My biggest grievance with the people who have nothing good to say about this book is that they’re comparing Solangelo to Percabeth. Percabeth had been best friends for four/five years before they got together, meanwhile Solangelo were friends for a week before Will knew for certain he liked Nico. Obviously they’re not gonna flow as smoothly as Percabeth, who had a relationship for eight books before they fell into Tartarus, because they’re still getting used to being a couple. And an openly queer couple at that, which yes, does make a bit of a difference! They haven’t got each other figured out yet, they haven’t learned the do’s and don’t’s of their relationship. All they know for sure is that they’re ride or die, and part of the story in this book is them learning how and why.
Can I talk about how much I love the fact than Nico is in a happy, healthy, long-term relationship, but than also, he had a crush before, for years, than just didn’t work out, and these facts coexist?
Because Nico, as a queer character from a children’s book, is incredibly important. Hundreds of people (like myself, for example) saw themselves for the first time on Nico. He was the first character like them they met, the first one than made them realize than people like them also belonged on books, and than they could find friends and people who would accept them.
I hate the fact than when it comes to lgbt representation, it’s either “the first same sex crush this person had completely worked out and they began to date and they married and had three children and four dogs together” or “this character has no comfort at all in all the story, they had a crush than could never work out because they’re gay and their crush is normal straight and their crush will live happily ever after in a relationship and they’ll end up alone and/or dead.”
There’s no variety. I loved how Nico showed a young gay person having a crush (at 10 years old to around 13) and that crush being unrequited, and that being sad, but having another crush in the future (gay people can have crushes on different people at different times, gasp. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t really see it a lot on media, it’s always the first love than gets shown) than do works out, and he is happy and in a long term, healthy relationship.
That is realistic.
Nico is a tragic character, but he doesn’t have a tragic ending. Usually when a queer character is tragic, they also has a tragic ending. Nico doesn’t. He went through a lot of shit, and he had romantic feelings where nothing came out of them, and still, it didn’t stop him from finding love. His partner was just waiting for him in the future, he just had to wait a bit.
I love it because it shows hope. Who’s first crush (specially same-sex crush) worked and still are in a long-term relationship? That’s really hard to achieve, given than the first crush usually happens when you’re a young teenager. Nico is realistic when it comes to relationships. He shows than the first person you fall for isn’t usually who you’ll be with in the future, they are not the love of your life, maybe they would never ever date you, and that’s fine. Just because your first love didn’t work out, it doesn’t mean you won’t find love at all.
