The Black Flamingo

by Dean Atta

[lauriesbookshelf]

Note: I've read this book as a straight, white, female reader.
Rep: BiPOC, queer
Triggers: Homophobia

In The Black Flamingo, we follow Michael, who already notices he's different at the age of six. He wants a barbie for his birthday, the same doll as his best friend at the time has. He didn't pay real attention to this, but he keeps noticing things. In secondary school, he find himself crushing on several guys and he finds out that he is gay. With outing himself, he learns about the existence of homophobia and that it could come from people you don't expect it from.

We follow Michael all the way into his first year at university. He is still struggling, still figuring out where he belongs. That all changes when he stumbles upon a poster about the drag society. He decides to go and take a look and immediately it feels like home to him. The Black Flamingo is a coming of age story about discovering who you are, figuring out where you belong and about coming to terms with and accepting yourself.

In my opinion, the representations in this book is done well. However, I'm not an own voices reviewer, so I am not the one to neither criticize, nor judge it. Michael is biracial/BiPOC. His father is from Jamaican descent, while his mother is Greek-Cypriot. Furthermore, there are many queer characters in this book. There are gay, lesbian, transgender and non-binary characters represented in this story.

I just want to recommend you guys to either read or listen to The Black Flamingo. This is such an important story that many struggling people could identify with. It helps you discover who you are and where you belong. Furthermore, it's about learning to accept yourself and loving yourself. The final chapter of this book deals with outing yourself and how and when to do this. It learns you that you should do it on your own terms.

I listened to the audiobook myself and I have no regrets. I find the audiobook very suitable for this story, especially as it involves poetry. The Black Flamingo is a straight 5-star read for me.