Book Review: Love That Journey for Me by Emily Garside

Format: ebook
Published: June 24th, 2021
Age: Adult
Genre: Nonfiction – Essays – Pop Culture

Rating: 5/5 Stars

For many, Schitt’s Creek is an incredibly important TV show. It’s the kind of media where fans have often come across it ‘when they need it’, or turn back to it in difficult times. It means so much to so many, and Garside demonstrates that wonderfully in this love letter to Schitt’s Creek, showing how the show fully embraces queerness through the characters and settings. For me, I picked up this book exactly when I needed it, and it gave a lot of comfort during what was otherwise a very difficult period.

The book is a celebration of the show, and dives into the various aspects that make Schitt’s Creek (the town) what it is, for both queer and non-queer characters, as well as why so many people are drawn to Schitt’s Creek (the series) for comfort. It demonstrates how the very setting of the town is one built for acceptance, and how that acceptance and love filters in through the characters, whether they end up staying in Schitt’s Creek or venturing further.

It’s a great reminder, too, of the sheer beauty of Schitt’s Creek, a show that definitely plays with audience expectations (in the best sort of way) and bounces off previous sitcoms to create something entirely new. Garside shows how carefully thought out the decisions were behind so much of the show, from costume choices to plots to the way the Rose family grow, as characters and as a family, allowing other characters to find acceptance and a safe space within them, as much as the town has given it to the Roses.

I could gush over this book as much as I could gush over Schitt’s Creek; it’s a really a wonderful little tome, by an author who clearly knows what she’s talking about, and written in a way as warm and comforting as the show itself.