queen stereotypes
For a book with “drag queen” in the title, I expected a little less stereotypical representation. Chris’s “fairy godmother,” Coco, is a caricature of the black drag queen, and her gay male counterpart, Duane, is little better. Duane/Coco never escapes their racial status, and several characters make subtly racist comments throughout that are never addressed in a meaningful way. On top of that, Coco and her drag queen friends are overtly sexual and borderline predatory both toward Chris and his straight step-brother, Buck. Again, this is never addressed as problematic behavior.
Let me state, for the record, that I’ve interacted with a lot of drag queens in my day. I spent a lot of my time in New York City in the gay scene. In that sense, the drag queens portrayed in this book behaved much like the ones I met—they mock literally everyone and everything, as if their goal is to make everyone uncomfortable. While this book was perhaps a realistic representation, I don’t think it was necessary. The drag queens make jokes about uncomfortable topics—references to tucking, boob jobs, bulimia, and more—but at no point is their behavior called out as problematic.
Additionally, the treatment of Duane/Coco’s gender is a constant conversation in the book, but I didn’t appreciate the way it was discussed. Initially, Chris really struggles with misgendering Coco and is preoccupied with sex/gender binaries. This could’ve been a great opportunity to deconstruct the gender binary—as drag queens literally call it into question by performing gender. Instead, there’s a preoccupation with genitals and not a real conversation about the difference between biological sex, gender identity, and gender expression.
(A side note: as far as ableist language about mental health, Chris’s stepmother is an alcoholic, and at one point Chris and his stepsister drug their mom with Xanax—and jokes ensue that are incredibly dangerous, as Xanax shouldn’t be mixed with alcohol.)
not quite insta-love
Although Chris and J.J.’s relationship develops over the course of months, it’s mostly established through exposition. What this means it that the reader misses out on valuable conversation between the two, so we don’t really see them getting to know each other. So while it’s not necessarily “insta-love” (in that Chris himself points out he doesn’t believe in love at first sight), we don’t really get to see the relationship in action for the most part.
I was really disappointed in the missed opportunity for a discussion of gay sex as well. There’s quite a bit of build-up to Chris and J.J.’s first sexual encounter, but the actual sex is completely cut out of the story. While I get not wanting to go into graphic detail in a YA setting, there’s plenty of “not kid appropriate” content that comes out of Duane/Coco’s mouth (as well as other characters). I felt that this was a missed opportunity to talk about queer sex—and safe queer sex specifically.
the bottom line:
If you’re going to market a book for the LGBT+ community, you have to make sure you address potentially problematic content within said community. Drag queens might be blunt, offensive jokesters, but they should be called out within a book marketed for queer teens who are often learning about their own gender identity. This book could be very helpful for the young G in the community, but it’s potentially really harmful for trans spectrum teens in its treatment of gender, as well as its stereotyping of POC. Ultimately, this could have been a really educational book, but it relies so heavily on stereotypes that it misses its opportunity to really help queer kids—and leaves itself open to allocishet readers and their existing biases.
August 16, 2022
I'm kind of conflicted about the relationship in this book. On one hand, it was cute how they got so emotional over each other's existence and all that but, it was very instalove-y and overly dramatic. They kept everything legal with regards to the age gap and while college and high school students have different maturity levels, Chris seemed like he'd been forced to grow up faster and so it definitely wasn't as creepy as it could have been if he was in grade 10 or 11. What really soured it though was how it basically fucked Kimberley right over. She really loved JJ and meanwhile he's cheating on her with her stepbrother the entire time? And then refuses to tell her the truth/stop being a dick for basically the whole book? Not cool.
Buck wasn't actually as much of a dick as he seemed at the beginning of the book and his friendship with Duane was weird but kind of funny.
Kiki was just as bad as she seemed the entire time. What a bitch.
The ending was too happy-ever-after but it was completely wrapped up. What did Kimberley think? What happened to JJ's future? What about the family's financial issues? We don't know and we never will, because it's a standalone, which is good because I don't think I would read a sequel.
Buck wasn't actually as much of a dick as he seemed at the beginning of the book and his friendship with Duane was weird but kind of funny.
Kiki was just as bad as she seemed the entire time. What a bitch.
