Confessions of a Teenage Drag King

by Markus Harwood-Jones

Full of colourful, authentic characters and set in Toronto, Confessions of a Teenage Drag King highlights diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, and identity. Seventeen-year-old Lauren tries to navigate the tricky waters of teen romance that brings high school to the drag show and back, all while Lauren must keep up their two personas — Ren, a drag king, and Lauri, a typical student — and come to terms with their feelings both for mixed-race student Clover and for their own identity as an LGBTQ+ teen. Confessions of a Teenage Drag King is a realistic but light-hearted exploration of gender and identity, making it a fun and topical read for today's teen readers.

Genres: LGBT, Canada, Young Adult, Romance

110 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2020

About the author

Markus Harwood-Jones (he/they) is a proudly queer and trans space-case who has been writing since he can remember. Markus specializes in writing young-adult fiction and has a soft-spot for sappy love stories. He lives in downtown Toronto with his husband, their platonic co-parent, and their extra-cute kiddo. Markus is an aspiring TikTokker with 125k+ followers. He and can be found on social media under the handle @MarkusBones.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ren is a star at the drag shows. But Lauri - Ren's real life persona - doesn't stand out in a crowd. Then she meets Clover when she's dressed as Ren, and discovers that Clover is a new girl at her school. They have major chemistry, but Lauri doesn't want Clover to know she and Ren are the same person.

I found this book in the library catalog as I was requesting anything to do with drag queens (and kings, in this case). It's an easy to read story that moves quickly, and Lauri's behavior is probably realistic to the book's intended audience. I wouldn't have minded if the story had gone a little deeper into things - especially because Lauri seemed to live mostly in her head and spent most of her time avoiding doing schoolwork or anything remotely like work, even if the work was related to drag, which seemed like the weird thing to me. The other characters seemed drawn in to Lauri/Ren's charisma while she was mostly a self-obsessed jerk, but I can't say that wasn't realistic or consistent with the character. Also I would have liked more about the drag show scene but overall it was a fun story.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/5 for authentic representation
2/5 for rushed storyline and two-dimensional characters.

I’m not even mad about Lauri/Ren being a shitty person. It’s realistic and I can see how draining it was being caught up in constantly trying to conceal who they were. Plus I got a lot of depressed vibes (the executive dysfunction was REAL in this one). I also get that the story-line and characters weren’t as fleshed out as I’d have liked because it was a Hi-Lo novel. But I still wish it was better.

[Jordyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written as part of Lorimer's Real Love line for reluctant readers. It's really nice to see diverse books with accessible vocabulary being released, and I think this is one of the better examples. Harwood-Jones does a good job of writing a full story with authentic feeling characters while also keeping the vocab, sentence structure, and pacing accessible for reluctant or struggling readers. I love to see gender and trans identity being explored in these spaces!

[Rhiannon's Reading Corner · Rating 2 out of 5]

A queer and modern Hannah Montana for teens, Confessions of a Teenage Drag King is certainly a unique story. I really wanted to love this book, but it falls short. Ren is not a likable character, as he does things that are mean and inconsiderate, never properly apologizes, and has no good excuses. He never cares about anyone other than himself, and he prioritizes TikTok and TV shows over his friends, and even his love interest. Its just not believable. He just generally treats everyone badly. Its important for teenagers to make mistakes in stories, but their mistakes need to be believable.

[Readingfull · Rating 3 out of 5]

Confessions of a Teenage Drag King, is about Laurie, who is a classic teenager who is ready to leave high school. Though there is one thing about her that is slightly atypical, she is a drag king, Ren. This book speaks about the difficulties and beautiful aspects of being part of the LGBTQ+ community while still navigating high school.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique story from a unique perspective

Its a very cute, entertaining book but everything seems to happen in like warp speed... Would've loved if the author developed & expounded on the characters & the narrative more. But it was still an enjoyable read.

[_bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lauri reminds me of how self absorbed of a human I can sometimes be too. Horray for lgbtq+ representation. Maybe if this book was longer and the characters were fleshed out, I would enjoy this story more.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐️
I really wanted to like this book more but found it really hard to enjoy due to the unlikeable main character. In the end there was character growth but it took so long to happen. I found the side characters to be much more enjoyable and interesting.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this would be a good one to have on a high school library shelf. Diverse representation, and a reminder that you don’t get to be a shitty person while you’re figuring yourself out.

[Bentley · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're an older reader, you will see pretty much everything that is going to happen. If you've heard of, read, or watched the Netflix adaptation of The Prom, it's eerily similar storyline.

[Lauren Rainsford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book Is not my typical read but it was really nice and refreshing to read. It was more unexpected than any book I have read recently. It is also a book that I think would have thoroughly enjoyed this book while I was in high school. it is also a book that I would have been able to really understand and relate to. Although I am not queer, I can fully understand the emotions Lauri was feeling, and not just because we have the same name but also because my friends left me as well. Although my story did end exactly in a happy way. The other thing that I could relate to is the feelings they had while being with their crush. I also understand the thought process that Lauri goes through when it goes to being in public. Similar to Lauri I prefer now to blend into the background and not be popular.