book review: the knockout queen by rufi thorpe

the knockout queen is a beautifully written book by rufi thorpe, following the very turbulent life of a boy named michael. he lives in the very fake, plastic town of north shore, california, with everyone around him seemingly just as plastic and perfect as his surroundings. 

his next door neighbor is bunny lampert, a girl he lives vicariously through-- her backyard pool, her two story house. he watches her glide through school, popular and untouchable. 

her backyard, being as big as it was, was the perfect spot to smoke. 

when bunny catches him, instead of telling him to leave she invites him inside. together, they weave through their very different lives; michael is gay in a homophobic town, is struggling at home, and meeting men on craigslist for anonymous encounters, while bunny is taller than the tallest boy in school, she struggles to feel feminine with her physique, and feels unlovable. 

truthfully, i really did love this book. it struck more than a few chords, and i couldn't put it down!! i would snatch away my time to sleep just so i could read more. 

my only issue is that i wish it was longer and had more space for itself. i want to see more things be expanded, i want to see how michael did in college and his ups and downs there, i want to hear about bunny finally becoming free of her father. the book ends with bunny being released from prison and she becomes a boxer-- donning the name "the knockout queen" --and she crawls into bed with michael while she hurts everywhere. she cant even remember if michael came and saw her match, cant remember if she won even, as she's got several concussions. 

i want to watch bunny either destroy herself or become free of what has happened to her. i want to see michael help her. god theres so much!!