Proceed With Caution:
This book contains overt homophobia and bullying, discussions of a possible murder or suicide, and religion as a weapon.
The Basics:
Spin Me Right Round is narrated by seventeen-year-old, Luis. He is out and proud and no one can hold him down! Except maybe his school administration who won't allow him to attend the prom with his boyfriend. And maybe getting transported to 1985 where even being gay is grounds for expulsion.
My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed Spin Me Right Round, but I'm also very disappointed in it. The majority of it was great and I was eagerly anticipating a gut punching ending, but then nothing. We're right back to where we started, which made Luis's story feel a bit like a waste of time.
Luis has a very clear, defined voice and personality. He is the star of his own story. For real. He is confident in who he is, kind of selfish and self-absorbed, but also self aware on that front. He's a trend chaser and knows what he wants, and is the perfect candidate to be thrust into the past to learn a valuable lesson.
Spin Me Right Round is all about Luis. I mean, yes, he's our narrator, and the protagonist, but literally everything is about him. He pretty quickly realizes that he was sent to the past to save Chaz, a gay kid his mom was friends with who turned up dead on prom night. At least, this is what Luis believes his mission is. And of course his solution is to have Chaz be out and proud just like him! But is that really the way to help Chaz? I vote no and was expecting Luis to come to this realization and come to terms with his real lesson.
I did very much enjoy Luis's growing relationships with this new classmates, one of which is his own mother! He falls into a group of kids who aren't popular but also aren't quite losers. Obviously, the much bullied Chaz is in this group because Luis has to get close to him and get him to accept his gayness. There's also a super cute romance blossoming, but I won't spoil who that's between! I also just loved the '80s setting. It's not all sunshine and rainbows, obviously, but it's always fun to see.
Where Spin Me Right Round lost me was the ending. Luis learns nothing. There is no twist. There is no big realization. He gets exactly what he wanted at the beginning without having to put in any of the work. I'm sure you can argue that not every book needs a big moral or lesson to be learned, but this was set up to follow the time traveler trope. It's repeated multiple times.
This was the perfect way for Luis to see that not everyone can be themselves to the fullest like he is. He doesn't need to push everyone so hard as it might not be safe for them (I mean, he knows Chaz was dead because of his sexuality!) to be out like that. Yet, none of this is even briefly mentioned. There's a happy ending and I suppose that was suppose to be satisfying enough.