M or F?

Wow, I happened upon this book at a local booksale and was pretty skeptical at first. "Ah," I thought, reading the summary. "some story about a girl and her ~sassy, gay friend~ fuuun..." But I kept picking it back up, flipping through it, rereading the summary. Something about it just caught my attention. Then I noticed there were two authors, and one of them was male. I think that was the tipping point that landed it in my "to buy" pile.

I couldn't get the book off my mind, and the moment I left the book fair, I was already reading it. I didn't have to get far before I knew I'd made the right decision. To start off, the humor in this is fantastic. Not a chapter went by that didn't make me laugh. Next, any and all fears I had about show more Marcus's portrayal were out the window. Sassy, gay friend-accessory WHO? Marcus was his own person and a wonderful one to read at that! Of course he fit some stereotypes (we all do in some way, don't we?), but he wasn't a walking stereotype. I just really enjoyed his humor and how... human he was, as if you could run into someone like him out on the street. Finally, I like how the story kept me on edge. There were these twists and turns I hadn't even expected.

This was just such a fun read that I literally couldn't put it down. (If not for the fact that 1 am "technically" counts as a new day, I would've finished it in one.) If you're having any doubts, I would wholly recommend it. It's worth the read & then some. show less

This story started off pretty slow, with an odd little convention of the co-protagonist Marcus visualizing everything through the concept of a movie director. Thankfully, this convention is largely forgotten throughout the book, aside from two brief re-stylizations near the end. Once I really got into the story, it got truly phenomenal and hard to put down. The characters all evolve and change naturally and interestingly. My only gripes are with Marcus (even though I love him).
-A good deal of his characterization is based on homosexual stereotypes
-He's spent his whole life in Georgia up until the past year, yet shows no evidence of being Southern (normally, this wouldn't bother me, however the authors went out of their way to exaggerate show more his homosexuality and corresponding stereotypes, that the lack of any Southern stereotypes was a bit blatant.
-He is a bit unreasonable. Somehow, he construes the following excerpt as the most homophobic thing he's ever heard:

"That place has gay night on Thursdays." He winked at Jeffrey. "You're going to take me there next week, right Jeffrey?" he asked in a mock-flirty tone.

He and Franny (the other co-protagonist) spend about three pages raging about how homophobic that statement was and how the speaker must be thoroughly anti-gay and that the statement was equivalent to calling someone "faggot" (even though Franny rightly points out that Marcus wouldn't have thought twice about a homosexual saying something like that). This scene completely took me out of the book, but the rest was very good.
The twist ending was also completely unexpected, though not unwelcome. show less

Similar in ways to The Hookup Artist by Tucker Shaw, but I liked this one better. The gay guy isn't as whiney, the straight girl doesn't freak out as much, and for another twist, it's like Nick & Norah's in that it has alternating his and her viewpoints. It was really cute, with a little twist at the end that you thought you knew what was going to happen, and then they changed it! It was a really quick read for me, I enjoyed it a lot.

A fun book! The chapters are told alternately by Frannie and Marcus, who are high school best friends. There's a love interest, Jeffery and some sidekicks. The plot is a delightful romp of mistakes and assumptions, and the end is a surprise that made me laugh out loud. Recommended.

The novel M or F? by Lisa Papademetriou and Chris Tebbetts has the ability to grab a reader
interested in a little bit of drama. Lisa Papademetriou has done a few things in this book – such as
pretending to be a vegetarian to make herself seem aware of politics. But she has never been shot in the
butt with a paintball in her hometown Northampton, Massachusetts. Chris Tebbetts is the same way. At
his home in Vermont, he has pretended he was in a movie but he has never impersonated a friend
online.

Why am I telling you what these authors have and haven’t done? Chris and Lisa write about
these things happening to their characters, Marcus and Frannie. Lisa writes from Frannie’s point of view
while Chris writes from Marcus’. Frannie show more decides that she likes this boy she has barely talked to, Jeffery.
With the help of her gay best friend, Marcus, Frannie talks to Jeffrey in the schools online chat room. At
first Marcus talks for her with her permission. It’s not very long until Marcus is tempted to carry out
conversations with Jeffrey without Frannie’s permission. Soon Marcus realizes that he is falling for
Jeffrey. Frannie’s suspicions rise when she notices that Jeffrey has never tried to kiss her all the times
they have hung out. Does Jeffrey like Marcus of Frannie? M or F? Readers who enjoyed “The Clique”
series by Lisi Harrison will definitely like M or F?.

This story was full of twists and turns that will keep the reader on their toes. I think teens and
even some adults will be hooked on the story Lisa Papademetriou and Chris Tebbetts tell about two
friends going through a time in their relationship full of drama about a boy. I would give this book four
out of five stars. show less

Any student who’s spent time in a chatroom will recognize the title question of M or F? (New York: Razorbill, 2005). Without visual cues to give them away, Frannie and Marcus engage in chatroom discussion with Jeffrey. Straight Frannie has a crush on Jeffrey and needs the support and suggestions of gay Marcus to begin the exchange; but as the exchanges continue, Marcus begins to wonder whether Jeffrey is interested in him or Frannie. The witty chatroom transcripts woven through the book’s traditional narrative provide an authentic representation of Internet chats and IMs that will be familiar to readers.

This is a fun, cute book. It has some funny moments and it takes me back to high school. If you are looking for a sweet fun romance, I would recommend it.