The ending was too happy-ever-after but it was completely wrapped up. What did Kimberley think? What happened to JJ's future? What about the family's financial issues? We don't know and we never will, because it's a standalone, which is good because I don't think I would read a sequel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2017
David Clawson tells a great story but there were too many things that annoyed me in this book for me to give it a better rating, the past few days I've been debating on 2 or 3 stars, it didn't deserve more than that and ultimately I decided on 2 stars.
You can find out why in my blog review here ; http://bellathebibliophile.blogspot.c...
You can find out why in my blog review here ; http://bellathebibliophile.blogspot.c...
October 21, 2023
hi clawson🙋♀️ read this book for literary analysis class! a fun and refreshing take on the classic. i wish i was a socialite in new york city having a secret love affair with a hot future president too fr fr
May 30, 2017
I enjoyed this book for the first half, but after that I started to lose interest. It just didn't wind up being as good as I'd hoped.
For my full review, visit Birdie Bookworm.
For my full review, visit Birdie Bookworm.
September 25, 2020
The book just felt too problematic, *sigh* really wanted to like this
March 30, 2019
I really, really wanted to like this book, and while it only took me a few hours to actually get through it, those hours took place over a span of a couple months because I kept getting put off by the writing style.
Technical complaints: I found at least two different typos, and while I can enjoy first person pov when done well, this was not that. The book is framed as though Chris, the protagonist, is telling the story of his great love affair with J.J. Kennerly after the fact, which means he is assuming that you, the reader, knows details about what has happened between them that you don't in fact know, because THEIR AFFAIR IS FICTIONAL. It's needlessly confusing, and threw me out of the story many times, not to mention I barely made it into the book because of how confusing I found the prologue to be, describing paparazzi pictures after they've happened when we don't yet know anything of what is happening. Also, Chris keeps telling you that Bad Things Are About to Happen to End His Happiness, and while I'm all about some (subtle) foreshadowing, his constant insistence that things would end poorly just made me vaguely anxious about the story (the fact that they are in a fake/hidden relationship for the entire book makes it PRETTY OBVIOUS that bad things will happen anyways).
Other complaints:
-The title makes you think the book is going to focus a lot on Chris's relationship with his drag queen fairy godmother, but Duane (alter ego Coco Chanel Jones) plays a relatively minor role in the book. I wanted the fairy godmother role to be played by a mentoring, older drag queen figure, not the 20-year-old who Chris doesn't even bother to confide in at all throughout the book, despite their burgeoning friendship.
-And speaking of ages, I find it really hard to believe that a college sophomore would be interested in a high school senior. They may be only 1-2 years apart (since J.J. is said to be 19 and Chris turns 18 during the book) but I don't buy that a college student would seek out this still in high school kid so earnestly. Just those couple of years make a big difference in development and priorities among real people, but for the characters in this book, I felt like those couple of years made a big difference in where they were at regarding their sexuality. Chris knows he is gay but has never told anyone else at the beginning of the book, so a good deal of the book is us watching him come to terms with being out and proud, letting people know, and choosing to stop hiding who he is. J.J. on the other hand, is closeted by choice. He has a great family who he knows will accept him (and while I can still get being scared to tell them, honestly, J.J. had way less to worry about regarding his family than a lot of people, Chris included). J.J. talks dismissively about 'gay pride' at one point and though we're supposed to think he grows away from this attitude at the end of the book, it still grated for me. What J.J. is concerned about is his public image - what the people will think of his being ~gay~ and a politician. He takes that inner struggle and projects it onto Chris, forcing Chris to stay with him and stay silent about their relationship or break up with him, when Chris is really just beginning to come into his own and believe that he can be loved and accepted as he is.
-I just really don't like J.J. The book isn't supposed to be a love at first sight as it is 'love potential at first sight,' but the entirety of their developing relationship is described in like a paragraph where the author says 'and then they talked about what they liked and thought, though obviously with Chris's family members in the room.' So their relationship feels very unearned, and we don't even really get much of a feel for J.J. beyond that he's smart, well-educated, and politically minded because of his family being who they are (the Kennerlys right they're like the Kennedys GET IT).
-Other reviewers have expressed discomfort with the ways race and gender are handled in the book, and I pretty much agree with them. A number of the 'jokes' about sensitive topics - alcoholism, bulimia, obesity - fell extremely flat for me. And I was really troubled by the inherent transphobia in the ways Chris and J.J. both thought about drag queens ("I figured this wasn't the time to ask why, exactly, she felt the need to put in all of that effort to look like the sex other than the one she had been born.” ughhhhhhhhhhh).
