Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb RoehrigMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Caleb Roehrig's third novel is a real rule-breaker in a lot of ways. Not only because it's got a lot of key stylistic differences from his first two books - it's much less murder-oriented, being a heist story; it's told in third-person POVs by an ensemble cast, with the unquestionable main character being a bi girl as opposed to a gay boy like the rest of said ensemble; and in this case, it's a little harder to connect with our cast of characters at first, largely because most of them come from some degree of privilege which Flynn and Rufus lack. But as the story wears on over its long, long course, we come to realize that there's a reason why Margo and her crew of fellow drag queens are turning to a life of crime. So much bad shit's happening to them, or has happened to them (Leif's backstory, in particular, made me cringe from secondhand terror at his mom's conservative, religiously-influenced reasoning for Why He Shouldn't Be In The City And Exposed To Opportunities To Explore His Sexuality - especially since my actual mom was in the room at the time I was sitting and reading that scene in the book!) I'm pretty sure this episode may or may not have been at least partly inspired by a certain episode of Good Behavior, for which I'm very grateful we now have a YA equivalent. Blake Crouch and Chad Hodge would both approve, I'm 100% sure.
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