A long yap about You’re No Better and A.J White in general
(Abbreviations-
AJW- Andrew Joseph White, the author
TSBIT- The Spirit Bares its Teeth
CF- Compound Fracture
HFWU- Hell Followed With Us
YNB- You’re No Better
YWMTBH- You Weren’t Meant to be Human)
First and foremost, before we get into literally anything else about this, I want to make it abundantly clear that I am a fan of A.J White’s work. He is possibly one of my favourite writers, and if you asked me to tell you my favourite book I would, without a doubt, say The Spirit Bares its Teeth. But this does not mean I think he is the best writer ever, or that his books are groundbreaking faultless works. In fact, you’ll probably find that I think quite differently as you read this. Now onto the rant!
(Surpass the cut is you so dare)
I was given Hell Followed With Us as a Christmas present two years ago and since then I have read and re-read all of his other YA works. I have not yet read YWMTBH as it focuses largely on pregnancy and parasites which are two of my worst fears (yay me!) and I haven’t yet managed to fight off my anxiety enough to summon the courage to read it. So when I refer to ‘all of his works’ or something similar, I mean the three YA novels.
With YNB coming out soon, I thought it would be a good time to gather my thoughts on AJW and his novels, and put it all into some vaguely comprehensible ramble for anyone interested to read. I’ll start with what I love about AJW’s work, then what could be done differently, and finally what I hope to see in YNB
What I love-
AJW’s writing style is one of the most viscerally disgusting and beautiful styles that I have ever read. The way he describes gore somehow just sticks in my brain even when I’ve long finished the paragraph, and it has largely influenced my own writing as well. I’ve found myself shivering with how wonderful and lyrical it sounds at times. His portrayal of trans kids fighting their way through a life that desperately wants them gone and will do anything to do so is something that resonates so deeply with me, and it’s the type of story that is so needed at this time. Being able to read a book where these kids go through such horrors, events that change them as a person and how they view the world and the system they’ve been brought up in, and still get a happy ending? It’s something I’ve very rarely seen before, and maybe I’m not looking in the right places, but my point still stands. That’s another thing, actually. Seeing that fighting for your future is actually worth it, and that people like me can be happy and can have lives that are wonderful and full and joyous has really helped me at times when fighting has felt futile.
I also love horror, especially when it relates to spirits and death and rotting stuff, and getting all of that plus some good trans rep and autism rep is amazing! I really like how the character being trans is not the focus of the story, they are trans and it is relevant to the plot, but it is not the entire story. So many books I’ve read centre around the MC being trans, which is still good but can get boring after a while.
So those are the good things. Now, onto the criticism. (I might sound mildly pissed off in a bit of this, I still love AJW, there’s just a couple things that really need to be better!)
Things I dislike/ could be better-
WHY ARE THERE NO POC CHARACTERS OH MY GODDDD BROOO
ok there we go. Yes, one of my main issues with AJW is that there are barely any POC characters in his novels. Now, HFWU is an exception, many people of different ethnicities and religions and cultures were portrayed in that, but none who were hugely relevant or described as more than ‘the hijabi doctor’ or ‘the Black transfem fighter’ and such. I myself am a passing white Malay/English person, so my understanding of what it means to be a POC in this world is very little, but both my sister and dad are darker, and I’ve seen and heard various forms of racism against them. Now, I understand that writing POC as a white person can be tricky, and trying to make sure you get things right while still making the character feel like a genuine human being is sometimes hard, but this is what research and sensitivity readers are for! Just because representing different races didn’t go too well for you the first time (I believe he experienced some backlash due to the portrayal of some POC characters in HFWU) doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try again! Representing trans and queer POC is so so important, especially when they are a community that face much more prejudice than white trans folks! Because yes, being trans is much easier when you are white (not saying that it is easy, but it is easi-ER). My other issues are that, at their cores, HFWU, TSBIT and CF are incredibly similar books. Yes, they have different settings, bad guys and premises, but the formula is the same: autistic trans boy forms a ramshackle group of kids and takes down a system that has been fucking them over for years, ft. lost of gore and references to the MC’s special interest. Now, it’s a great formula and has made for three incredible books, but after a while, it gets a little boring.
This leads me nicely onto my hopes for YNB.
Firstly, I hope the side characters can be fleshed out slightly more. CF did this very well, especially with Paul, Noah and Eddie, and this being the latest book of his I have read, I hope it comes from him becoming a better writer and figuring out how to do these things while still keeping things clear and consistent. In TSBIT and HFWU, the side characters are reduced to little more than a few physical characteristics, a handful of personality traits and a measly amount of backstory (or none at all). The side characters in CF genuinely intrigued me and made me all the more interested in reading how the novel would unfold, so I’m hoping this will continue into YNB.
Secondly, I hope to see more POC characters. Obviously! At least one nonwhite major character with some form of character development would make me very happy.
Thirdly (and probably finally, unless I decide I need to yap more, in which case strap in buddy) I hope the plot is different to the previous three. Now, from the premise, I believe it will be- instead of kids fighting against a group of people, the MC is instead trying to piece together his past and convince himself that he will not become his father simply by being a man. I’m hoping it will deal with confronting your past while proving to yourself that you are not what you have done, learning forgiveness towards a younger, more vulnerable version of you who did things they thought they had to so they could survive, and coming to terms with being transmasculine when you have always associated being a man with being your father (who, in the MC’s case, is a serial killer). And also that the ‘formula’ will have changed, at least just a bit. Oh and also please can there be a POC character? Like actually please.
Anyway, that’s all for now! I’m so excited to read YNB when it comes out in October, and it’s such an interesting premise for a novel. I love AJW and his writing, and can’t wait to see how it might evolve and improve in the future.