-The ending was really, really rushed?? And then we don't even get to see more than a couple sentences about everybody's reactions, which is a shame considering how much time we spent getting to know Chris's stepfamily.
The good:
-I did really like the way that Chris's stepfamily wasn't just stereotyped as evil, but were more awkward and privileged than Bad. And at first I didn't buy that Chris could have been contributing to the dysfunction in the household (because, hello, this is a Cinderella story) but I got it, as time went on and Chris continued to explore how he might have enabled his stepfamily to rely on him in unhealthy ways.
-The bit with the fancy shoes that Coco gets for Chris to wear being way too big for him was kind of great - it alluded to the ridiculousness of the original 'all the maids in the kingdom then tried on this one shoe' in a really subtle way, and then it also allowed for the way Chris accidentally kicked one off to be pretty natural.
tl;dr I was really hoping for a fluffy, silly fairytale retelling with this book, and what I got was not that at all. We barely get to see our two mains being happy and in love, because their relationship is shown through exposition mainly, and because they spend about 95% of the book hiding their relationship and another like 3% being broken up. Chris doesn't ever get to confide in anyone about the way he is struggling with his feelings for J.J., which makes them all stew around in his head even more than the first person pov would originally create. And frankly, J.J. wasn't that great of a love interest. He's selfish, and not fully developed as a character, and I don't buy his excuses about living a lie as a purportedly straight politician in order to 'do good things in the world.' All of that just makes him come across as an asshole.
Technical complaints: I found at least two different typos, and while I can enjoy first person pov when done well, this was not that. The book is framed as though Chris, the protagonist, is telling the story of his great love affair with J.J. Kennerly after the fact, which means he is assuming that you, the reader, knows details about what has happened between them that you don't in fact know, because THEIR AFFAIR IS FICTIONAL. It's needlessly confusing, and threw me out of the story many times, not to mention I barely made it into the book because of how confusing I found the prologue to be, describing paparazzi pictures after they've happened when we don't yet know anything of what is happening. Also, Chris keeps telling you that Bad Things Are About to Happen to End His Happiness, and while I'm all about some (subtle) foreshadowing, his constant insistence that things would end poorly just made me vaguely anxious about the story (the fact that they are in a fake/hidden relationship for the entire book makes it PRETTY OBVIOUS that bad things will happen anyways).
Other complaints:
-The title makes you think the book is going to focus a lot on Chris's relationship with his drag queen fairy godmother, but Duane (alter ego Coco Chanel Jones) plays a relatively minor role in the book. I wanted the fairy godmother role to be played by a mentoring, older drag queen figure, not the 20-year-old who Chris doesn't even bother to confide in at all throughout the book, despite their burgeoning friendship.
-And speaking of ages, I find it really hard to believe that a college sophomore would be interested in a high school senior. They may be only 1-2 years apart (since J.J. is said to be 19 and Chris turns 18 during the book) but I don't buy that a college student would seek out this still in high school kid so earnestly. Just those couple of years make a big difference in development and priorities among real people, but for the characters in this book, I felt like those couple of years made a big difference in where they were at regarding their sexuality. Chris knows he is gay but has never told anyone else at the beginning of the book, so a good deal of the book is us watching him come to terms with being out and proud, letting people know, and choosing to stop hiding who he is. J.J. on the other hand, is closeted by choice. He has a great family who he knows will accept him (and while I can still get being scared to tell them, honestly, J.J. had way less to worry about regarding his family than a lot of people, Chris included). J.J. talks dismissively about 'gay pride' at one point and though we're supposed to think he grows away from this attitude at the end of the book, it still grated for me. What J.J. is concerned about is his public image - what the people will think of his being ~gay~ and a politician. He takes that inner struggle and projects it onto Chris, forcing Chris to stay with him and stay silent about their relationship or break up with him, when Chris is really just beginning to come into his own and believe that he can be loved and accepted as he is.
-I just really don't like J.J. The book isn't supposed to be a love at first sight as it is 'love potential at first sight,' but the entirety of their developing relationship is described in like a paragraph where the author says 'and then they talked about what they liked and thought, though obviously with Chris's family members in the room.' So their relationship feels very unearned, and we don't even really get much of a feel for J.J. beyond that he's smart, well-educated, and politically minded because of his family being who they are (the Kennerlys right they're like the Kennedys GET IT).
