'The Subtweet' Celebrates Selfhood while Challenging Influencer Culture
Image courtesy of ECW Press
There’s a lot of love in this novel, but—refreshingly—not a single romance. Vivek Shraya’s The Subtweet does a number of things: it celebrates the self and examines both the art of BIPOC women in white spaces and the corruptive influence of social media, all while remaining plot centric.
Not resting since her hit book I’m Afraid of Men (2018), graphic novel Death Threat (2019), and her recently debuted play How to Fail as a Popstar, Shraya explores the intimate anxieties of starting a friendship as an adult and dealing with professional jealousy in the small network of indie musicians of colour in Toronto.
Neela’s music achieves only niche success until the internet artist known as RUK-MINI goes viral with a Youtube cover of Neela’s work. When RUK-MINI—real name Rukmini—courts Neela into a fast and intense friendship which intertwines their careers, RUK-MINI’s ravenous social media following eagerly begs for more from the artists. The internet loves a good fight of course, and emotions bubble over after a critical subtweet comes between the two new friends.
From the moment our two musicians cross paths, it seems like we’re about to watch the experienced Neela transform earnest and eager Rukmini with the hard realism of navigating the music industry as a musician of colour, making the novel’s beginning difficult to get into. However the story takes a more refreshing path, allowing the confident, wise character to have a dominant growth arc instead of leaving it to her more excitable counterpart. Shraya fights against the trope that immaturity needs to be ironed out to succeed and celebrates Rukmini’s enthusiasm with slow and deliberate movements.
At the centre of the novel is an interesting conversation on the corruptive potential of social media and its infamous ability to make and break careers. Rukmini achieves success as a novice musician while Neela and others struggle to grow their audience despite being far more experienced. Rukmini’s fun-loving attitude has captured the attention of her followers, but she also seems keenly aware that a savvy hashtag is a key to good business. Do we fault her for this? ”Does popular art have as much integrity as subversive art?” Instead of dissecting the politics of the Top 40, Shraya digs deeper into Youtube and Instagram culture, and career moves that are influenced by them.
Shraya mentions that Rukmini is a trans woman half way through the novel. Where her identity as a woman of colour is of significance in this particular story, having her trans identity be a mere detail is entirely the point. In doing this, we have become acquainted with Rukmini in a way that does not make her trans identity her central characteristic or a source of conflict. Regardless of one’s education in intersectionality, all readers know her foremost as an excitable musician and loyal friend who wears her heart on her sleeve. It’s a move that’s sure to confuse some, while dazzling others.
Witness your irrational side partially validated as the characters ridiculously over-scrutinize text messages and mutate their meaning in an all too familiar way. The Subtweet relishes online drama and confronts the power of an Instagram comment read aloud in the wrong tone. We see confusion and miscommunication from both sides of the conflict in a tumbling tragedy that’s akin to a comedy of errors. Fortunately, we’re then lifted up as genuine friendships fight for a chance to set the record straight.
If you catch yourself wishing to actually hear the music behind the lyrics floating around the novel, Shraya has produced an original soundtrack featuring the songs from the book. A free download link comes along with the purchase of every copy of The Subtweet.
Lastly, thank you to ECW Press for providing us with an advance reading copy.
The Subtweet is available for purchase at ECW Press’ website and in bookstores across Canada on April 7, 2020. Save the date!
Price: $32.95 CAD
ISBN: 9781770415256
Pages: 248
Genre: Fiction
Pub date: April 7, 2020
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Book Review
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March 10,
2020
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3 MINUTE
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Jo Ramsay
is a Canadian-born, London-based editor and travel copywriter. She’s worked in publishing for four years and continues to pursue opportunities in Canada and abroad. She’s worked at two publishing houses (Arsenal Pulp Press and Greystone Books) and was the blog and opinions editor at The Ubyssey newspaper. She’s lived in Canada, the UK, and Japan.