Blog Tour: Thanks a Lot, John LeClair
Title: Thanks a Lot, John LeClair
Series: A Companion Novel to previous book (Can be read as standalone!)
Author: Johanna Parkhurst
Publisher: Harmony Ink Press
Release date: December 15th, 2016
Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old Emmitt LaPoint has secretly been writing letters to his hockey idol, John LeClair, for years. So it’s probably only fitting that Emmitt’s small Vermont town seems desperate to make him the next LeClair. After all, Emmitt is about to lead his high school hockey team to the state championship, he has a near-perfect GPA, and he’s liked by almost everyone.But even golden boys have problems, and Emmitt has more than his share. His father’s back in town to breathe down his neck. He’s happily dating his coach’s nephew, Dusty, but almost nobody knows he’s gay—and that secret is getting harder and harder to keep.
When Emmitt discovers Dusty is keeping secrets of his own, he’s forced to decide exactly what kind of golden boy he wants to be.
Review
First of all, this book was really cute. It starts off really well with Emmitt and his love for hockey. He's worried because his boyfriend Dusty didn't go to his game. Emmitt is really cool and he's your typical golden boy. He wears khakis and he is one the most popular guys in school. He is the ace of his hockey team and in the novel, the team is trying to have an undefeated season ~ which is awesome tbh.
Dusty is the cute, brother's best friend boy. He is dating Emmitt and everything seems to be going good and beautiful. What Emmitt doesn't know is that Dusty is hiding something really big, and he is not telling anyone about it. This plot is the big part of the first half of this novel. Everything follows around this big thing that Dusty is keeping hidden.
The pace of the novel is great and there are fun things to look forward in this book. The family relationships were amazing. I really liked Dusty's family aka the coach and his brothers. Also Emmitt's family is everything; his brother is always supporting him and they have fun together. Plus the little fact that Dusty is Emmitt's brother's best friend. You get the see their first meeting through both POVs, so that's kind of cool too.
It also tackles things like how it's wrong to fetishize m/m relationships (though they don't actually do anything, just comment it's wrong), how it's weird that there is a big quantity of white players in hockey, etc. This is also a companion novel to another book Johanna wrote called Here's To You, Zeb Pike. I didn't read that one but this book, the one I did read, really talks a lot about what happened in the other one. Like scenes and things the characters did in the other book. I was confused for a bit like I didn't know anything that happened before. It is a companion novel and tbh it can be read as a standalone. But advice? You'll understand better if you read that other book before reading this one because it does have the same main characters/couple. Though it is written in Dusty's POV.
It also tackles things like how it's wrong to fetishize m/m relationships (though they don't actually do anything, just comment it's wrong), how it's weird that there is a big quantity of white players in hockey, etc. This is also a companion novel to another book Johanna wrote called Here's To You, Zeb Pike. I didn't read that one but this book, the one I did read, really talks a lot about what happened in the other one. Like scenes and things the characters did in the other book. I was confused for a bit like I didn't know anything that happened before. It is a companion novel and tbh it can be read as a standalone. But advice? You'll understand better if you read that other book before reading this one because it does have the same main characters/couple. Though it is written in Dusty's POV.
There are various things I didn't enjoy in this book and I want to talk about them. Maybe you've seen my tweets about this but it's important to say them again. 1) It's wrong, so very wrong to out someone to another person. Even if that other person is friends with the guy being outed. You can't do that!!! without!!! consent!!! Never. I mean Emmitt forgives and forgets. But tbh it's so wrong. It's not that person's decision to tell other people about something a friend told you in secret. 2) Also wrong? Pressuring someone to tell everyone they're gay. Each person has the way they want to do this. If you pressure someone or if there is a situation where the character is being pressured to tell everyone they're gay, that's also very wrong because they're not doing it for themselves, they're doing it so the situation doesn't get out of control or they're doing it so your boyfriend doesn't guilt-trips you.
Though overall, you will enjoy it if you love sports (there is so much of it, I'm so happy!! We actually get to see and experience with Emmitt many hockey games!!) and romance. But do take in consideration the points I made earlier if you decide to pick it up.
Johanna Parkhurst grew up on a small dairy farm in northern Vermont before relocating to the rocky mountains of Colorado. She spends her days helping teenagers learn to read and write and her evenings writing things she hopes they’ll like to read. She strives to share stories of young adults who are as determined, passionate, and complex as the ones she shares classrooms with.
Johanna holds degrees from Albertus Magnus College and Teachers College, Columbia University. She loves traveling, hiking, skiing, and yelling at the TV during football and hockey season.
Johanna holds degrees from Albertus Magnus College and Teachers College, Columbia University. She loves traveling, hiking, skiing, and yelling at the TV during football and hockey season.
0 comments