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cymbal_curtain's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
For a trans book it handles transness kinda poorly. The plot however is amazing, except one plotpoint which revolved around transness in a way that seems weird. The book was really good at making me feel things, like the negative parts felt really bad/scary/negative, and the positive parts felt really good/funny. A lot of the language used annoyed me and the transfem character is made to be clueless about very basic stuff, which idk. While she is supposed to have known she was trans for ages, and knows various things about getting trans healthcare, she doesn't know how to talk about transness at all. And the transmasc character is more knowledgeable, making sense as he's been out even before the book, but he still misgenders the trans woman?? As does the outside of the book. This is a book about a trans girl (closeted) and a trans boy (out) and the outside is like "two boys". We the reader get to know the transfem is trans pretty much immediately too, it's not some surprise the author is protecting.
Also some non-trans stuff: Some stuff was typical (popular/mainstream) teen stuff, and I didn't really like that, but it is an accurate depiction of teens I guess.
Also a note that this book includes crushing and romance in parts. It is delved into, but doesn't take over the entire plot.
The book I would say is a critically minded one. Criticizing how certain people act (power imbalances). It's also a hopeful one (things get better). But it is a very heavy book. It shows some dark sides of being trans. This book does not talk about gender dysphoria basically at all, which is pretty surprising for a trans book, but I guess that's what you get with a cis author?
The book has two main characters and alternates between these, with the main indication being a font change. But their outlook is so intensely different that it's easy to tell the difference even if you don't notice that.
Would I recommend it? Idk. Depends what you're looking for. it's well written in general terms, not so well written in terms of transness (imo). And it is trans, transness is obvious all the time. if you just want any transness it does deliver that.
Also some non-trans stuff: Some stuff was typical (popular/mainstream) teen stuff, and I didn't really like that, but it is an accurate depiction of teens I guess.
Also a note that this book includes crushing and romance in parts. It is delved into, but doesn't take over the entire plot.
The book I would say is a critically minded one. Criticizing how certain people act (power imbalances). It's also a hopeful one (things get better). But it is a very heavy book. It shows some dark sides of being trans. This book does not talk about gender dysphoria basically at all, which is pretty surprising for a trans book, but I guess that's what you get with a cis author?
The book has two main characters and alternates between these, with the main indication being a font change. But their outlook is so intensely different that it's easy to tell the difference even if you don't notice that.
Would I recommend it? Idk. Depends what you're looking for. it's well written in general terms, not so well written in terms of transness (imo). And it is trans, transness is obvious all the time. if you just want any transness it does deliver that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Outing, Transphobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Child abuse
jasmineslibraryy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
my biggest issue with this book is that they kept referring to kate as her deadname in her chapter titles etc, and that leo kept calling her that after she told him. furthermore, i noticed that in the official book description online (and i’m assuming most copies) that kate is referred to with her deadname which is 😬 (on my copy she’s only referred as kate). the second half is much more enjoyable than the first. i love kate i think she’s great she really carried the book imo, leo’s cool, kate’s friends are cool, but that’s kinda it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Outing, Alcohol, Bullying, Deadnaming, and Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Addiction
Minor: Sexual content and Child abuse
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