Breaking Point and Breaking Down by Shane Brown
(hey that rhymes)
Breaking Point is a book about James, a british high schooler in his last year who is being tormented by bully Jason. A few months prior to the events of the book, Jason caught James and his friend/sort of boyfriend Paul together at the movies, and Paul said it was all James who came onto him, and Paul joined forces with Jason to save his own skin.
it seemed like a good concept at first but ultimately it just kind of does... nothing with it? James and Paul eventually reconcile of course, but Paul only does it through words, not actions. He feels bad about helping Jason film a video of him and his friends locking James in a cold shower at school and filming it and putting it online, but never tried to stop Jason from doing it. he merely tries to make amends afterwards
once they get back together and pick up where they left off, James and Paul talk a bunch about standing up to Jason, but when the time comes and Jason catches them again, Paul does the EXACT same thing and says it’s all James coming onto him. James is obviously hurt and betrayed by this, but we’re never treated to a scene of them working through this. Paul does stop Jason from knifing James, but that only comes after Paul went along with beating up James on Jason’s command so it feels like... a little late
another thing that bugged me is that Luke, one of Jason’s friends, and his girlfriend Jane end up abandoning Jason’s bully group, but... never once apologize to James, nor do they ever try to stick up for him against Jason. the book tries to talk about how they’re good people, but it’s never actually shown because he goes along with Jason until he doesn’t, and then doesn’t try to make it right by James. it’s shitty tbh
then after the end of the school year, Paul gets kicked out by his homophobic, abusive dad, and starts living on the streets, and then gets taken in by James’ mom. it ends up feeling more like a convenient excuse to get them back together instead of having them actually work through their issues
anyway, the book ends with Jason’s bullying and the school’s habit of ignoring it gets exposed in the paper, and James and Paul end up happily together, somehow, by the end
that’s where the sequel, Breaking Down, picks up 2 years later. James is off to college, leaving Paul behind, and Jason is trying to improve himself by going to art classes at a local college. in order to pay for this, Jason has become a camboy. you’d think that would have anything to do with the story, like James or Paul or one of Jason’s new friends catching him, but nope
James goes off to university and struggles with it, and has frequent nightmares due to his trauma from high school. he befriend hot-ass gay guy Adam who’s in the dorm next door, and despite Paul saying they could take a little break, nothing really happens there.
Jason makes a new friend group at his local college, and things are okay until one of his old lackeys, Badger, shows up, angry and bitter at how Jason treated him, and forces Jason to come clean about things.
anyway, nothing really happens until Alfred, this old guy who runs a store about old movies that James likes, has a heart attack and James comes back to town to see him. while leaving from Paul’s little apartment one night, he gets hit by a car. no, seriously. then Badger tries to pin this on Jason but it doesn’t work. Jason gets mad about this and beats up Badger and destroys a lot of his shit, effectively going back on all the progress he made. then James is like “college isn’t for me” and quits after only just a week, then Alfred gives him the store, and he marries Paul. the end!
the frustrating thing is that I kept thinking of different ways this could have gone, like Jason might end up being James’ roommate at university, where they then have a rough start but eventually reach a place of understanding, but no. I thought Jason would have a bi or gay awakening, given his obsession with James and Paul’s relationship in the first book, given the fact he was jealous of their happiness, given the fact he kissed James and didn’t find it so bad, given the fact he’s a camboy on a gay site, but no, he just ends up with another girlfriend. I was thinking James or Paul or someone would recognize Jason on stream, but nope. I was thinking James might hook up with this Adam guy and try to stick it out through college, but nope, a convenient excuse in the form of a car comes along to make up James’ mind for him. it’s all just... wasted opportunities, wasted potential, and somehow void of conflict in a book about a guy being bullied. it tries to talk about good people doing bad things sometimes and bad people doing good things sometimes, but it falls flat when it’s told rather than shown. both books just left me wondering “what was the point of the story?”
one last thing, there’s also a gay teacher who was 40 year old virgin who tries to help James, and I appreciate that concept, but ultimately all of his focus in both books just takes time away from the other characters. the books almost feel written like they were meant to be tv shows, with several plots happening at once, with all the plots feeling shallow, hoping to be made deeper by their connection to the other storylines. but it’s just... weak and dull and unfocused
