Orbiting Bodies by Diana Jean

Orbiting Bodies by Diana Jean

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I received an ARC of this book from Less Than Three Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well this is a somewhat strange position I find myself in. In 2016 I read and loved a book by this author. In 2018 I reread that book and loved it again. I’ve now read two more works – both of which I read today. Didn’t love the short story, but it was a good enough way to pass the time. This brings us to this novel here – which I somewhat unexpectedly find that I also loved.

Unexpectedly? Well . . . there’s like 80 (no, there’s just 4) point of view main characters in this book. All of them young adult college students. It is somewhat harder for me to love a multiple cast point of view book. Not impossible, just harder. Plus – I had been eyeballing this book for a while now, and kept not getting it because of the sample – Caleb, the star of the beginning chapter, seems a pain to be around – a super hyper super-selfish extrovert type who has great trouble sitting still for longer than three minutes, and brings unrelated books to tutor sessions in case he gets bored. He seemed . . . annoying when I first glimpsed him in the sample. Then he made me laugh a few times in that sample, so I got the book.

So that’s Caleb – super hyper short slim dude who is an extreme extrovert, wants to be friends with everyone, and is quite pushy in getting people to do his thing – oh and he can be quite . . . dramatic. He is also 18 and a college freshman and the roommate of another main point of view character, Andrew.

Andrew, also a freshman, is also probably 18, though the one and only time his age was given, it was 15 – but that was also an unexpected flashback.

That happens a lot in this book, by the way, flashbacks. Also – merged . . . um sessions. There were times when a character, in the present, would be doing something and have thoughts of the past – detailed thoughts. There were also times when a flashback would occur – and then there would be italicized text – thoughts from the present. That was . . . different.

But I was on Andrew and got distracted.
Andrew, when he first appeared, was dressed all depressing like and .. . well, I forget the exact words Caleb used. Emo? Goth punk? Something in that range. Andrew’s life is art, and that’s why he’s at college – to get an art degree and do art. He is also, unlike Caleb, gay. And a little bit (or more) lusting after Caleb, who reminds him, personality wise, of his great lust-person of high school years (Daniel, the name was Daniel, right?). Andrew kind of became the fifth well in this book, even though there were only four points of view. But, eh, whatever.

As I mentioned, Caleb is quite pushy and gets his way a lot. I mention this because, the first day Caleb and Andrew move in on campus – Caleb drags Andrew to a club mixer thingie. Which I mention less to mention Caleb being pushy, but so I could mention that that is where the two meet Jun. Sitting at one of the club tables (Astronomy).

Jun, unlike freshman Caleb and Andrew, is a junior – studying for a bio-chem degree (degrees?, I forget if that was described as ‘bio chem pre med degree’, or bio chem degree and pre med degree or . . something). Jun is the third point of view character in the book. He is very studious to the point he rarely does anything else. When he was 7 his family moved from Japan to the USA, which I mention because the transition was such that he lost the ability to make friends, or something like that, and so went a different direction – taking on a persona of hiding, and being studious and not pursing friendships and social interactions.

Jun is roommates with the final point of view character, Piper. Who pulls in Lizzy, though Lizzy, oddly, doesn’t get a point of view in this book. Lizzy and Pipper are seniors and girlfriends. Jun was a last minute addition to their apartment, as they figured that having another person in the application would increase their chances of getting the apartment. Piper is into Computer Science, while Lizzy is into dance. Piper’s the one who pulls in the family (though Caleb’s mother is mentioned and very briefly seen in the opening chapter) – for the mother, Piper’s that is, keeps opening stating things like how Piper’s going through a phase and stuff, by dating women (though . . . eh, let’s not give everything away).

There’s a slight disconnect between me and the characters involved. Possibly due to there being so many to follow, possibly for other reasons. That doesn’t mean I didn’t feel them at times – like, again unexpectedly, there were moments when Piper and Lizzy’s story-line made me vaguely teary eyed.

Right.

So, young adult book. Many characters. Three men, two women. Mix of LGBT characters. Multiple LGBT couples in the same book. Mix of MM and FF in same book. Lastly: the only thing graphic was kissing.

Enjoyable book.

Rating: 4.78

June 25 2018




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