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Teen coming-of-age drama. Young adult rom-com. Murder mystery. Real-world topicality, including centering underrepresented identities. That’s an impressive mix of elements for a debut novel, yet that’s what author CL Montblanc delivers with their book, Pride or Die.
In a Books Forward press release interview, Montblanc suggested one reason the genre-mixing works. “Both coming-of-age stories and murder mysteries are about facing injustices, dealing with loads of horrible crap, and just trying to make it out alive,” said Montblanc, who’s nonbinary.
They added that infusing a mystery into a teen rom-com “opened up the types of scenarios these kids might find themselves in… the wilder the plot gets, the wilder the potential hijinks.”
And indeed, the plot is wild. Pride or Die is about a high school LGBTQ+ club that finds itself in a situation more dire than typical homophobic bullying: the club members are implicated in an attempted murder of the school’s head cheerleader. To save the club and their futures, and protect themselves from potentially being the killer’s next victims, the group must uncover who’s really behind the crime. Throughout the investigation, hijinks ensue and relationships are tested and reshaped.
Montblanc casts the red-headed artsy Eleanora Finkel, a senior and the school’s only out lesbian, as the central figure. Surrounding Eleanora is a mostly well-written ensemble of friends/club members, representing a wide range of queer personalities—Noah, a white trans guy who likes gaming, sarcasm, and having no filter; Tyler, a Latinx non-binary person who’s as gentle-hearted and athletic as they are smart and ambitious; and Salim, a not-so-out-but-not-overtly-closeted jock who manages to be both popular and a loyal friend to the social outcast club members. The would-be murder victim, suspects, and allies of the investigation also vary in personalities. This is a testament to Montblanc’s character development skills.
Fittingly, the author said focusing on the characters was the first step in their writing process. “When I immediately know who the central characters are and allow them to drive the story, I’m always happy with how natural that makes these characters feel,” said Montblanc.
Not only did Montblanc create substantive, diverse characters, but their characters’ arcs also deftly subvert expectations. This layers the mystery with twists and turns likely to keep readers guessing until the end.
Additionally, Montblanc took a compelling approach to chapter titles—making each chapter a stage of the friends’ experience, with titles such as, “How the Enemy Was Evaded” and “What the Police Did.”
Montblanc also nailed humor and relatability. For example, the dialogue firmly puts a reader into Eleanora’s head, with chuckle-inducing lines like, “I found myself trying not to nervous-pee in a hospital parking lot.” Another example of good humor, even if a little self-deprecating, is the entire school community insultingly referring to the club as the “BLT club” instead of the LGBTQ+ club. The humor also injects the book with a dose of relatability: readers experience queer friends who can’t admit their mutual feelings and sapphics who fail to recognize flirtation.
In some cases, Montblanc’s humorous and relatable language or writing style slides into overly cringey corniness. For one, Eleanora Finkel is about as painfully “nerdy” a name as it gets. Pop culture references sometimes seem a bit forced. Real world social justice ideology is delivered in a more buzzword-y, PBS spoon-feeding way (and more repetitively) than necessary. I’m here for the intention, but wonder if there was more of a “show, not tell” way to incorporate the messages.
There’s also some points that don’t feel narratively logical, such as a description of mean girls as “snakes in pleated skirts and Velcro sneakers”—am I too old to know that Velcro sneakers are back and considered acceptable now?—and no one visiting the head cheerleader at the hospital.
Nevertheless, Pride or Die is overall a worthy read, especially for young adults (the target audience). The book helps persecuted and maybe lonely kids to feel seen, and could inspire readers to, as the protagonists declare, “be gay, solve crime,” as well as to generally fight for themselves and the community. Pride or Die is also simply a darkly fun adventure that maintains its intrigue through the end.
“Even [people just] coming away from it with a temporary ‘happy and entertained’ feeling would be an amazing impact in my eyes,” said Montblanc. “Oftentimes, that’s really what people…are needing most.”
That’s certainly one truth that doesn’t need investigating.