Quick take
Remember how fun high school was? Yeah, we don’t either. For everyone who wasn’t prom queen or homecoming king.
Good to know
LGBTQ+ themes
Sad
Teens
Underdog
Synopsis
Bunny Lampert is the princess of North Shore?—beautiful, tall, blond, with a rich real-estate-developer father and a swimming pool in her backyard. Michael??—with a ponytail down his back and a septum piercing?—lives with his aunt in the cramped stucco cottage next door. When Bunny catches Michael smoking in her yard, he discovers that her life is not as perfect as it seems.
At six foot three, Bunny towers over their classmates. Even as she dreams of standing out and competing in the Olympics, she is desperate to fit in, to seem normal, and to get a boyfriend, all while hiding her father's escalating alcoholism. Michael has secrets of his own. At home and at school Michael pretends to be straight, but at night he tries to understand himself by meeting men online for anonymous encounters that both thrill and scare him.
When Michael falls in love for the first time, a vicious strain of gossip circulates and a terrible, brutal act becomes the defining feature of both his and Bunny's futures??—and of their friendship. With storytelling as intoxicating as it is intelligent, Rufi Thorpe has created a tragic and unflinching portrait of identity, a fascinating examination of our struggles to exist in our bodies, and an excruciatingly beautiful story of two humans aching for connection.
Free sample
Why I love it
Siobhan Jones
BOTM Editorial Team
This is my favorite book of the year so far. One of the dangers of reading so many new books each month is that I overuse these words a lot. But I can’t help it. In January I was telling everyone about The Sun Down Motel. Then April came along and I couldn’t stop talking about Valentine. So consider this my endorsement, with an asterisk: The Knockout Queen is my favorite book of 2020 (so far!).
Bunny Lampert is tall, blonde, and has a heart of gold. She’s a talented volleyball player and her father is rich. All this should add up to popularity, right? Wrong. For some reason, she and her best friend Michael—the boy next door who narrates the story—exist on the fringes of high school society. But no matter. As Bunny grapples with her father’s worsening (and occasionally terrifying) alcoholism and Michael begins dating older men he meets online, they take solace in each other. That is, until a sudden act of violence rips their lives, and their friendship, apart.
This is one of those books that kind of defies explanation, which is why I want to take a stab at describing what it is not. It is not a “light” read. It will not make you pine for your teenage years. The world that Bunny and Michael live in is not a particularly fair or beautiful one. What The Knockout Queen is: a moving story about two remarkably resilient humans, from a writer at the height of her powers. I hope you love it too.
Member ratings (9,358)
Charla K.
Sandusky, OH
A little slow but intriguing to say the least. I have 2 gay cousins and it is always nice to read things about their point of view and how others perceive them. No one truly understands things unlessoutreadinothersshoes
Nicole M.
Laramie, WY
I’m going to be honest... this book wasn’t my first choice. While starting it, I wasn’t sure I would enjoy it. But holy cow! I read the entire second half of the book in one day! Couldn’t put it down!
Monica C.
Wichita , KS
Wow! I didn’t think I’d like the book as much as I actually did! Unexpected, dark story line. The relationship between Michael & Bunny is so real. It’s sad, but joyful at the same time. Well crafted!
Leslie B.
Southbury, CT
One of the best books about teens and their issues I have ever read—and I’ve read a lot!! This is one I will be recommending as a fantastic novel as well as a handbook for teen parents! A must read!
Kate D.
New York, NY
This book kept surprising me. As the story unfolded, I often wasn’t sure where we were heading, but in the best way. Bunny and Michael’s friendship reminded me of one I never had, so real I was there.