My Review:Rufi Thorpe returns to the subject that made her debut novel The Girls from Corona del Mar so endlessly compelling: the complexity and urgency of best friendship. In The Knockout Queen two unlikely friends form an alliance—a slight, hyper-intelligent gay teen named Michael Hesketh and his next-door neighbor, the remarkably tall Bunny Lampert. Each is antagonized for their differences—Michael for being attracted to the “wrong” people (much older men from the Internet) and Bunny for having the “wrong” body, one with a strength she can’t always control. As their bond intensifies, an accidental act of violence leaves both characters, and their friendship, forever transformed.
The Knockout Queen is about the lengths we go to protect our friends, and what happens when the binding threads of love are stretched to their snapping point. This is Rufi Thorpe at her finest: intoxicatingly charismatic storytelling, a compelling, seductive talent with every sentence.
This was beautiful but I expected no less from this author. Her last book was my favorite the year it came out and while this one wasn't quite as fragile, it was still heart-breaking in an unexpected way. She just creates these places and characters that are familiar but you don't want them to be too familiar because of the misery they present. Everything feels so fresh, so real but also so painful. I am doing a terrible job of describing this book except to say that you should read it.
The Knockout Queen comes out later this month on April 28, 2020, and you can purchase HERE. I cannot recommend this author highly enough and if you haven't read either of her first two books yet, do so now!
Is there a darker night of the soul than eighth grade?
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