Christine Koch RNBSN's Reviews > Bury Your Gays

A huge thank you to NetGalley for an early audio to Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle.

Confession, I found an ARC for sale and snagged it (because this was highly anticipated for me and I knew it would be love), but when I saw the audio was possibly available and who was narrating...I couldn't NOT try. The cast of well known authors help narrate this amazing story with wonderful feeling and voices for the different characters. There were even sound effects that really placed you in the pages, which I happily read along to.

You have to follow the rules if you are to survive. But the system is rigged and the algorithm is always a step ahead. Do you have the courage and strength to change them? Misha is a great writer with great ideas. His past experiences are his muses, and so far they've worked in his favor. When the hammer falls on his latest creation, demanding his gay characters essentially be buried, Misha now must face his personal demons in order to save what he cares for most.

Chuck writes his creations with the encouragement that the readers read between the lines. I hope to the literary gods that I did it right.
We look at the ever corrupt Hollywood system, with it's drive to produce things that are supposedly trending/targeted marketing, while taking much to give so little in return. We get a quick nod to the sleazy actors that get away with disgusting sexual advances because of their standing fame.
The guy was caught red-handed being a creep, yet his legendary status renders anything I could possibly say utterly meaningless. -p. 19
"In case you didn't notice, I rented out this whole floor," Jack continues. "I write it off as a health expense, can you believe that?... -p. 79
"You know who the real villain is?"...."Unchecked capitalism and the desire for capitalist systems to monetize other people's trauma" -p.242

A quick side note of dorkiness love: Magic the Gathering, Peter Gabriel and Meryl Streep. Also, be ready to have Sledgehammer playing as the soundtrack of this book. I digress.

This book obviously discusses a very important topic: normalizing LGBTQA and any I forgot to add. Chuck tackles elements flawlessly as we venture through this novel alongside Misha and those closest to him.

"It's not just about real queer suicide, though", She explains. "It's also about the romanticization of gay trauma in media. It's dark stuff." -p. 37
"I'm Los Angeles out," I finally admit. "I'm not... Montana out." -p.43
Fuck that show and their mid-nineties fake-progressive don't ask-don't-tell queer-bating bullshit. -p. 102
There's a wonderful exchange between Misha and a driver, Lily, on page 239 that was done beautifully and the message was so eloquent.
Lastly on this note, there's a very honest nod to reality in respect to certain reveals discussed in the chapter Killjoy. Thank you for discussing something that should truly be more evident, but then again, we are in dire need of books like this.

Now I know there's a lot of big discussion points highlighted above and you may be wondering if there is in fact any truth to this being a horror novel..... holy shit, yes it is!!! Every encounter with a horror element was so in the moment and intense. I've almost convinced myself to never leave the house without a match book or BIC ever again! Or dare to pet a lamb...oooohhhh (shudders). No, no. Your skin is going to crawl and you are going to squirm. There's also real life horror instances in here too that will definitely hit you in the heart feels.

I loved this experience, everything about it. I had fun with the horror and felt the ride through the pressing points. The writing is absolutely amazing and moving. Definitely going on my auto buy list.
On a long enough timeline, endings are inevitable. Tragedy is inevitable. Fortunately, so is joy. -p. 294