All Kidding Aside by Jean-Christophe Rehel
Reviewed by Naomi MacKinnon
Like in Rehel’s previous novel, Tatouine1, All Kidding Aside is written in first person with a distinctive voice that grips you right away. From the very first sentence, the reader is plunged into Louis’ head, causing some disorientation at first, but soon the rhythm sets in, and the short vignette-style chapters keep the story rolling at a quick pace; the joys, sorrows, and realities of Louis’ life take shape. Perhaps more sorrows than joys.
Louis is a queer man in his early thirties who dreams of a successful career in stand-up comedy and getting back together with his ex. In reality, he is a weary employee at a Tim Hortons in east Montreal with not much of a social life to speak of.
It gets worse.
Louis lives with a father who has terminal cancer and a younger brother who lives with schizophrenia. Sylvain spends most of his time—when feeling well enough—flirting with women on Tinder and occasionally inviting them to their “crap-hole” of an apartment. Guillaume (Gui) spends much of the time in his room playing loud rap music and watching ghost videos on YouTube. With his father’s worsening illness and his brother’s emotional needs, Louis doesn’t have a lot of time to himself, and when he finally takes a friend up on an offer to hang out, catastrophe strikes.
“Rehel can walk that fine line between tragedy and comedy that I so admire.”
All Kidding Aside is not the kind of book that hands its characters a hard luck situation that improves over the course of the book; instead, they start with very little and then things get even worse. But Louis holds on, he claws his way through it because he has no choice, and before you know it, he’s dug his way right into your heart until you’re furiously turning the pages hoping that everything will be okay. But this book will change your definition of what it means to be okay.
At the heart of this novel is Louis’ relationship with Guillaume; the interaction between the two brothers is brilliantly done, Louis often acting as more of a parent than a brother. Gui is endlessly getting on Louis’ nerves, but there’s not a thing Louis wouldn’t do for him.
“Louis, the juice has pulp in it.”
I wake with a start. Gui is standing next to my bed. My heart pounds in my chest. I’m confused and glance at the time: 5:37pm.
I accidentally dozed off in front of my computer, which is still on: Jim Gaffigan is making a funny face and I can hear laughter. I look at Gui, who holds a glass of orange juice.
“Huh?”
“Yeah, the juice has pulp in it.”
I sit up, wipe my eyes.
What the f*ck? Pulp? What do you want me to do about it?
I get up, stretch. Yawn like I haven’t slept in a thousand years.
“Okay, sorry, Gui. I got the wrong stuff. Next time, I’ll get the pulp-free kind.”
I pull the curtains open while I watch Gui out of the corner of my eye. He stands there like a statue.
A statue holding a glass of pulpy juice.
I crack myself up. I snicker as I pull on my socks. Guillaume asks why I’m laughing to myself.
“Oh, nothing.”
Gui keeps staring at me. I know he won’t drop this new obsession of his, that he’ll prattle on about pulp till I go buy another bottle of juice. A normal adult would let it go, but Guillaume is just a big kid, a two-hundred-and-sixty-pound kid who can’t look after himself. I open my closet, grab a sweater.
“Can you go to the grocery store today?”
I roll my eyes as I slip an arm through a sleeve.
“I went yesterday. I’m not going back again today, Gui.”
A short pause, then: “Juice with pulp is really gross.”
“You’re exaggerating. It’s not that bad… Pulp is good for you, so gulp that pulp!” I say it with a grin, but he doesn’t find me amusing.
“Louis, go buy the normal juice.”
“You can finish this bottle. I promise I’ll buy the pulp-free kind next time. Anyway, I’m heading out pretty soon. I don’t have time for this.”
I pull my sweater over my head, then leave my room, Gui following with his glass. Thirty-eight skull tattoos wanting pulp-free juice.”
It’s clear that Louis is exhausted and strained from feeling like the fate of the family rests on his shoulders (which it kind of does). But in the face of catastrophe, when he is feeling at his most helpless, Louis shines. It’s not an obvious kind of heroism; Louis is floundering, trying to figure out what the right thing to do is, but he is desperately trying to get it right and the reader is behind him all the way.
There’s nothing funny about Louis’ life, yet his recounting of it is often funny. Rehel can walk that fine line between tragedy and comedy that I so admire. It is not a rare thing to find heartbreak and laughter on the same page, or even in the same sentence.
This is not a happy story, but it is bursting with love. In the midst of all the mess is the warmth and heartache of human connection.
About the Author
Jean-Christophe Réhel is a prolific poet, novelist, and screenwriter. His first novel, Ce qu?on respire sur Tatouine, published in 2016, won the prestigious Prix littéraire des collégiens in 2019. It was translated into English by QC Fiction as Tatouine in 2020 and longlisted for Canada Reads. Shelagh Rogers praised the book as ?a joy to read!? Réhel?s TV series L?air d?aller won the Prix des étudiants at Canneséries in 2023. He lives in Montréal.
Neil Smith is a Montreal-based writer translator. His novel, Boo, published in 2015, won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. His 2007 short story collection, Bang Crunch, was selected as a best book of the year by The Washington Post and The Globe and Mail, won the McAuslan First Book Prize, and was a finalist for the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction. The Goddess of Fireflies, Smith?s translation of Geneviève Pettersen?s novel La déesse des mouches à feu, was nominated for the 2016 Governor General?s Award. His latest novel, Jones, published in 2022, was nominated for the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction.
About the Reviewer
Naomi MacKinnon lives in Truro, Nova Scotia with her family. She is the happy duck behind The Happy Duck Bookshop & Readery where she’s able to share her love of books with whoever walks through the door. Naomi can also be found talking about books online at Consumed by Ink.
Book Details
Publisher : QC Fiction
Publication date : Sept. 1 2025
Language : English
Print length : 303 pages
ISBN-10 : 1771863803
ISBN-13 : 978-1771863803
You can read Naomi’s review of Tatouine on her blog, Consumed by Ink: https://consumedbyink.ca/2020/11/12/qc-fiction-the-electric-baths-tatouine/