Really loved this one! Found family/community building is one of my favourite things in a book (and in life) and this one had that in spades. I loved the celebration of different sexualities and gender expressions, and the exploration of drag culture. I felt as though the mental health themes were presented really well, they felt realistic and raw, and above all relatable. I think a lot of people are going to feel really seen by this book, which is a beautiful thing!

This cover hooked me and the characters kept me reading because they were all just so unique and I found myself needing to know what came next!

Any books about drag kings, we want to hear about and this one was great! We are looking at potentially turning this into a book box for 2025 :)

I liked reading this, I really did. But, I did find some of it to be a bit disappointing. I liked all the characters, but I do wish they had a bit more development. They felt like they oscillated between emotions so extremely, without warning. They'd go from hate to love to hate. I really wished we'd have gotten to experience Briar falling for Spencer in totality, instead of in rapid mood swings. I liked the focus on friendship this had, Achilles was probably my favorite character. That relationship felt a bit more fleshed out. This definitely wasnt a bad book, it just wasn't one that will stick with me.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC for early review.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

I want to start by saying that cringe culture is dead. Bring ALL of your special interests in full force, I do want to see you talk all about it. But holy hell, being forced to relive the year of 2016 where I was obsessed with Yuri On Ice hurt like a MF. Hearing about a fanfic between Tony Stark and Loki nearly killed me on the spot. Even the modern instance of "omg have you read the Song of Achilles?" Had me clawing for reprieve. This was WILDLY tumblrcore and proudly so and while I laud it for that I can't say that I enjoyed all of the secondhand embarrassment I got from it.

The writing is fine, nothing magical, but the instances of talking about how depression and being suicidal feels hit really hard, and felt very poignant. I saw myself in those descriptions and passages and knew it came from a place of real experience. The on-page panic and anxiety attacks also had that same vibe of "this is MY experience," that I think the author probably injected intentionally.

Of course, there's all around trans, nonbinary, queer, fluid, and agender people in this story, as well as all kinds of romantic and sexual love. But I appreciate how we got to see drag performers from every walk of life, be it the days of the AIDS crisis, Stonewall, baby gays, and heroes of Drag Race. Seeing trans, nonbinary, and cis drag performers all spoken of with respect and dignity was great.

The characters were fine as well. Let me tell you, I would have slapped the hell out of Selene without a second thought. The level of entitlement never ended up sitting quite right with me even after she was redeemed. Her treatment towards Achilles and Briar was disgusting. The supporting characters were nice, but I got frustrated with Beau a lot. He was way too flighty and irresponsible to act all high and mighty with Briar.

My enjoyment of this book was severely kneecapped by the fact that Selene went and found Briar's fanfiction stories and read them. I couldn't even fathom looking at someone in real life after they did that to me, and especially when Briar so clearly dealt with anxiety and social awkwardness. Do not ever do this unless the person says you can do this! Holy crap!

This story felt like a really important one from the author and I'm glad they were able to put it out into the world. I'd look forward to seeing more of Spencer Read, Achilles, and especially Edgar Allan Foe.

9.86/10 or 5 stars

Characters-10

I loved the characters in this book! They were a mixture of family and found family, and I loved how they all helped each other when needed. Everyone supported Briar when she needed it most, and I loved seeing them all come together as a community. Among all the wonderful characters in this book, Briar and Selene were my favorite characters, I loved their personalities and backstories.

Plot-10

Don’t Be A Drag had a wonderful story. I loved how much the story was about community and finding your people. I don’t really follow drag, and I loved how much drag was a part of this story. Another part of this story was finding yourself and accepting yourself. Briar was in a tough space emotionally several times throughout this novel, and thanks to her new friends she came out better at the end. Briar also found herself as a drag king, and I loved seeing her come into her own as a drag king.

Writing-10

I loved the writing in this book. This was my second book my Skye Quinlan, and I loved the writing in this book even more. There were times in this book when the characters were living their best selves, and having a great time with family and friends. I loved the writing in these scenes because the writing style was so fun. The other side of this was during the heavy, or emotional scenes for the characters. I loved these scenes even with the more heated or emotional moments because the characters were discussing important topics.

Enjoyment-10

I loved this book! I thought it was a delightfully fun and heartwarming book. The characters were great and the story was heartwarming.

Welcome to my new favourite book and a huge personality trait of mine!

This book.

THIS BOOK Y'ALL. I can't even.

The way this book deals with depression, anxiety, and the everything that comes with that is *chef's kiss* so absolutely perfectly done. It's spot on.

This is the reason it took me so long to read - because I had to keep stopping the book to not only cry but compose myself before I could move on.

I should've known that Skye's second book would also pack a punch because their first, Forward March, was not a light and breezy contemporary like the cover would have you believe.

