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A review by crankylibrarian
A Tale of Two Princes by Eric Geron
3.0
Great on trans/homophobia; tone deaf on racism. Okay I admit this grew on me. After picking it up from a Little Free Library, fearing it would be a rip off of [b:Red, White & Royal Blue|41150487|Red, White & Royal Blue|Casey McQuiston|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566742512l/41150487._SY75_.jpg|61657690], I was relieved, intrigued and eventually delighted to see it branch out in a completely different direction. While this is a powerful story of closeting and coming out, it is also a moving portrayal of grief. Billy's dreams of his dead father, and his ritual of touching his dad's oak tree brought tears to my eyes on numerous occasions, and their final farewell had me ugly crying during my morning power walk. While the plot contains numerous implausibilities (including the initial assumptions that Canada would ever institute a royal family, or a hospital could “lose” a royal baby) the emotional connections between Eddie, Billy and their families ring true.
A word about Pax. I cynically expected them to play the "black/out gay" best friend role: the person who can be a bit more "extra" than the 2 white, straight acting protagonists. Geron pleasantly surprised me by making Pax a full fledged character in their own right, rather than simple comic relief. HOWEVER, it astounds me that a story so determined to expose and condemn trans/homophobia would be AWOL over race. Pax glancingly refers to the bullying and shunning they received as a non-binary teen; there is NO WAY they would not have also experienced racism. There is also NO WAY that a hereditary monarchy sprung from THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY would not express, or at the very least be complicit in racism as well. Look at how the real British royals and press have treated Megan Markle, a straight, light skinned biracial woman, and imagine how they would have treated her if she had also been queer. If this is made into a movie (which I'm sure is being considered) I hope the script will acknowledge the intersectional oppression that queer people of color like Pax experience.
A word about Pax. I cynically expected them to play the "black/out gay" best friend role: the person who can be a bit more "extra" than the 2 white, straight acting protagonists. Geron pleasantly surprised me by making Pax a full fledged character in their own right, rather than simple comic relief. HOWEVER, it astounds me that a story so determined to expose and condemn trans/homophobia would be AWOL over race. Pax glancingly refers to the bullying and shunning they received as a non-binary teen; there is NO WAY they would not have also experienced racism. There is also NO WAY that a hereditary monarchy sprung from THE BRITISH ROYAL FAMILY would not express, or at the very least be complicit in racism as well. Look at how the real British royals and press have treated Megan Markle, a straight, light skinned biracial woman, and imagine how they would have treated her if she had also been queer. If this is made into a movie (which I'm sure is being considered) I hope the script will acknowledge the intersectional oppression that queer people of color like Pax experience.