Review | Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton

Posted January 22, 2015 by Asheley in review, Uncategorized / 4 Comments

Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton
Series: Boys Don’t Knit #1
Published by Feiwel & Friends
Publish Date: March 24, 2015
Source: Book – Publisher
Find it here:  Goodreads / Amazon / B&N




Knitting is a man’s game.

After an incident regarding a crossing guard and a bottle of Martini & Rossi (and his bonehead friends), 17-year-old worrier Ben Fletcher must develop his sense of social alignment, take up a hobby, and do some community service to avoid any further probation.

He takes a knitting class (it was that or his father’s mechanic class) under the impression that it’s taught by the hot teacher all the boys like. Turns out, it’s not. Perfect.

Regardless, he sticks with it and comes to find that he’s a natural knitter, maybe even great. It even helps ease his anxiety and worrying. The only challenge now is to keep it hidden from his friends, his crush, and his soccer-obsessed father. What a tangled web Ben has weaved . . . or knitted.  (Goodreads) 
Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton

My Thoughts:  The cover for this book is SO CHARMING, isn’t it?

It took me almost no time at all to get sucked into the hilarious mind of 17-year-old Ben Fletcher as he tells this story through journal entries spanning eight months. After botching an attempt to steal some liquor, Ben finds himself in probation…with a couple of requirements. He has to keep a journal detailing his days (which he already does, no big deal) and he has to take an extracurricular-type class from the local community college. Ben is allowed to choose from four classes being offered; he ends up reluctantly choosing knitting because the choices aren’t really that great, in his opinion. He’s also required to do some community service for the chronically-unhappy Mrs. Frensham (she is part of the reason he’s in probation anyway, mean old lady). Ben isn’t thrilled about this part. 

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Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton is a really funny book. I laughed out loud so many times while I was reading. While I’m sure much of this has to do with the author’s witty writing, I feel like plenty of the fun comes from the fact that reading this book is basically reading the journal of an awkward teenage boy. Ben is a funny character anyway, but when you add a relatively normal teenager with an extremely quirky family and some off-the-wall friends, punishment for a pitifully-performed crime, and the fact that Ben wants to keep his knitting a secret because it’s just not a very “manly” thing to do — this is quite the set-up for shenanigans. 

Over the span of the book, Ben makes a great transition. He goes from being the soft-spoken pushover to someone solid in what he feels and the decisions he makes, someone who is unafraid to speak up. The Ben at the beginning of the book is mortified to be taking knitting, hiding it from everyone, but the Ben at the end of the book embraces his hobby and his talent for knitting. I loved reading about Ben going to class and learning a few things, then practicing, then realizing he was pretty decent at knitting, then realizing that he loved it — to the point that he wanted to be knitting in his spare time and knitted to de-stress and relax. To be honest, I am not a knitter and know almost nothing about it, but Ben’s enthusiasm for it while he was learning compensated for me not knowing some of what he was talking about. 

Boys Don’t Knit has a fun secondary cast – Ben’s mother is a magician and his soccer-obsessed father is a little rough around the edges. Ben’s friends are the type of people that would probably make me roll my eyes in real life (because of their behavior), but they made me laugh in the book. (One of his friends is writing an erotic novel that he excitedly calls Fifty Shades of Graham.) Ben has a crush on a girl – this romance is sweet and this plot-line never overtakes the main plot, which I love because it demonstrates how important the knitting is to Ben at this point in his life. And I love that this book will appeal to both male and female readers, just like it makes the point that knitting can appeal to both male and female. 

I had the best time reading Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton. I recommend this book to readers that enjoy laughing while reading. I would also recommend this book to readers that enjoy young adult contemporary stories with male protagonists and readers that enjoy English settings. 

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Boys Don’t Knit will appeal to fans of:

YA Contemporary
Romance: No triangle. There is a crush but it is not the main plot-line. 
Setting: England

Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton
will be available for purchase on March 24, 2015.

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Doesn’t this book sound fun? IT IS. 


Is this one on your to-read list? 





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Asheley

About Asheley

Asheley is a Southern girl. She loves Carolina blue skies, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, and NC craft beer. She loves all things history but prefers books over everything.

You can find her somewhere in North Carolina, daydreaming about the ocean.

Find Asheley on Litsy @intothehallofbooks!

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4 responses to “Review | Boys Don’t Knit by T.S. Easton

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