At the Manhattan School of Art and Music, where everyone is unique and everyone is ‘different’, Gretchen Yee feels ordinary. It doesn’t help that she’s known as the girl who sits alone at lunch, drawing pictures of her favourite superhero, just so she won’t have to talk to anyone. Her best (and only real) friend is there for her, but that’s only if she’s not busy – she’s always busy!

It’s no surprise that Gretchen isn’t exactly successful in the boy department. Her ex-boyfriend is a cold-fish-sometimes-flirty ex who she can’t stop bumping into. Plus, she has a massive crush on a boy named, Titus but is too scared to make the first move. One minute he seems like a sensitive guy, the next, he’s a completely different person when he’s with his friends. She can’t seem to figure boys out!
Gretchen has one wish: to be a fly on the wall in the boy’s locker room. What are boys really like? What do they talk about?

This book was given to me as an ARC by Allen and Unwin in exchange for a honest review

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3.5/5 stars

Fly on the Wall is wacky and strange and fantastic and weird just like being a teenager in all honesty.

Fly on the wall is a super fast read staring Gretchen. Gretchen is a bi racial, comic book loving, art student that is surrounding by so many out there students she feels like she’s not edgy enough in her “normal” clothing.

Gretchen is 15 and just figuring out how in the heck relationships with boys work, the messiness of teenagers and their lack of filter towards others. bullying, teachers putting pressure on her, and of course a crush that she can’t seem to work out how to move things forward with.

I went into this book pretty blind and can I just say, uhh I was not expecting to take the title quite literal.

Gretchen transforms into a fly for a week (yes I was a bit what the hell at this point too but I was also like hell yeah freaky Friday with a fly, freaky Flyday, okay I’ll stop) after wishing she could know what goes on in the boys locker room, yes its pretty juvenile but really I would have done the same thing when I was a teenager. There are a lot of internal thoughts and growing Gretchen goes through while being stuck in there for a week.

I enjoyed the insight on bullying and how teens tend the use of the world ‘gay’ as a derogatory term before someone can pull them up on it. Lockhart handled these subjects really well and I loved the end speech delivered by *insert name* standing up for his friends and educating his other friends on why it’s not cool to call someone gay or make gay jokes as a way to put them down.

 

The thing that knocked my rating down was I was pretty sick of hearing penis’s and boobs being referred to as Gerkins and Biscuits but hey that’s the character and her age coming through truthfully, I am just an old person.

 

 

 

Have you read this? What did you think?

I have e.Lockharts We Were Liars on my shelf that I’ve been putting off for a while because I’ve seen so many mixed reviews but after reading this I’m really keen to start We Were Liars and see how I enjoy it.