✨ Review ✨ Becoming a Queen by Dan Clay; Narrated by Dan Clay

"If only Mark Davis hadn’t put on a dress for the talent show. It was a joke—other guys did it too—but when his boyfriend saw Mark in that dress, everything changed."

A pretty purple princess dress sits in Mark's eyes as peak prettiness, and the dress plays a key role through much of this story as Mark finds the courage to wear it in public.

This book is about love and coming-of-age and bravery in the face of adversity, but it's also about family and sadness and loss. It's super hard to summarize without giving things away, but it was a really powerful read. Clay's narration brings fun and flirty but it also brings the depths of despair -- his narration was really impactful.

This isn't just a teen love story or a story of Mark finding the bravery to dress in drag...it's so much more. I encourage you to pick it up and go on this journey with Mark.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5 stars)
Genre: m/m romance, drag representation, coming of age
Pub Date: out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ drag and sparkles
⭕️ queer identity and coming of age stories
⭕️ stories with sadness and grief; laughing and crying in the same book

Thanks to Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Roaring Brook Press, and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

This is so much more than an LGBTQ romance like I initially thought. This is an LGBTQ heartfelt story of love, loss, and learning to love every part of yourself. To be honest, I almost DNFd this book about halfway. I just wanted more than this story was offering and it felt like a much-to-long romance. However, the second half of the story was so much more than that. I loved it so much.

I really enjoyed this book for a deep meaning, another understanding of brotherly love, as well as understanding who you are and the struggle. I have similar experiences, losing someone to mental illnesses and this tugged at my heart strings. Definitely a heartfelt story and something more people need to read.

The storyline from Becoming A Queen reminded me of the boulder from Indiana Jones. Mark, the protagonist, deals with big emotions throughout the story. Whether it is working on self-acceptance, facing his internalized biases, or dealing with grief, Mark is constantly running from these feelings, like Indiana Jones runs from the boulder. That is until he doesn’t. This novel blew me away. Clay, the author, shows readers that sometimes the best way to deal with emotions is by facing them head on. The characters in this novel are both multifaceted and relatable, which only added to the overall brilliance of the story. I highly recommend this novel to readers of all ages as I think there is something everyone can take away from it.

It's been a while since I read a romantic comedy YA novel that felt fresh, so this was a nice breath of air! The writing was engaging and paced just right, making it a quick and enjoyable read. I even laughed out loud a couple of times!

In this novel about love and loss, Dan Clay’s story is a daring exploration of identity and becoming your true self. The writing beautifully executed some painful moments in Eric’s life with an emotional gut punch, letting readers feel all the drama, love and pain that happens in life. I love the lessons Mark learns as he copes with the pain in his life and interacts with his friends. The emotions are so vibrant I could feel every emotion as though it were happening to me. 

Beyond Mark’s exploration of self and identity, Dan Clay does an excellent job of also developing the secondary characters, Ezra, Mark’s boyfriend, and his friends Crystal and Damien. We also get some beautifully written moments with his parents and his brother Eric. The cataclysm of events that happen to Mark and to those in his family is well written. Dan Clay aptly foreshadows the loss that Mark experiences but you only notice in the aftermath, as you absorb the emotional heartbreak of the novel. Ultimately, the book shows us how Mark copes with his struggles and his loss. The ending is uplifting and hopeful. 

If you have been someone who was different or knew someone who struggled with identity, this is a wonderful novel. If you’ve ever experienced loss, you will appreciate the exquisite touch Dan Clay has with the emotional weight of loss and grief. He infuses the novel with hope but remains authentic and true to the characters and doesn’t sugarcoat how difficult the process can be. Readers will find it heartbreaking but beautiful.   It is a daring exploration of identity.

This book is heart wrenching. To be so close to someone and to see them suffering in such a way that you don’t know if you should truly step up and help or if stepping forward will cause more harm. The world is just such a crazy place, and it is so hard knowing when and how to help someone. Especially when that person is always there to help you. Sometimes we only see glimpses of people once they are no longer in our daily lives. But even those who touch our lives here and now can leave a profound mark on our lives. I love the memorial that Mark makes for his brother. Greif can be overwhelming and dark, but what comes out of it sometimes is just beautiful. I love that Mark was able to turn his grief into finding out who and what truly makes him happy.
Thank you so much to Macmillans Children’s Publishing Group and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I went into this book expecting a cute story about a boy who overcomes his fears to become a drag queen, and that is a part of the story, definitely. The part I was not necessarily expecting (but maybe should have been, if I had read the summary more closely) was that this book is also a pretty profound meditation on grief and learning to live with it.

As always, I would like to put the disclaimer that I tend to cry very easily, but this book had me sobbing buckets. The tears were both sad and... not quite happy, but maybe closer to cathartic? Watching Mark struggle to come to terms with his grief was really powerful, and seeing him find healing and catharsis through art was so real. And yes, drag is an art form, and seeing this story, in this current political climate, was so important, I think. Because, once again, and louder, for the people in the back: DRAG IS ART, and honestly, as shown here, it can be very powerfully healing and cathartic and helpful for some people. I wish we lived in a world and climate where that message is not as political as it is, but here we are, and thank you to Dan Clay for writing this story. Now, excuse me, I have to go fix my mascara. I started tearing up again.

