Forever Young: The Story of Troye Sivan
by Alana Wulff
From teen celebrity guru Alana Wulff (TV Hits, Girlfriend Magazine), Troye Sivan’s Forever Young biography brings to you a colourful and vibrant picture book best suited as a Christmas present for your 12 year old niece.
Much to the lamenting of older Troye Sivan fans if you were looking for something in depth or heart-wrenching to better connect you with the international Perthonality you’ll have to wait for his personally written autobiography in the years to come. In the mean-time Wulff has invested meticulous effort in calculating the twitter and Instagram followers of Sivan and anyone that shares the same blood type as the young star.
The broad and sweeping gloss-over of Sivan’s talent agent mother, his coming out, connecting to fans through pop quizzes and Q&A’s on Youtube and, you know, all those films he was involved in before releasing Blue Neighbourhood have culminated in this very light reading that would be a starter piece for primary school book week.
As if the lack of substance in this book didn’t do Sivan the intellectual and emotional justice he properly deserves then the contrived use of “LOL’d”, “Yas qween” and other condescending soundbites at the end of every paragraph certainly nails the coffin shut for bearable reading.
It’s one thing to have facts and figures thrust at you but to then be drizzled in TXT talk and emoticons to ensure you feel a certain way about each sentence is cause enough to even consider giving this to a tween hoping to develop independent thought or dignity.
The book has a saving grace moment when Wulff hands the steering wheel of content control over to the people she interviews, such as Tkay Maidza and Benjamin Law who don’t mollycoddle the audience and treat them as if they have the capacity to form intelligent opinions of their own and provide insight into the world of Troye Sivan.
Overall, the book is very feel-good and gets Sivan’s message and values across clearly but could seriously do without all the superficial adult-talking-to-teenager catchphrases that your high school chaplain would have used when they thought you were into rap music.
Kyle Kash