-Other reviewers have expressed discomfort with the ways race and gender are handled in the book, and I pretty much agree with them. A number of the 'jokes' about sensitive topics - alcoholism, bulimia, obesity - fell extremely flat for me. And I was really troubled by the inherent transphobia in the ways Chris and J.J. both thought about drag queens ("I figured this wasn't the time to ask why, exactly, she felt the need to put in all of that effort to look like the sex other than the one she had been born.” ughhhhhhhhhhh).
-The ending was really, really rushed?? And then we don't even get to see more than a couple sentences about everybody's reactions, which is a shame considering how much time we spent getting to know Chris's stepfamily.
The good:
-I did really like the way that Chris's stepfamily wasn't just stereotyped as evil, but were more awkward and privileged than Bad. And at first I didn't buy that Chris could have been contributing to the dysfunction in the household (because, hello, this is a Cinderella story) but I got it, as time went on and Chris continued to explore how he might have enabled his stepfamily to rely on him in unhealthy ways.
-The bit with the fancy shoes that Coco gets for Chris to wear being way too big for him was kind of great - it alluded to the ridiculousness of the original 'all the maids in the kingdom then tried on this one shoe' in a really subtle way, and then it also allowed for the way Chris accidentally kicked one off to be pretty natural.
tl;dr I was really hoping for a fluffy, silly fairytale retelling with this book, and what I got was not that at all. We barely get to see our two mains being happy and in love, because their relationship is shown through exposition mainly, and because they spend about 95% of the book hiding their relationship and another like 3% being broken up. Chris doesn't ever get to confide in anyone about the way he is struggling with his feelings for J.J., which makes them all stew around in his head even more than the first person pov would originally create. And frankly, J.J. wasn't that great of a love interest. He's selfish, and not fully developed as a character, and I don't buy his excuses about living a lie as a purportedly straight politician in order to 'do good things in the world.' All of that just makes him come across as an asshole.
April 7, 2024
this book was so cute and so funny but that ending was so unsatisfying
June 20, 2018
Not one of my favorites of this year, but it made me laugh...and turned me into a hopeless romantic.
Chris' family is heading off to the ball dressed in Vera Wang without him. There are high hopes his step sister will end up married to the most eligible bachelor in New York, but when Coco Chanel Jones shows up everything changes. It is the story of Cinderella retold with a twist.
The beginning for me didn't feel right. Why was Chris questioning the pronouns of a drag queen? Why did it seem impossible for him to grasp on after being corrected? Especially considering we find out that Chris is also part of the LGBT+ (I hope I got the order of those letters right because dyslexia) it seemed just strange.
As we go on with the story, Chris is more accepting of himself but we see other characters struggle with their identity. I want to say this book is just about struggling to "accept" yourself and others in this community, but I feel like in 2018 this shouldn't be a thing the world should struggle to accept. The book even questions pride month and it's purpose, which rubbed me the wrong way.
So, I'm sure you're asking why three stars if I had so many issues? Well, I really loved the dynamics of the characters. I liked the hopeless romanticism of the book. I liked the diversity, and did I mention it made me laugh? I was visibly and audibly reacting to this book while I read it in Starbucks. It earned me some looks, but it was so enjoyable. Did I want to reach into this book and slap some people? Oh definitely, but I also wanted to jump in and just hug some of these characters. Duane/Coco made me laugh more than anyone else in this book. More times than I want to admit the book made me question where my fairy godmother was, especially if she would be even half as fabulous as Coco Chanel Jones.
It's possible the things that bothered me will be too much for some and for others not a big deal. I usually suggest books to certain types of readers at the end of reviews, but this one isn't something I feel comfortable recommending. Read at your own risk, I guess?
Chris' family is heading off to the ball dressed in Vera Wang without him. There are high hopes his step sister will end up married to the most eligible bachelor in New York, but when Coco Chanel Jones shows up everything changes. It is the story of Cinderella retold with a twist.
The beginning for me didn't feel right. Why was Chris questioning the pronouns of a drag queen? Why did it seem impossible for him to grasp on after being corrected? Especially considering we find out that Chris is also part of the LGBT+ (I hope I got the order of those letters right because dyslexia) it seemed just strange.
