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dealingwithdragons's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Lesbophobia, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Outing, Violence, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcoholism
ryan_rajp's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Deadnaming, Outing, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is your typical boy meets girl out of his league but she's tired of the social roles she plays anyway type stories, but make one of them trans. The characters are fun and their exploration of themselves is typical but rewarding. I was a little surprised that one character never has a learning moment about how trans people don't owe you a sex reveal, though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Bullying, Transphobia, Homophobia, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Outing, Violence, Medical content, Abandonment, Hate crime, Infidelity, Body shaming, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Grief and Dysphoria
elliizzzabeth's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was sweet and fun but a little strange in places. 2/3rds of the book is a sort of will they won't they between our protagonists Georgia and Pony which is sweet. Then the end takes a bit of a turn.
Georgia was kind of annoying. I warmed up to her but she is a compulsive liar. But not in a believable way, she instead tells these crazy stories like 'a giraffe broke my car' or 'my dog had kittens'. It came off in the most annoying 'lol I'm so random!!' way it kinda made me hate her at the start. She also is very transphobic ar first which may be hard to read for some people but I thought it was a nice depiction of cluelessness from a straight girl.
Also Max was almost unbearable. He shames Pony for being stealth and then drops him when he won't do something that could out him. It was so insufferable, I wish he had learnt from his actions in a better way than just reacting to the ending.
Speaking of the ending:
I wish that it didn't have to come down to an outing and a hate crime. It just feels very cliche and plays into tropes of queer people having miserable lives. Also Pony standing on stage an outing himself felt more awkward than heroic. It would have been better if we had known about the girls' relationship and knew the stakes rather than it being a surprise.
If you want a similar story that is more positive I would recommend the unpopular vote by Jasper Sanchez. I read that one before this and it was a bit of a let down compared to that one
Georgia was kind of annoying. I warmed up to her but she is a compulsive liar. But not in a believable way, she instead tells these crazy stories like 'a giraffe broke my car' or 'my dog had kittens'. It came off in the most annoying 'lol I'm so random!!' way it kinda made me hate her at the start. She also is very transphobic ar first which may be hard to read for some people but I thought it was a nice depiction of cluelessness from a straight girl.
Also Max was almost unbearable. He shames Pony for being stealth and then drops him when he won't do something that could out him. It was so insufferable, I wish he had learnt from his actions in a better way than just reacting to the ending.
Speaking of the ending:
If you want a similar story that is more positive I would recommend the unpopular vote by Jasper Sanchez. I read that one before this and it was a bit of a let down compared to that one
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Outing, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Deadnaming, and Dysphoria
cheye13's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I actually quite liked this story a lot, right up until the last few chapters. I understand the purpose and the message, but it seemed out of step with the rest of the story to me. It surprised me just how much I loved both Georgia and Pony as characters, and I enjoyed seeing their relationship blossom.
There were two thorns in my side through the whole book, though: 1. The whole friendzone™ vibe. Pony rejecting friendship with Georgia bc she wouldn't date him is still bullshit. It could definitely have been written/handled worse, but I didn't like reading it. 2. The debate around Pony not being out. The current mainstream conversations around "coming out" and "passing" have taken complex concepts and boiled them down to black and white that just doesn't work. Having another trans teen borderline harrass Pony for not being out felt wrong. Likely something that happens and should be talked about, but didn't sit well while reading this story.
