Review by Dany Caballero
Simon and Schuster, 2023
272 pages, Hardcover, $23.99 CAD, 9781534492622
Young Adult, Ages 12+
Contemporary Realism, Fiction, Romance
LGBTQIA+
This is about who I am. This is about building a life full of people I love, not having to hide or lie. I want, I don’t know, for being gay to mean more than being anxious about coming out, having fleeting crushes that can never go anywhere, and jacking off to whatever pops up on the first page of gay porn sites in my room late at night. I want to start living my whole life now, instead of watching the days tick down, missing chances. Being all of me is the only way we can make it to the championship, the only way I can lead. They just have to let me.
Barcley Eliot is the captain of the basketball team. He is popular and loved by the whole school. But after he comes out in the middle of a pep rally in front of everyone, things start to fall apart in ways he never expected.
The town, who Barcley thought he had the support of, suddenly turns their backs on him. The team Barcely thought of as family doesn’t see him the same way and it risks their spot in championships. He now faces homophobia where he thought he would find acceptance and must discover who he is without basketball. But he is not alone in this. His best friend, Amy, drags him into a voting rights group where Barcley must try to untangle two things: a corrupt school board, and his feelings for Christopher.
Time Out is one of those books with such well developed characters that I didn’t want to let go of them at the end of the book. I’m not going to lie, there was more than one moment when I was annoyed at Barcley. He is a complex character, full of flaws. His naivety and his polarized view of the world where either everything is perfect or it is out to get him makes him a difficult character to like at times. But he is trying to navigate a world he is terribly familiar with when his perspective has been suddenly twisted and turned, so it’s understandable that he makes mistakes along the way. By the end of the book I could clearly see how his perspective changed and the character growth made all those moments of second-hand embarrassment worth it.
Amy and Christopher also have unique voices that I really enjoyed reading. Amy is a funny and idealistic activist who always dresses as if she’s going to a punk concert. Christopher is a journalist for the highschool paper and the only openly gay guy in the highschool. I loved reading how his perspective of Barcley changed as the book progressed.
As a queer person myself, I found many aspects of the book extremely relatable. Barcley has fears and worries about coming out, about how people receive his identity, about how it changes relationships when it really shouldn’t, that I found hit dangerously close to home. It was painful, cathartic, and lovely to see some of my own fears explored on the page, and it was really nice to have them explained in simple words I hadn’t yet found. Time Out is the perfect read for those who are looking for the lightness and warm-feeling of Heartstopper, the sports angst of High School Musical, and a pinch of the politics of Red White and Royal Blue.
Dany Caballero is an aspiring writer who loves fantasy and has a soft spot for mythology. She is currently studying Creative Writing at UBC and spends her days trying to turn her daydreams into stories.
YOUNG ADULTING 