Only on the Weekends by Dean Atta // Book Review

Blurb

Mack. Karim. Finlay. Mack never thought he’d find love, let alone with two people. Will he make the right choice? And can love last for ever? A must-read queer love story for fans of Sex Education, written in verse by Dean Atta.

Fifteen-year-old Mack is a hopeless romantic – he blames the films he’s grown up watching. He has liked Karim for as long as he can remember, and is ecstatic when Karim becomes his boyfriend – it feels like love.

But when Mack’s dad gets a job on a film in Scotland, Mack has to move, and soon hediscovers how painful love can be. It’s horrible being so far away from Karim, but the worst part is that Karim doesn’t make the effort to visit. Love shouldn’t be only on the weekends.

Then, when Mack meets actor Finlay on a film set, he experiences something powerful, a feeling like love at first sight. How long until he tells Karim – and when will his old life and new life collide?

Rating

Review

I still have no idea why this book was 520 pages long for such a basic story, when Black Flamingo, which I loved, told a much more complex and emotional story in much less pages. I did go into this expecting something to the level of Black Flamingo and sadly I was extremely disappointed.

This story felt very basic, telling the story of a famous movie producers kid, his working class friends and boyfriend, and how his life changes when he’s forced to move to Scotland from London. I felt that Mack never really went into depth of the rich/poor divide he and his friends and boyfriend had, and he lived very comfortably without really thinking about it.

I didn’t really enjoy his relationship with K or Finlay. K seemed distant, he clearly liked Mack but I don’t know if those feelings were truly romantic. Mack’s relationship with Finlay, where he clearly emotionally cheated on K, seemed too rushed and Finlay seemed to fall for Mack too easily.

It felt like when Mack moved to Scotland everything he was looking for just fell into his lap. A boy who’s willing to express his emotions, who helps Mack become part of his Queer friend group, really supportive friends and his father suddenly opening up emotionally.

I found this story quite frustrating, because it lacked depth. Mack never seemed truly sorry for his actions that hurt his former closest friends, and I found myself feeling more for them than Mack. I couldn’t really understand what people found so likeable about Mack, and the ending was a little lacklustre.

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