This book is by an acquaintance of mine name Raziel Reid. It is Canadian and an award winner. Written in the first person. It has a few bullying passages and can be pretty blunt but it is very “real”. In fact, mild spoiler, it is a tragedy based on a real life incident. The main character, Jude, deals with his oppression by depreciatingly fantasizing that he is a star in a heavy movie drama.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_Everything_Feels_Like_the_Movies
Here is a review from the guardian.
It’s a book that will shock you. Make no mistake about that. The book is incredibly open about the characters and what they get up to ‘behind the scenes’, if you’ll excuse my attempt at humour by using a pun there. This is not a sugarcoated story, it’s raw and it’s gritty, but it’s down to earth and that’s something I think we need more of in YA.
https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/mar/05/when-everything-feels-like-the-movies-raziel-reid-review
Added to my TBR! Thanks for the recc, keep them coming 🙂