The drag culture in this book is also incredible. I loved every single second that was spent not only sharing the drag culture with the readers, but showing how utterly freeing it is for people as well. The way gender is explored and fucked with in this book made my heart so fucking happy it is impossible for me to adequately articulate.

This review is all over the place, and I am not even sorry for it.

I love Achilles too - this character is my new favourite and I will protect them with my entire fucking life. This kid. THIS KID. I love them. Also, banger chosen name. I fucking love.
And the portrayal of Achilles' autism spoke to my own autistic heart so loudly.

During the second half of the book, Briar experiences a depressive episode. I LOVE that nothing 'triggers' this. That it is just something that happened. That someone didn't attribute to Briar's depression, that it was just something that was inevitably going to happen because Briar has depression. I love that there wasn't a clear "oh this is to blame!" so it could be swept aside by some people.

The everything that was described was a gut punch. I've been in that exact same position, those exact same feelings, right down to the suicidal thoughts and feelings, and holy shit I am so glad that Skye didn't sugarcoat it. Because that is real

I love Briar's character, too. She's incredibly anxious, but despite that, she does things that are outside of her comfort zone. Doing these things doesn't cure her depression or anxiety, but she does them anyway.

Also Spencer was a fuckwad I couldn't help but love.

AND EDGAR ALLEN FOE? FUCKING LOVED EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF HIS PAGE TIME. Gosh I could imagine all of this so perfectly.

I really liked the representation of drag and especially drag kings in this book. Landon Cider is even mentioned which is awesome! I liked how mental health was dealt with and how the main character Briar, reacted with things due to it. However, I did not find the characters to be that likable. I felt like I didn't fully know the characters that much other than the drive to do drag, but that gets a bit sidetracked after half of the book. There is a lot of angst and takes some time to get to the conclusion of things. It also ends pretty quickly after the long build up so I wished we got to see more of an ending and into the future for Briar. There's brief talking of gender fluency but I felt like not enough.. The brief romances seemed quick and forced. There is just a lot going on in this book but if you like YA and drag, you will like this book!

The most ADORABLE queer Young Adult book about finding your way in the world through the power of identity and found family.

Full points for managing to include representation of so many groups in this novel but I got bogged down in the angst and bickering/shouting matches. I found the main character's interest in performing to be a sudden shift with no lead up, making it feel unnatural.

Please swap out the word "smirk" for a variety of synonyms. It was overused to the point of being irritating.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Don't Be a Drag by Skye Quinlan was a really fun tale of two rival drag kings. I found myself smiling through most of the book despite heavy content at times. The trigger warnings at the beginning of the book are appropriately placed and should be looked at by readers. I like that the author included this portion of the book and think it is helpful for readers. The storyline in the book was fun and I found myself invested in the spirit of the competition between Briar and Selene. I personally related to Biar and found the parts where they struggle to be similar to my real life experiences with depression. I wish readers found out more about Briar's backstory and home back in Texas to fully contextualize things. I also wish details about Selene were revealed a little bit earlier in the novel. This would have given me time to warm up to her character. At the end of the book Selene/Spencer was likable, but I felt like I was forcing the redemption storyline. Side characters such as Keel, Enzo, Bow, and Jackie were developed enough to support the story well. Despite any small critiques, I did find this to be a fun read and an important dive into the less explored world of drag kings. 4.5/5 stars

Quinlan left a lot up in the air at the end of this one and I would read a second novel/continuation if it was every written and published.

Don’t Be A Drag is a YA Contemporary novel that I liked.

After a mental health scare, Briar spends the summer with her older brother. Leaving behind her conservative upbringing of Texas, she’s wrapped up in queer culture for the first time in NYC. Briar’s brother, Beau, is a drag queen with a found family that welcomes Briar with open arms. Well, almost every one. Selene is Beau’s drag son and while she might be charming and confident, she can also be an asshole. Briar and Selene butt heads over the way Selene treats another drag king and, before she knows it, Briar signs up to take down Selene in a drag king competition.

I really loved the mental health rep in this story. Depression isn’t something I personally struggle with, but the story felt so authentic. My heart hurt for Briar. I loved her growth as a character and the way this story wrapped up.

I struggled a bit with the romance. Having a traumatic backstory doesn’t give you a free pass to be an asshole. But I do love genuine apologies and a change in behavior.

Overall I really enjoyed many aspects of this story. The found family was fantastic and I loved the way every aspect of the plot/storylines wrapped up.

4.5 stars

This was a phenomenal representation of LGBTQ+ teenagers and the setting was centered around a drag bar in NYC. Basically all the things I adore! I was thoroughly impressed with the authors ability to showcase proper pronoun usage (and flipping of when in/out of drag), in a way that is not confusing to the reader & authentic to each of the characters. I didn’t feel like the drag king competition was as centered as I expected it to be, which kept this from being a perfect 5 star. The mental health representation was unexpected but done beautifully. This book warmed my heart and broke it all at the same time. I loved how it ended and the choices of the MC regarding the romance + the results of the competition. A fantastic novel & honestly deserves WAY more hype.

