3.5 STARS!! (Since I feel reluctant about pulling out The Fun Rating.) That’s literally the same rating I gave to Forward March, but I liked this one more. Thank you to Laurel for doing a buddy read with me, even though I only made it into one last-minute!

I’ll get into my criticisms later, but I’ll first say that this was a lot of fun. Perhaps that was helped by me being in the middle of making a cosplay for a convention in the week I was reading this, since it made it easier for me to connect with and enjoy the parts where the main characters were assembling their outfits and ideas. (I’m with Selene on that drag is easier than cosplay! But in the words of my teacher, it depends on the person and cosplay.) I can tell the author has a lot of love for the subculture and the art behind it, and it definitely seeped into how drag is represented through the characters.

Laurel also pointed this out in their review, but the “characters are put into a situation” plot with a lack of different devices like foreshadowing definitely made this read like a fanfic. (Which was amusing, with the sparse references to fandom culture and fic writing sprinkled throughout.) Especially in the case of Selene/Spencer and Briar/Edgar’s romance!! Their often very queer rivalry and constant back-and-forth gave me flashbacks to a couple of modern AU fics I’ve read. 

(And I think the fic comparison makes more sense the more I think about it, considering that sometimes authors deal with mental health issues through characters, and based off the author’s note this was a personal story to write.)

But one of the factors that made me lower my rating was Selene’s constant switching. From Beau’s convoluted defenses, I gathered at some point that she’d be revealed to have some kind of personal insecurity and emotional struggle. (It’s also kind of a cliche for more brash/rude characters. Even if she was only like that sometimes.) In the last third, she from being rude to Briar and instigating arguments, to seemingly feeling bad for how she affected Briar and eventually becoming friendly enough to have an actual romance instead of homoerotic relationship. And there were a couple of things I thought she should’ve brought up in her apology, but never did. I feel the accountability of the main character’s social circle was handled better in Don’t Be A Drag than Forward March(thank god), however, Selene’s arc was still incomplete and rushed. 

The only character I didn’t really like was Beau, but he was unfortunately a very realistic kind of messy gay even if he MADDENED me sometimes. I think most of his accountability issues were handled by the end, though.

But talking about a character I LOVED, though: ACHILLES PATRICK!! I’m probably biased since I’m autistic, nonbinary and sometimes do drag(it’s been for pride events, though. I’ve yet to perform), but they were genuinely such a sweet character and I thought their friendship with Briar was one of the most organic relationships in the story. I also think they embodied a lot of the joy to be found in self-expression through drag. 

I don’t have many other thoughts besides I liked the mental illness rep(specifically the depression rep), and if I’d found this a year or so ago when I was struggling it would’ve hit me hard. Overall, I have a couple criticisms and complicated feelings, but I still liked it.