Jack’s On Fire: A Modern Queer Fairy Tale by Owen Lach

This was such a sweet and adorable teen gay romance (although a bit too cheesy at times), but also a story about dealing with bullying and homophobia, absent and abusive parents and learning to trust others again after being rejected and told that you’re not good enough as you are.

Jack’s On Fire follows teenage musician Jack who gets bullied and abused at his homophobic high school after being outed by his vengeful ex, and whose religious, bigotry and evil mother is threatening to send him to correction camp. Luckily though, his older brother offers him to move in with him in California and Jack gets the chance to start a new life with new friends and the freedom to be himself. Things are getting even better when Jack gets invited to the varsity band, and when his Geometry tutor turns out to be the hot captain of the JV soccer team, Damon. But not only is he out of Jack’s league, he’s also straight. Right?

There were so many wonderful characters in this book! Jack’s brother was such a sweetheart and I loved his sassy girlfriend, as well as the fun and witty friends Jack made in Red and Sarge. I also really loved both Jack and Damon as main characters and how sweet they were together. Some parts were a bit too cheesy though, and it got quite annoying with the repetitive use of the word “babe” between them as well as the use of “bro” in every sentence when Jack talked to his brother.

The pace was a bit slow off and on, and I think the story would have benefitted from not being quite so full of all details about exactly what they did and when.

But all in all, Jack’s On Fire was the heartwarming, modern, queer fairy tale the blurb promised. It was such a sweet and hopeful coming of age story with great character development, amazing friends and an adorable teen romance showing how everyone can find their happy ever after where they least expect it.

Thank you NetGalley and Jetspace Studio for the free ARC of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
​3.5 stars rounding up to 4

Get your own copy:
Amazon

​Author info:
Owen Lach