LGBTQ+ rep: it’s saturated! But primarily, F/F & M/M

I was immediately sold on the idea of the book. I spent years of my early 20s attending Drag shows as often as I could, and to this day they bring me such joy! I enjoyed Briar's story and the nostalgia that it brought with it.

What I loved:
- found family + supportive bio family
- mental health rep
- pop culture references (I'm one of those people that love these)
- queer joy
- rivals to lovers
- loveable side characters

*gifted ARC* Add another to the list of books that I wish I had as a teenager/in my early 20’s 😭🌈 Check trigger warnings for this one fam!! This was stunning. I love that so many LGBTQ+ voices were represented here. People who were told they were “too gay/too much,” people who come from privilege and need to learn that being queer doesn’t erase that, mental health struggles, queer elders/mentors, autistic bbs, and MORE. Everyone was so real and complex and their friendships made me SOB. The bond between drag mother and drag children had me FUCKED UP it was so special. This is a book about how queer and trans found family is life changing and life saving and drag can be too. The discussions around “what drag is” were so heartwarming. And it’s set in an LGBTQ+ bar and that was just so special and fitting. I LOVED THIS PLEASE READ IT SO YOU CAN CRY TOO!!! 💖

I had such a fun time reading this story! While I think I’m a bit older than the intended audience, this is a great book for older teens who are interested in learning more about the drag community.

In this new novel by Skye Quinlan, eighteen-year-old Briar Vincent spends the summer with her drag queen brother, Beau, in New York City. Provoked by the arrogant drag king Spencer Read, she enters a drag king competition despite having no experience. With Beau’s and her new friends’ help, she transforms into Edgar Allan Foe, aiming to conquer her anxiety and win the competition, while discovering there’s more to Spencer than she thought.

While I wish the book had dug down a bit deeper into the push and pull between Briar and Selene, this is still an entertaining summer read! If you love found family, enemies to lovers, and a competitive book, this is the YA Novel for you!

Thank you to Page St YA for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

t’s Briar’s first time away from home and she’s terrified. She is worried about flying, about her brother not being there to pick her up, and about getting mugged or in a car crash; she’s afraid of getting kidnapped, of crowds, of public speaking, of having to talk and of being unable to talk all at the same time. The thing that keeps Briar from spiraling is her brother, Beau, who is waiting at the airport in the full drag persona of Bow Regard, with a giant smile on her mouth and a sign with so, so much glitter.

Briar, who thought she’d be afraid of everything, instead finds herself falling in love with everything, even as it’s overwhelming. The Gallery, the bar where her brother works, is a wonderful place filled with wonderful people. There’s Enzo, the bartender, who happens to be in love with her brother; Jacklynn Hyde, her brother’s larger than life drag mother; Achilles, who goes by they/them pronouns and is learning to be a bartender; and Selene, the beautiful young woman with red hair and a knowing smirk who Briar could easily have developed a crush on … if only Selene wasn’t such a horrible monster.

Selene also happens to be Spencer Read, drag king douche who, with a few cruel comments, cuts Achilles to shreds. Spencer will be competing for Drag King of the Year in a few short months and sees Achilles as zero threat. Briar has no idea what she’s doing, but she hotly promises Selene that she, Briar, will be the one to take that crown from her.

Who knew that Briar would spend her summer in New York Briar becoming a drag king?

This is one of those books that had me smiling as I read it, and when it ended all too soon, I was left wanting a sequel, if not an entire series about these characters and their lives together. However, a quick warning before I get into the review. This book deals with some heavy topics. Briar has both anxiety and depression, and there is a moment in the book where she enters into a dark spiral and has thoughts of killing herself. Selene’s last girlfriend committed suicide, and Selene is holding onto a lot of guilt about not answering her last text. These matters are handled with sensitivity and delicacy, but if this is sensitive subject matter for you, it’s perfectly fine to walk away from this book and find another one.

Briar comes to New York from a small town in Texas where she has no friends save her family. Her brother, the person she was and is still closest to, moved away, leaving Briar alone. After a struggle with depression, Briar thought to end her life. Fortunately, her parents were able to get her brother on the phone and he was able to get enough money together to bring her to visit him for a summer in the hopes that she would feel better, and maybe find some joy in her life again.