As we go on with the story, Chris is more accepting of himself but we see other characters struggle with their identity. I want to say this book is just about struggling to "accept" yourself and others in this community, but I feel like in 2018 this shouldn't be a thing the world should struggle to accept. The book even questions pride month and it's purpose, which rubbed me the wrong way.
So, I'm sure you're asking why three stars if I had so many issues? Well, I really loved the dynamics of the characters. I liked the hopeless romanticism of the book. I liked the diversity, and did I mention it made me laugh? I was visibly and audibly reacting to this book while I read it in Starbucks. It earned me some looks, but it was so enjoyable. Did I want to reach into this book and slap some people? Oh definitely, but I also wanted to jump in and just hug some of these characters. Duane/Coco made me laugh more than anyone else in this book. More times than I want to admit the book made me question where my fairy godmother was, especially if she would be even half as fabulous as Coco Chanel Jones.
It's possible the things that bothered me will be too much for some and for others not a big deal. I usually suggest books to certain types of readers at the end of reviews, but this one isn't something I feel comfortable recommending. Read at your own risk, I guess?
July 17, 2017
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.
3,5 stars
This is a gay Cinderella retelling and it did not disappoint at all! As soon as I saw this book, I just knew I had to get my hands on it.
There were numerous times where I laughed out loud, epsecially when the drag queens interacted with each other which, unfortunately, happened only once. I need more of them!
I just love good Cinderella retellings. Chris, our Cinderella, was a very likable guy and he goes through much character growth during this book. But it's not only him, also the rest of his family undergo much character development, I really liked that they were not just written in a stereotypical way.
I have to admit, though, that I was not so much smitten with J.J. Kennerly. I didn't see what the fuss about him was. He is a decent guy but not really like a Prince Charming. Furthermore, the romance between J.J. and Chris was too insta-love-y.
But all in all, I still recommend this book and applaud it for its humor!
3,5 stars
This is a gay Cinderella retelling and it did not disappoint at all! As soon as I saw this book, I just knew I had to get my hands on it.
There were numerous times where I laughed out loud, epsecially when the drag queens interacted with each other which, unfortunately, happened only once. I need more of them!
I just love good Cinderella retellings. Chris, our Cinderella, was a very likable guy and he goes through much character growth during this book. But it's not only him, also the rest of his family undergo much character development, I really liked that they were not just written in a stereotypical way.
I have to admit, though, that I was not so much smitten with J.J. Kennerly. I didn't see what the fuss about him was. He is a decent guy but not really like a Prince Charming. Furthermore, the romance between J.J. and Chris was too insta-love-y.
But all in all, I still recommend this book and applaud it for its humor!
August 8, 2017
This book had me LOL from the beginning until the end. In a way you can call it a retelling of the classic cinderella story, but with a VERY modern spin on the story. It is told by Christopher who is gay ( but is quiet about it ) and just happens to stay with his stepfamily after his father checks out of this life ( his words not mine). Only his "family" is down on their luck and running out of money. So Iris the monarch (mother) convinces her daughter to go after the most eligible bachelor in NYC. Couple things go wrong with this.
First Christopher meets Coco aka Duane who sneaks him into a charity event where his group is the entertainment. After that the most eligible bachelor only has eyes for Christopher. They try to keep up appearances, keep their relationship hidden and try to keep everyone happy. Along the way there are many funny moments but some serious things too.
highly recommended
First Christopher meets Coco aka Duane who sneaks him into a charity event where his group is the entertainment. After that the most eligible bachelor only has eyes for Christopher. They try to keep up appearances, keep their relationship hidden and try to keep everyone happy. Along the way there are many funny moments but some serious things too.
highly recommended
April 26, 2017
This book surprised me. I really liked the characters, even the stepfamily (which is rare in a cinderella remake). The characters are actually what made this book for me. The story isn't that original, but these awesome characters turned it into something special. I do feel there should've been a bit more of a resolution. It felt a bit too easy.
If you're looking for a fun m/m contemporary and love retellings, this is definitely the book for you.
received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.
If you're looking for a fun m/m contemporary and love retellings, this is definitely the book for you.
received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.
November 7, 2017
2.5 stars
Initially sweet retelling of a NY Cinderella YA-m/m style. Modern retellings of Cinderella always struggle both to account for why a C21st Cinders would accept indentured slavery, and to render Prince Charming convincing. The stakes here are both too low and too unrealistic. Marks for trying, though, and for the drag queens.Displaying 1 - 30 of 240 reviews