Review: Going Off Script

Going Off Script by Jen Wilde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Trigger warnings for this book: homophobia, anxiety disorder including brief mentions of medication, personal struggles with coming out.

Jen Wilde's latest is a 3.5 for me, but I'll round it up to a 4 because, well, it's Jen Wilde. And tbh my main reason for taking it down a bit of a peg is probably petty of me, but it's because my favorite Queens of Geek pairing, Taylor and Jamie, are nowhere to be seen. But at least we get Alyssa back, and Ryan from The Brightsiders, ensuring continuity of the shared universe of Wilde's books.


This time around, it's a different kind of fandom novel, centered on Bex, who lands an internship in the writers' room of a popular paranormal TV drama, Silver Falls. It comes off like something in the same vein as Supernatural, Teen Wolf, or The Vampire Diaries - long-running, beloved by the fans (Bex included), but also often criticized for questionable marginalized representation at best. A lot of that, sadly, owes to the showrunner being one of the Old Boys' Club, forced to take on an intern that he doesn't really want because the network says so, and...well, not really having the talent to justify his high position in the writers' room.

As Bex finds out when Malcolm, that asshat, steals a script for a key upcoming episode, one that she writes herself. And as if that ain't bad enough? He erases the much-needed gay rep that she wrote into the episode - an f/f relationship in which the two women are to be played, one by Alyssa, and one by Shrupty, another up-and-coming actress, one whom Bex is totally crushed out on.

As a queer guy, I have a bit of a complicated relationship with fandom and queer rep. I tend not to let myself worry about a lot of rep issues that tend to have the community up in arms - namely, accusations of queerbaiting, as levied against Supernatural, for example. More queer rep is necessary and awesome to have, but sometimes I do feel that it's pushed for by the kind of people who fetishize queerness, especially m/m. *eyeballs certain ship communities from SPN and Teen Wolf hella hard* But then, Wilde's genius in all this is that she's writing Bex pretty well #ownvoices, and Bex is writing her episode of Silver Falls #ownvoices for Lyla + Sasha = Lasha. The representation in-universe and out feels so much more genuine that way, and is proof of the need for diverse voices in publishing and in TV writers' rooms.

As usual with Wilde, though, her greatest strength lies in just how casually diverse the book is in general. Everyone's queer of some stripe (except those straight villains like Malcolm), people of many races are represented, and Wilde also writes Bex with an anxiety disorder that she treats with medication, and it's treated like no big deal. (Incidentally, Bex is also questioning her gender, though it's only mentioned once - it could, of course, be brought up if she makes a cameo in a future Wilde novel.) What surprised me the most, though, was Bex's storyline about being reluctant to come out as gay - even when she's surrounded by loving friends and family, her anxiety disorder makes her scared to do so. But at least none of said friends or family force the issue - to paraphrase her cousin Parker, he guessed it but left it up to her to say so herself, as is her right.

I'm sure this isn't the end of Wilde's universe...but I'd really go Wilde (shoot me for that pun, lol) if I got to see a sequel to Queens of Geek with Taylor and Jamie being cute and awesome af.

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