Book Review: The Guncle

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Recently I have seen this book all over booksta, and it looked cute so I decided to grab a copy from my library. It wasn’t what I expected. It was so much more!

What I thought I was getting with this story: a gay uncle forced by circumstances to care for his cute niece and nephew for the summer, with many hilarious hijinks as GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick) tries to navigate the never-ending thrill ride that is parenthood.

What I was not expecting was to end up crying so much! It was not entirely the light-hearted romp that I imagined it to be. It was also a beautiful study of grief and mourning; about how, when you lose someone you love, you often lose yourself as well. In this story there are so many people dealing with so many layers of loss, and I found my heart breaking over and over again. But just as Rowley was shattering my heart, he was also making it swell with love for these characters. Watching Patrick grow from a reclusive, sarcastic, self-centered person into a loving, caring father figure and friend was such a delight. This is the first book that I have read by this author, but I will certainly be going back and checking out his previous offerings. To sum up how I feel about this book: “That’s how you do it!”

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5