Blaine for the Win by Robbie Couch
CW: Unemployment, Depression, Anxiety, School Stress, Sabotage, Overworked Parents, Remembrance of a Dead Parent, Break-Up, Manipulative Parents, Money Problems, Gaslighting
4.5/5
If you're a fan of Legally Blonde, Robbie Couch's Blaine for the Win is a must read! I love both the movie and the musical, so I borrowed this book from the Libby app as soon as I saw it. It was absolutely worth it, so I'm surprised that there wasn't a waitlist for the audiobook. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, of course, but Couch's bibliography deserves to be popular enough for me to be put on a holds list. He is a skilled writer, which shows in the way he took Legally Blonde and turned it into a brand new story. This is a story that can be enjoyed even by those who have never seen Legally Blonde.
In Blaine for the Win, Blaine gets broken up with during his 1-year anniversary dinner. His now-ex, Joey, doesn't think that Blaine is serious enough and would rather be with someone his parents can approve of. Blaine enjoys painting murals around his neighborhood to help store owners out, but he decides to take a break from this to prove Joey wrong. Blaine wants to win class president. Blaine and his campaign team quickly prove to be what the people want, a change to the status quo, but is it really in Blaine's best interest? What about the murals he's abandoned and what of his self image?
Blaine for the Win is to Legally Blonde as Only Mostly Devastated (by Sophie Gonzales) is to Grease. It takes just enough elements to be paying homage to the classic film, but recreates the story into a thing of its own, a tale starring queer teenagers. One of my favorite elements of Legally Blonde is that Elle Woods becomes friends with the girl her ex left her for. It's not as prominent of a plot point, but I'm happy to report that it's kept in there! The most important element to change was that Blaine was running for class president instead of working to become a lawyer. These two goals do not take similar steps to achieve, which gave Blaine for the Win the space to blossom into a unique story. For the fans of Legally Blonde, you'll be able to spot other references should you read the book and ponder over what was left out/changed.
Despite drawing inspiration from a well known movie, Couch avoided or subverted some major tropes. I am not secretive about my love of tropes, but I enjoy when someone turns away from them as well. The first one is that homophobia doesn't make its way into the plot, even to make an example of it. It's mentioned that life can be harder for those in marginalized communities and Blaine does make a Closet joke, but this book serves as a safe space from that negativity. Another is that the Big Fight happens between Blaine and his best friend, not Blaine and his love interest. The love story is more of a thing that happens along the way than the main plot. Do not be discouraged, though, it is a well written courtship. This story comes with more than one happy ending.
The only problem I found was the pacing, which was difficult to keep track of. However, this was likely due to one of the best features of the story, the point of view. Being told in first person, Blaine's narrative could be seen as unreliable, but I prefer to label it as "transparent". It's easy to figure Blaine out even before he figures himself out. I could tell what he was about and that made me root for him, even when he was making mistakes. His inner voice was a delight to get to know. It was also heartbreaking at times. Blaine deals with depression and anxiety, which would make his focus on time different than reality. I could tell that Couch knew exactly who this character was.
If you like to read about queer teens making changes for their community and falling in love along the way, check out Robbie Couch's Blaine for the Win. Help make this book as popular as it deserves to be!
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