Let me start with- I have a lot of love and respect for Elton John as a musician and as a queer icon which is why I was interested in this book. He is outrageous and trailblazing and so so talented and my thoughts on this memoir don’t negate any of that. That being said, my thoughts:

There’s certainly a lot of content in this book, and if what you’re looking for is assorted celebrity anecdotes you’ll be very satisfied. Unfortunately it lacks the focus or direction that would make it a great memoir- it certainly recounts events from Elton John’s life but it isn’t particularly about anything. I think a great memoirist could take the interviews he gave and mold it into something really compelling but as is, it’s pretty unremarkable.

There’s also a general sense that Elton is avoiding discussing things, softening the impact of his addiction, and granting himself a pretty unbelievable degree of naivety and good intention. He comes off as an asshole, and not a particularly self-aware one.

Cute book, I just don’t love kids in books most of the time and there’s a lot of kid dialogue in this one. I wish more of the time spent on the kids antics was used to explore Patrick’s inner life and other relationships.

This is my second Vonnegut book and while I didn't love either of them, he has such an interesting mind so it probably won't be my last.

I learned that when I was about 80% through that this was originally Stucky fanfic and suddenly a lot clicked into place. Like my biggest question was “Why now? Why this guy? Scott has been closeted for years and he meets a random guy in a smoothie shop and that’s it he’s all in??” But it was because it was Bucky and he was Steve and in fanfic there’s an implicit “these people are soulmates who have a special draw to each other” vibe so of course it’s not something that the author feels the need to dwell on.

Also- not to brag but I could tell that Scott was supposed to be Steve Rogers even before I knew. I didn’t think it was fanfic, but I assumed Reid was a marvel fan who used him as the blueprint because cmon- big beefy blonde in NYC with a mom who died when he was a teen (and a mysteriously absent dad)?? That’s Steve Rogers! Also he’s literally the captain of the team. Tbh I think knowing who the characters are helps bolster the story because without it they feel a little underdeveloped. Also makes a lot more sense why everyone has to comment on how hot Scott’s new Finnish teammate is (he’s Thor) which stuck out as really weird.

I think the rest of the series is totally original so I’m very interested to contrast the character dynamics and development when Reid doesn’t have an existing canon/fanon to rely on. Overall a good time, there are definitely worse published fanfics out there.

Public transit enjoyers rise up!! This one is for us!!