Reviews

Continental Divide by Alex Myers

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melodychef's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

5.0

shawneesas's review

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4.0

Not necessarily my favorite writing, but I did like it enough to finish it in one sitting. It felt a little like reading my emo-teenage-self's diary, but the main character is only 19 so maybe that makes sense? Overall I enjoyed it, and I'm seriously considering dropping everything to become a cowboy now

bonriki's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Content Warnings

eslsilver's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Content Warnings

seawarrior's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was a wonderful experience to read, even during the most terrifying passages. As an East Coast boy who grew up dreaming what it would be like to leave to the West, the back cover description immediately drew me in, and the story only got more engrossing from there. Even the passages describing things that should have been sort of dull made me want to read without stopping.

I loved following Ron's journey from wanting to prove himself as a 'real' man to learning to accept himself as a transgender one. That sort of grieving denial isn't always approached with wisdom in our community, and definitely not by the world at large. Once Ron realized that he does have the option to come out to people and be treated with respect and kindness, his surprise mirrored my own. When you spend your life being rejected for being transgender, and experiencing or witnessing violence towards those who are out, it really does get difficult to remember that all people aren't out to harm you. And equally importantly, it can be hard to remember that when people do wish to harm you, you don't have to withstand that violence alone.

The most rewarding part of this book for me was reading about Ron finding a place to belong and feel like himself

in the Forest Service

. A little over a year ago I quit working at a place where I always felt a sense of terror simmering under my surface, knowing that the guys I worked with were the tough, masculine type who'd call me slurs or possibly do something even worse if I didn't earn their respect. After leaving that job and entering more accepting and less aggressive environment, it's hard to even make sense of why I felt like it was necessary to earn their type of twisted respect at all. It seemed like safety at the time, but as I'm growing up and growing older and growing less angry, I'm learning that what matters is to surround yourself with people who respect who you are when you're not putting on a courageous front, and you love you, and who will stand up for you. Through those types of people, we learn to know and respect ourselves. Essentially, I feel like Ron discovered the same thing, and it was reliving to witness. The only qualm I really had with this story was the significance age gap between him and his love interest. It wasn't really predatory, but I still found it unnecessary and off-putting.

I would definitely recommend this story to other readers. I didn't find it difficult to read, and it was easy to get lost in the pages describing Ron's life in the West. The story does get very upsetting in some parts though, so I'd also recommend going through the list of content warnings first.

Content Warnings

yeahdeadslow's review against another edition

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3.0

I borrowed an ARC of this from a local LGBT youth center's library where I was helping my friend (thanks, Hannah!). Since I really liked Revolutionary, I wanted to enjoy this more. Ron was an interesting and likable main character, but unfortunately the central romance marred the story for me. (Cassie is 29, Ron is 19 almost 20... I mean, I'm only in my mid-twenties and I wouldn't date someone that young. Maturity gaps are palpable at those ages.) That personal gripe aside, the western setting was fun, apart from the transphobia which was painful to read. What's sad is I didn't realize until near the end that this book was set in the early 90s since people would absolutely still behave that way to a trans person here in 2019.

likehephaestion's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It is rare that a reader comes up on a book that seems like it was made for YOU to read. But this book, a book about a trans man spending the summer in wyoming, sure did feel like I was meant to read it. I can't express how much I loved this book, being a trans man who was born and raised in wyoming I always felt horribly alone. But I'm not, and it's amazing how much this book showed that to me. Not only is this the first book i've read that is about a trans man (or even features a trans man) it is also a book written by a trans man. If own voices are important to you think is a good one for you! I can not wait to read it again.

Content Warnings

lonelytourist's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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