Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

Like a Hurricane swept me off my feet on an emotional rollercoaster that was exciting, scary and heartwarming. Told in eye-opening prose this coming-out story creates pictures, not just through words but with its print. The way the words are put on the page intensifies the experience perfectly. I have no other words to describe this book but beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful.

It's not often that a book comes along that feels as though the author is doing something really new and unique. I get excited when I see it. "Like A Hurricane" by Jonathan Bécotte is such a book. Told from the perspective of a young tween, this book is a glorious ride through the mind of a young person.

The narrator knows that he is gay and is pondering how to tell people. How does he know? How does he define himself? What will people think of him? What will his friends and family do if he says it out loud? All of these are such valid and authentic questions that young people may deal with. The beautiful prose combined with the unique layout of the book makes for a gem of a book.

The audience for this book is middle grade, but I would certainly give it as a gift to a person of any age who was considering coming out. I just loved the feel of it, the emotion, and the quiet importance of it.

This was a fantastic read! The plot was fun and fast-paced, and I really loved how enticing the characters all were as well. I think if you enjoy books that feel both familiar, comforting, and are easy-to-read, this book would be great!

Impactful and alluring. Jonathan Bécotte manages to overflow the pages with emotion with the minimal use of words. Went back and read it again immediately and it kept putting a smile on my face. Thanks to Jonathan Kaplansky for the translation.

A massive thank you to NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this wonderful book.

This was a short, intense and wonderful read. For those of us who are part of the LGBTQ+ community, this is that moment when you know you can't not say and express who you are. There can be millions of moments like this in your life, but it all comes to a point and whether or not you get the outcome you are hoping for, everyone faces this same roller coaster to some degree. The word art makes it incredibly clear to express how the narrator is meant to be feeling at any given point. I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't understand the whirlwind that is coming out, or for those who are at that point and need that small push.

Personally I would have liked a little more color in the book, however I loved the word art and would have been lost without it.

I received a digital ARC copy of "Like a Hurricane" from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review before the publication date. My review is my thoughts, my opinions, and my point of view and was not influenced in any way by anyone or anything other than myself.
"Breathing, for real, for the first time."
I was expecting a short story about a boy coming out as gay. What I got was a long poem, complete with visual effects that really captured the feelings of coming out. The writing was lyrical and the visual effects on the words really added to the experience. I too have come out as queer in my life, and feel this really felt relatable. There's beauty and pain and fear and love written on these pages. The author did a beautiful job here.

Told in verse, this story does an excellent job of conveying emotion through both the typesetting and structure of the words.

A young boy is struggling with the secret that he’s gay. The story follows his journey as the pressure of keeping the secret builds inside him until it finally comes out.

This was a short, sweet read that is definitely worth picking up. I enjoyed the heavy use of weather motifs which perfectly encompassed the power of human emotions. I did have one major problem with the story, it started out with the narrator explaining that he always knew he was gay by relying on stereotypes about gay people. While a particular person may identify with many of these stereotypes, I find it problematic to suggest that the way he knew he was gay was not based on attraction but based on things like not playing sports or liking to pick flowers.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!