When Wicksy falls for drag queen Charlie, they discover that both sexuality and gender can be fluid.
Simon Wicks—Wicksy to his rugby teammates—has only ever been interested in women. But when he sets eyes on Lady Gogo, a drag queen who performs at Rainbow Place, he can’t stop thinking about her. He knows there’s a guy behind the fishnets and make-up, but he’s ready to explore his fantasies, and Lady Gogo is game for making them come true.
Charlie adores performing in drag. It allows him to indulge in his love of cross-dressing while earning some extra cash. Fooling around with a mostly straight guy in secret seems like a fun diversion, and gives him the chance to explore his feminine side. He feels safe wearing the mask of his confident alter ego, because the real Charlie is hidden from view.
When Wicksy sees more of the guy behind the make-up and glitter, his attraction to Charlie persists, and he realises he’s bisexual. In turn, Charlie begins to understand and accept his gender fluidity. As their mutual journey of self-discovery brings them closer, the secrecy becomes increasingly hard to deal with. If they’re going to have a future together, they both need to find the courage to show people who they really are.
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I was so hoping for Lady Gogo’s story, so I was excited to jump into this one!
Sometimes I forget that these guys are young adult, and I only say that because it was more noticeable in this one. Simon Wicksy is one of the hot rugby guys that hang out at the Rainbow Palace. Allies of the LGBTQ+ community that hang out there. He seemed a bit jockish and brutey in the beginning, I flat out didn’t like him at all. Like straight boys that want to hide in the closet but reap the benefits of foolin around with the pretty boys, I didn’t like how the arrangement between him and Charlie/Ms. Gogo went. Fine to be with him in private but as long as nobody found out. It went on that way for a whiiiiile, and I can’t imagine Charlie being okay with it, except Charlie had some secrets of his own.
We meet Charlie as Lady Gogo, drag performer of RP, and she was sassy and confident and amazing, but apart from her mother knowing that she does it, no one else who knows Charlie, did. Not quite confident in dressing as a girl other times, but loving it, had her questioning her gender fluidity.
Now, here’s what I loved about this story…. Talking about the confusion and acceptance of gender identity. Charlie was trying to come to terms about what he liked and who he was, and what body he felt most comfortable in, and to him…. It wasn’t so cut and dry. He liked both. Some days he felt like Charlie, the boy, and some days he felt more femme, and I loved that. I loved that he had such a supportive parent who didn’t care either way, as long as he was happy…. I like the realistic way it was handled with her, and seeing the struggle with him, because seeing him figure himself out was beautiful. Bravo on that.
Wicksy, though I felt like was selfish in the beginning, was also fighting his own battle, because how would one feel if living their whole life one way, and then at 24 decide they were attracted to a different gender? It would be a bit to get used to, and while I didn’t like the way he used Charlie to figure it out… he sort of made up for it by the end. I was also happy that his family was supportive, though neither men had dads to worry about, and I wondered about that. It doesn’t get addressed though other than Wicksy’s parents being divorced. I only mention that because I remember the psycho dad in previous books and he was the biggest problem. Thankfully he doesn’t make an appearance in this one.
So, I liked that this story tackled such sensitive issues such as gender identity and all the facets of it’s fluidity, and sexual identities, which let me tell you, there are so many, as you will see in this book, and I love that each one is touched on and celebrated.
Overall, it was clumsy and new, it was cute and I enjoyed it. An awesome addition, and I can’t wait for more.
4 Pieces of Eye Candy