There were two thorns in my side through the whole book, though: 1. The whole friendzone™ vibe. Pony rejecting friendship with Georgia bc she wouldn't date him is still bullshit. It could definitely have been written/handled worse, but I didn't like reading it. 2. The debate around Pony not being out. The current mainstream conversations around "coming out" and "passing" have taken complex concepts and boiled them down to black and white that just doesn't work. Having another trans teen borderline harrass Pony for not being out felt wrong. Likely something that happens and should be talked about, but didn't sit well while reading this story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Outing, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual harassment and Bullying
rayne_1906's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Audiobook - 6 hours 12 minutes - I have a lot of issues with this book. I think there were bad messages and representation present in the book. On the surface, the plot is fine. It's very cliched, and predictable and convenient, but not bad. Just not particularly good. I found the characters very shallow and boring. I couldn't really tell you anything about the main characters. Pony doesn't really seem to have many personality traits other than 'trans' and 'obsessed with girl he just met'. While being trans can be a massive part of someone's life, it isn't the only part, and I think this just made the character feel two-dimensional and hard to connect with. He just never felt like a real person. Georgia felt a little 'not like other girls'. She wasn't a huge offender, not compared to some main characters in other books, but it still felt like she was 'special' for having a personality outside of cheerleading. She was also very shallow at times, and this didn't make her very likeable at all.
However, there are parts of this book that just really don't sit right with me. For one, the message being conveyed seems to be 'if you aren't openly trans, you are not a good person'. While the opposite is touched upon, the overarching theme is that the main character is a better person once he starts becoming an 'activist'. Activism is obviously important, but I think its wrong to assume a trans person must actively be 'helping' the community to have worth. Trans people should be allowed to exist just as they want to. Being openly trans is obviously what some people want, but the expectation that this applies to all trans people just isn't accurate.
Overall, this book, on surface-level, wasn't objectively bad, but I think it contained messages and themes that weren't particularly good.
However, there are parts of this book that just really don't sit right with me. For one, the message being conveyed seems to be 'if you aren't openly trans, you are not a good person'. While the opposite is touched upon, the overarching theme is that the main character is a better person once he starts becoming an 'activist'. Activism is obviously important, but I think its wrong to assume a trans person must actively be 'helping' the community to have worth. Trans people should be allowed to exist just as they want to. Being openly trans is obviously what some people want, but the expectation that this applies to all trans people just isn't accurate.
Overall, this book, on surface-level, wasn't objectively bad, but I think it contained messages and themes that weren't particularly good.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, and Hate crime
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Minor: Death, Homophobia, and Misogyny
caitlindee's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
TW: transphobia, homophobia, lesbophobia, deadnaming, misgendering (purposeful), hate crime/graphic physical assault, suicidal thoughts (graphic), bullying, slurs, self-harm, public outing/forced outing, pressure to come out from a close friend.
Okay, please please PLEASE be mindful of these trigger warnings before going into the book. I didn't look into them before starting (this is my own fault 100%) and I was incredibly caught off guard by what happens in about the last third of the book. This is not changing my rating of the book in any way, just please be mindful and take care of yourselves. I couldn't stop reading this book; it was emotional, funny, relatable, heartbreaking, hopeful, devastating, and inspiring. I thought the pressure Pony was receiving to come out by a close friend was unfair, but it definitely feels realistic to how some people are pressured to come out before they're ready, especially when those people are in a dangerous situation that others don't believe is a dangerous situation (if that makes sense?). I appreciated the author having this character change their tune at the end of the book and the conversation they had with Pony. Should it have taken a severe physical assault for this conversation to happen? No, but unfortunately, that's how things play out a lot of the time. Overall, this was a really great read and I am definitely going to be reading Tobly McSmith's next book!
Okay, please please PLEASE be mindful of these trigger warnings before going into the book. I didn't look into them before starting (this is my own fault 100%) and I was incredibly caught off guard by what happens in about the last third of the book. This is not changing my rating of the book in any way, just please be mindful and take care of yourselves. I couldn't stop reading this book; it was emotional, funny, relatable, heartbreaking, hopeful, devastating, and inspiring. I thought the pressure Pony was receiving to come out by a close friend was unfair, but it definitely feels realistic to how some people are pressured to come out before they're ready, especially when those people are in a dangerous situation that others don't believe is a dangerous situation (if that makes sense?). I appreciated the author having this character change their tune at the end of the book and the conversation they had with Pony. Should it have taken a severe physical assault for this conversation to happen? No, but unfortunately, that's how things play out a lot of the time. Overall, this was a really great read and I am definitely going to be reading Tobly McSmith's next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, and Bullying
Minor: Self harm
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