Beau spends much of the book fretting, protecting, and worrying about Briar. He’s eager for her to find friends, but afraid that she might have a panic attack or another depressive episode, and it leads to him overreacting at times; he’s also a friend and drag mother to Selene, and — knowing her past pain — is also quick to leap to her defense, causing a rift between him and Briar. Beau doesn’t come off all that well in this book, afraid of his own pain, trying too hard and leaping to conclusions without stopping to ask … but he’s trying so hard to be the brother his sister needs, afraid any failure on his part might cause her to hurt herself.

Selene is Briar’s rival — a position given to her by Briar — and … also has her moments. She’s defensive, lashing out at others before they can hurt her first. She’s attracted to Briar, charmed by her and, because of her previous love, sensitive to Briar’s pain. Afraid that she might be the cause of someone else taking their life because she did something wrong, because she wasn’t enough. And I was happy to see that, at the end, their relationship reached a friendship first.

Briar knows she needs help. She’s on the path to finding a therapist, to maybe going on medication, and knows she’s not ready for a girlfriend, yet. She also knows (and Selene agrees) that Selene isn’t ready to jump into a relationship at the moment. However, the two of them love one another and have a decided chemistry; they decide to be friends, to let themselves rest in that moment between friends and lovers until they’re both able to fully and wholly enter into a romance.

Achilles, Jacklynn, and Enzo — along with Selene — quickly become members of Briar and Beau’s extended family. They’re there to support and to cheer one another on, to give advice and a shoulder to cry on without ever passing judgement. Family relationships, both blood related and not, are a strong focus in this book. Briar’s parents are a large presence in her life, as is her younger sister; Jacklynn stands in as a drag mother to both of them, and while Achilles has their own drag mother, they’re just as much a part of this close knit circle.

The constant struggle with depression and anxiety are all throughout this book. Briar can be happy, celebrating or arguing, or even just watching her brother perform and yet … the intrusive thoughts, the paranoia in which she thinks people are judging her, talking about her, looking at her in contempt can be hard to read. Especially when, in the middle of the book, Briar does have a moment where she considers taking her own life. Fortunately, she manages to reach out for help — and I’m pleased to see that there is no instant cure for her depression, no magic glitter that makes it all go away. Depression is something Briar will be fighting for the rest of her life; it’s just that she now has weapons and armor to help her. Therapy, medication, friends, and a community to help her when she stumbles.

This book has amazing messaging, amazing characters, and… well, an amazing set of relationship. Everything and every character fits together so well and so seamlessly. The writing is skillful, light easy to read and yet not holding back or skimming past the heavier moments. For me, this book hit every note and will most definitely be on my year end list. I hope it is for you, too.

During the moments of Briar and Selene I’d find myself smiling as I read at how natural and how adorable they were together — be it as friends or a couple — even when they were thoughtlessly cruel to one another. There was just such a natural rapport and easy, comfortable chemistry that worked for me on every level.

Listen I clearly feel myself outgrowing YA and I guess I was bored. This is a drag king competition where the MC Briar is introduced to the scene by her drag queen brother after arriving fresh off Texas. She wants to knock down a peg the current champion Spencer.

The vibes of the New York drag scene is nice, there kings, queens, discussions of creatures, trans and nonbinary people. And yet I wasn't interested, nothing in the narration made me want to engage with all those characters. I know some people loved Achilles but they annoyed me more than anything (despite the transmasc name solidarity). I don't know I came into this book expecting to love it and instead I just wanted it to be over. At the same time I don't think it's an inherent flaw of the book rather than my own disinterest for the characters and the way the plot was structured.

3.5*

I really enjoyed this book. It came out swinging with loveable characters, the strength of found family, and a story that's perfect for everyone who has been on a journey of understanding their queer identity.

Though I'd wished for some deeper moments of understanding and resolve with Briar and her experiences, I think that for those looking for some acceptance, understanding and perspective, this story offers it all with wrapped in a bright feather boa.

Bonus: we get some of the greatest drag king and queen names ever conceived.

Firstly, a book about drag kings?! Yes please!! I love that we’re getting more and more books – especially YA books that depict the less mainstream aspects of the LGBTQ+ community, and in this case the queer performing arts scene.

Skye Quinlan does a great job of depicting the joy that drag can bring, and what it can mean to both performers and audience members alike. We got to see a really wide range of drag performers – kings, queens, artists, drag mothers, newbies, and everything in between. The book really felt like a love letter to drag culture.

Just as much as the story depicts the highs of the performing life, it also looks at the mental health struggles that are a reality for so many queer people. It’s a difficult topic to cover but I thought it was sensitively done, and balanced well with the other themes and storylines.

The friendships in this book were so lovely to read, and a reminder of the importance of found family – even though, in this case, Briar’s family were really supportive of her. Having multiple generations of queer people as well is something that we so rarely see in fiction, but is so important to real-life queer communities.

Overall, this was a moving and uplifting story that has a strong emotional truth behind it.

I received a free copy for an honest review.