In Case You Forgot

This past week I spent a year with Zaire James and Dr. Kenny Kane. At the end of the week, all I could think about was how badly I wanted there to be a sequel.

It’s a novel of characters that are splendidly and messily human. Characters you want to live across the street from, send late night texts to, and sometimes , characters you want to hold an intervention for. Characters resplendent in their BlaQ magic!

It’s also a novel of place and time. The vivid imagery and critical (& hilarious!) insights about West Hollywood & the educational system; the phenomena of Insta-modeling and reindeer games via mobile-phone-read-receipts; and the detailed descriptions of outfits you’ll be longing to double tap - all combine to bring Zaire and Kenny’s 2019 WeHo world into high relief.

Maybe most of all, it’s a novel that grapples with loss. This novel accompanies Kenny and Zaire as they travel the twisted journey of confronting, avoiding, being confronted by, and ultimately learning to integrate their losses in to who they are moving forward. It is a love story in the largest sense, which necessarily means that it is also a story of grief, family, community, conflict and working through it all to find healing and connection.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Cote

In Case You Forgot is the Black Queer version of the HBO hit show Insecure. The authors has truly wrote the characters, protagonist and antagonist, to feel very relatable. As you read, you’re building this connection with the characters as if they’re your own friends. I caught myself providing side bar conversations in my head like “Kenny, cut that dude off!” or “Zaire, you’re moving too fast bro!”.

One thing that really keep me engaged in the reading was the lived experiences of these different Black Queer men and how it was displayed that they’re not monolithic. They each had their own stories to share, despite what society depict of it. I loved the two perspectives that were provided in the book. I think that give us, the reader, more opportunity to see all sides of it.
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Reviewed by Jordan Broiles

I am an avid reader of non-fiction and fiction, but it's harder for me to get into some fiction because I am a YA author. It's been a while since I found a book that took me to my E. Lynn Harris, Eric Jerome Dickey, and Terri McMillan phase, where I would drink their novels, thirsty for every little sip of tea in the details.

This book took me there!

I felt authentically submersed into a social identity and space that is outside of my own, through the language. the descriptions of the settings, and the relationships. It reminded me that format and formula are what we champion as key elements of great books, but hell! So is entertainment! We can have all of the above and create something that is vivid, raw, hilarious, and thought provoking, just as Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar have created with IN CASE YOU FORGOT.

My favorite element of this book is language. The importance of language within a marginalized subculture cannot be overstated. IN CASE YOU FORGOT had me hitting up google to catch up on all words Blaqueer and WEHO.

If you want a juicy summer read that entertains while READING YOU, this is the book! Sip & Enjoy!

Reviewed by Thea Monyee

A really well written, thought provoking book. That deals with quite a few sensitive topics. This books is thoughtfully planned out and is a really well written book with great characters.

Reviewed by Karen Whittard

When I first read the description of this novel on Netgalley, I was genuinely excited. It hits a lot of my soft spots - #ownvoices writers, m/m romance, socially aware, complex characters and diverse leads. I am particularly enjoying the number of romances being published that are either diverse or engage in social issues. I want novels like these to be successful and try to support them every way I can.

This is how I approached In Case You Forgot by Frederick Smith and Chaz Lamar. Told in the first person present, the story alternates POVs between Zaire and Kenney. Each chapter title ties in with the main title to complete an aphorism. For example, ICYF: Be Honest, ICYF: Leave on Read, and so on, implying that each chapter should serve as a lesson reinforcing the aphorism presented. It's a clever way of organizing the novel and provides thematic structure to each chapter.

We meet our first main character, Zaire, in chapter one when he asks his huband, Mario, for a divorce. This act sets off Zaire's search for self-realization as he recognizes the need to be free of his partner in order to find the fulfillment he seeks. In contrast, Kenny Kane is not the agent of his own change in the beginning. When we meet him, he is at his mother's funeral, where his on-again/off-again boyfriend, Brandon-Malik, breaks up with him by text. It's an act that haunts Kenny throughout the entire novel and, while it is clear Brandon-Malik is not an ideal partner, Kenny spends the better part of the novel pining after him.
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...It serves as tableau of black youth trying to find connection and love in West Hollywood, complete with all the racial, social, and personal challenges that implies. Zaire and Kenny's struggles feel very relateable and there's a hipness to the characters that I find refreshing.
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What really works in this novel is the worldbuilding. The setting and supporting characters provide a convincing backdrop against which the characters grow...I was able to enjoy the realistic character arcs of Zaire and Kenny overcoming their respective struggles to arrive at a place where they are doing what they like to do and are satisfied with the outcome of their lives. As I stated earlier, this journey felt real to me...

Reviewed by Sera Taino