Thank you Netgalley and Publisher for this advanced copy.

Becoming a Queen was a hard read. It was so sad but beautiful at the same time. The topic was quiet heavy for some people. However, I really enjoy reading this book.

A deep and interesting take on finding yourself. A beautiful novel with a really interesting stream of consciousness like narrative that kept me engaged throughout. I enjoyed the overall story but found a lot of it heartbreaking, which is not a bad thing but certainly made it hard to read some times.

This book was so heartbreaking and I think could do so well if it was marketed correctly. Just with the title and the cover, you would never know that this is a story about grief, love, and trying to live life after a loss. Thankfully, I read the synopsis before starting so I had time to prepare myself a little bit.

Now that I talked about that, while I loved the book, my only issue was that it had a pretty slow start. It makes sense thematically and all, but it took a bit to get into the story and to force myself to continue which I am so glad that I did. If you give this book a chance, you won't regret it.

This book honestly shocked me, and that can be hard to do. It had so much more depth than I was expecting, and it felt like I was on a journey with Mark as he was going through his life and al the good and bad changes he had to navigate. It was like I was naïve as he was in certain situations, so when things came to a head I was able to feel all the emotions that went along with his discoveries. A really great quality in a book is one that tells a story in a way that can make you feel like the characters are alive and that their life matters to your life. I had to go back and reread the moment just to experience it all again, but I'm also kind of a painful read junkie, so if you like only happiness in books, this may not be the one for you. Saying that, this book has great happiness as well and moments of personal triumph. It illustrates so many aspects of what a good relationship with a partner looks like and what a good relationship with parents should look like. It also has an intense sibling relationship story, so if that's your thing, this might satisfy. This book is not necessarily feel-good, however, as Mark navigates traumatic experiences and finds out who he really is on the inside and out. I recommend this book to anyone struggling with their personal identity or who has experience with alcoholism, as the struggles Mark feels may resonate with the reader. This book did feel long at times, so that could be a deterrent, but I really thought the payoff was there.

I loved this book! That being said, it was a much different read than I initially thought. It was more about grief and resilience than the actual drag community, but nevertheless, I do think YA stories about grief and loss and perseverance are needed for our young readers.

Mark has always wanted to wear dresses, but it isn't until after he breaks up with his disapproving boyfriend and finds a new boyfriend who's supportive of it that he begins to seriously consider wearing a dress to the school dance. Mark's brother Eric has always encouraged Mark to be his "sequin-y self" - which is why, when the worst imaginable happens, Mark finds himself unable to even contemplate that. Or much else. But slowly, as Mark begins to heal, he develops into his true self.

I might have rated this a little higher if my expectations based on the title and cover had matched the content. The story begins with a light and fun tone, where the dress thing was brought up a few times but took a bit of a backseat to the romance with Ezra, to the point where when the midpoint hits with <spoiler>Eric's death</spoiler>, I wasn't sure the dress thing would even come back. But the last 35-40% of the book solidly moved into Mark and his desire to wear a dress. Essentially I went in thinking this was about a teen becoming a drag queen, which is not what it was. There were, however, some really profound and heartfelt moments, great banter, and an uplifting ending.

I think that this story had a lot of potential. The timeline was a little choppy and but the second half was very heart warming and a tear jerker.

What a well-synched, sequined-dazzling story of determination and drive. Clay tells a story that should have been said for LGBTQ youth to dare for a dream and go for it.

Oh, how to even start talking about this marvelous story?

Dan Clay completely took my heart to the shredder with Becoming a Queen. It literally took me a month to finish this book… a month to think about Clay’s timeless and poignant messages… a month to ruminate over Mark’s choices, a month to process Eric’s words.

And I’m still stunned, and (pretty much) speechless.

I’d like to scrape some words together, to do justice to the experience of reading this incredible novel. To find a way to impress just how much this story touched my heart. To give you just a hint of what’s in store for you when you share Mark’s journey… but I guess it’s best to just leave it with Dan Clay, who’s already said it all so beautifully in Becoming a Queen.

I adored this story. The grief was VERY powerfully displayed; all the thoughts and emotions from affecting characters were clearly felt and easy to follow. I loved the romance piece as well, and how the main characters' choice of partner reflected their own self-acceptance (we accept the love we think we deserve sort of thing!). All in all, this was one of my favorite reads of 2022. I will definitely be following this author for more.

I wanted to enjoy this but was overly unimpressed with the relationships, the dynamic, and the plot felt convoluted.

This book was very powerful and moving. I thought it was going to be lighthearted and fun, but it was very emotional and deep. I was not expecting that. With that said, it was beautiful. There were a lot of ups and downs. The second half of the book was tremendous. This was a wonderful debut novel and a super fast read!

If you’re looking for an emotional, heartfelt story this is it! Be aware, there should be some trigger warnings. Thank you for allowing me to review this book. It will be up on my instagram in the coming weeks. I'll edit my review and post a link when I post it!