Bookworm Speaks!- Waterways by Kyell Gold

Bookworm Speaks!

Waterways 

by Kyell Gold

*****

On Friday, June 26th, 2015, a date that shall be remembered for history everlasting, The Supreme Court of the United States of America, ruled in recognition of same-sex marriage across the country. It is now legal for gay and lesbian couples to get married in every single state. Truly…a victory for progressives everywhere, ensuring greater equality for every stripe of the human race. To mark this auspicious occasion for human rights, Bookworm shall review a recently acquired book about a young gay couple and their journey together. 

The Story: Kory was having enough trouble in high school. His girlfriend just dumped him, his poetry made him a target for ridicule, and college applications were looming. The very last thing he needed was to fall in love with another boy. 

The Good: Waterways takes place in a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, Kory is an otter and Samaki is a black fox. There is a also a bat character, a ram, raccoons, and a bunch of other characters. For the uninformed…this book represents a certain subculture known as furries, that revolves around anthropomorphic animals. This does not at all detract from the quality of the story and everyone should take the opportunity to peruse stories that take place in this subculture. Overall, the story is pretty much all about normal human relationships: It takes place in the suburbs, the characters go to Starbucks, and attend high school and worry about the prom. At the same time, the author takes time to build a world that accommodates the needs of (for lack of a better term) of different species of animals. Kory is from a family of otters and otters are aquatic mammals, thus Kory’s house has a pool and canals that go into the house itself. This feels like a real need for otters if they lived in houses. Samaki is a fox and thus he and his family emit a strong musk that the other character’s notice. Later, in the book, it is stated that thicker furred beings want to shed their coats from the summer heat. These little details help a great deal in building the world even though it takes place in Suburbia USA, and frankly thats the correct way to do it. Little details that describe everyday life, not long tracts of exposition. 

What makes this book so good is that a lot of the drama comes from Kory and Samaki themselves. Bookworm imagines there is this belief that for gay couples, they are all alone in a hostile world which aims to tear them apart. Don’t get the wrong idea, there is plenty of that here, but also there is conflict between the couple themselves, just like real life couples. Both parties make mistakes while they chart the waters of their relationship. As far as sexuality is concerned, both are at differing stages. Kory has only recently discovered that he is gay and struggles with its and its repercussions. Samaki, on the other hand, has come to terms with his sexuality and has already worked through the repercussions, if their was any. That causes friction in their relationship as Samaki wants to flaunt his boyfriend and Kory is very worried that it could cause permanent damage to what he has managed to build in his life.  Both character’s make mistakes and the relationship suffers. Samaki may sympathize with the losses in Kory’s life as a result of his coming out but he does not understand how much it hurts Kory and how afraid he is of losing more. On the other side, Kory has found the love of his life, and how he pushes away such joys can seem cowardly on his part. He, too does not understand how much his actions hurt Samaki. All of this showcase the author’s skill in depicting the two way nature of any relationship. 

The Flaws: There is very little that is wrong about this book. It is not a good book about homosexuals or a good furry book, it is a good book period. However, there are a few flaws here and there. 

The biggest one is that the plot sags a little bit around the end of Aquifers and the beginning of Streams. At that stage, Kory and Samaki are in the “honeymoon” stage of the relationship, while heartwarming, it is not very exciting. Normal relationships are rarely good entertainment, as anyone who has a read fiction or watched television can tell you. This is not helped by Kory’s life, which is about as white-bread suburban as one can get. This was the part where Bookworm put the book down for a little bit. Thankfully the plot picks up as the relationship goes through growing pains and the honeymoon period ends. 

Also, there is something a little confusing about the character of Samaki. Some hints are dropped here and there but it seems like the author is trying to make the character African American. While technically, he is a walking, talking animal and thusly has no race, there is some innuendo. It is stated that his family came from Africa which may be all the proof needed. Even though its not really appropriate and it definitely should not matter, one can not help but think in terms of race, and making it inconsistent won’t break the story, it can be one of those details that nags at the reader. 

Finally…a bit of a nitpick here, but one of the perks of this novel is how Kory’s brother, Nick, still remains loyal to his brother throughout his trials. Its very touching but, Nick is a bit of blank slate. There is not much going on with him, he is just there. Perhaps his character could have been expanded on a little bit more. Just to add some flavor. 

Final Verdict: Waterways is a superb novel. Probably the best coming-of-age novel Bookworm has ever read. A good book by any definition. One that teaches all…Love is Love. 

Five out of Five Stars

Go Buy One Now!!!

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