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halieghkai's review against another edition
4.0
“I’m Etta Sinclair. And I’m a ballerina.”
This book revolves around a seventeen year old black girl, trying to sing & dance through the pressures of stigmatized beauty standards within the Ballet Industry and Bi-phobia. Hannah Moskowitz touches on some serious topics that may be a bit triggering to some like, eating disorders, bullying and bi-phobia in ways that makes you giggle but feel a bit guilty afterwards but not for long because the protagonist—Etta “Kick-ass” Sinclair—makes you admire her endurance in times of desperation and how she puts others before herself which can often be a good thing until she realizes it can erase greater opportunities for her dreams. I admire the pace in the story of how quickly the writer painted portriats of characters within portraits which was enough to make you root for them the same way Etta did. Though I kind of wished the writer had a Trigger Warning for those of us who might feel a bit of discomfort while reading the topics as mentioned before—Otherwise, I relate to Etta in various ways that I wasn't expecting. I even caught myself yelling at the book because I wanted her to stand up for herself in certain situations (the over exaggerated bullying scenes) but, she always put others before herself—what a bittersweet girl.
Not Otherwise Specified will take you back to your awkward High School frustrations in 26 chapters (double whammy if you're bisexual) and you'd be left with a smile and exhausted.
This book revolves around a seventeen year old black girl, trying to sing & dance through the pressures of stigmatized beauty standards within the Ballet Industry and Bi-phobia. Hannah Moskowitz touches on some serious topics that may be a bit triggering to some like, eating disorders, bullying and bi-phobia in ways that makes you giggle but feel a bit guilty afterwards but not for long because the protagonist—Etta “Kick-ass” Sinclair—makes you admire her endurance in times of desperation and how she puts others before herself which can often be a good thing until she realizes it can erase greater opportunities for her dreams. I admire the pace in the story of how quickly the writer painted portriats of characters within portraits which was enough to make you root for them the same way Etta did. Though I kind of wished the writer had a Trigger Warning for those of us who might feel a bit of discomfort while reading the topics as mentioned before—Otherwise, I relate to Etta in various ways that I wasn't expecting. I even caught myself yelling at the book because I wanted her to stand up for herself in certain situations (the over exaggerated bullying scenes) but, she always put others before herself—what a bittersweet girl.
Not Otherwise Specified will take you back to your awkward High School frustrations in 26 chapters (double whammy if you're bisexual) and you'd be left with a smile and exhausted.
dunder_mifflin's review against another edition
5.0
Okay, but, this book was amazing. It has so many great characters and it has diversity and it's just brilliant. Amazing. I have fallen in love with this book so hard. Everyone read it right now.
stuckinafictionaluniverse's review against another edition
5.0
The fact that this is on my ''Six stars, I kid you not'' shelf should say something. I don't know if this book hit me so hard because I've never before found a fictional character who I can point at and say ''That's totally me!''. It's crazy how much I related to Etta. But I think everyone will find something to relate to in Etta's story. This book really influenced me. It's about the boxes and categories we like to place people in, and feeling like you're somewhere out of that spectrum.
Etta is not gay enough, not straight enough to find a group of friends at her school, not white or skinny enough to do ballet, not sick enough to be anorexic. It's a beautiful story with excellent friendships, real characters and so much emotion. Authors, take note. THIS is how you write a diverse book.
Full review to come.
Etta is not gay enough, not straight enough to find a group of friends at her school, not white or skinny enough to do ballet, not sick enough to be anorexic. It's a beautiful story with excellent friendships, real characters and so much emotion. Authors, take note. THIS is how you write a diverse book.
Full review to come.
marieintheraw's review against another edition
4.0
I was a little worried going into this because this author co-wrote a book that I didn't like last year, but I was pleasantly surprised. Etta and her journey felt realistic and I really enjoyed this book's depiction of eating disorders.
bookswithwinn's review against another edition
4.0
fuckkkk okay so this shouldn’t be good. this should be soooo bad the description sounds so cheesy and that cover?? like literally my friends were reading shitty book descriptions aloud and picked it up off the shelf and read the description and we all laughed because yeah it sounds fucking cheesy but its actually really really good and the narration is so interesting and ughhh the second half the plot is soo enticing like i literally did not want to put it down also i was on the verge of tears the whole second half and cried like an idiot after i finished it. looses points for vilifying lesbians
jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
See full review at
http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2015/10/teens-and-bisexuality-dahlia-adlers.html
http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2015/10/teens-and-bisexuality-dahlia-adlers.html
gaymoonreader's review against another edition
4.75
OH, MY LORD, I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH.
I am finding it difficult to discuss how much this book means to me, but I am going to attempt to be at least a little bit coherent. This book had so much representation, and I was absolutely living for it. It didn't even feel like that representation was just there for show, just for the sake of representation. I felt that all of it was there for a reason with development. I have just never felt so understood than when I read this book!
Our main character Etta is a black, overweight, bisexual teen who is also going through recovery for her eating disorder. There is so much depth to her character, and I just related to her so much. As many of you know, I am bisexual so to read the things she was thinking and feeling and the bi-erasure she felt, it just made me so happy to have a character who feels the same things I do. If you're dating a man, you're still bisexual. If you're dating a woman, you're still a bisexual. You don't have to pick a side. That's kind of the point of being bisexual. You go both ways! I also loved the representation of gay men as well. There was a really cute romance blossoming in this book between two guys, which I adored.
There was also representation for eating disorders. Our main character has an eating disorder that doesn't really have representation in literature, from my experience anyway. She has what is known as EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). She is not skinny enough to be anorexic, and she just doesn't seem to fit in anywhere so that is the diagnosis for her. Along with that is her problems with her weight. A lot of the personal struggles she goes through in this book have to do with her race and her weight coupled with the fact that she wants to be a ballerina. She was, but she quit because she didn't look like the typical ballerina. I thought the representation was really well done because it was fleshed out, and it wasn't something that was really swept under the rug.
One thing that does piss me off in this book is how the lesbians are portrayed in this book. I am not saying that this does not happen. I am not saying that lesbians are welcoming to bisexual women because generally, they aren't. They can be real assholes, not going to lie, but this takes that to a whole other level. They bully Etta, use her bisexuality as a means to get other students to bully her, too. My girlfriend and my best friend are both lesbians, and they don't feel this way and would never behave this way, so it's sad to think this is a real thing that happens to other bisexual girls in the world.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I would say this is the best way to understand what its like to be a bisexual girl and the kind of things we have to go through. I loved the simplistic writing and the characters and storyline and representation and just everything about it. I highly recommend you check this one out because it is just such an amazing book, and it has definitely jumped to the top of my favorites list for this year.
I am finding it difficult to discuss how much this book means to me, but I am going to attempt to be at least a little bit coherent. This book had so much representation, and I was absolutely living for it. It didn't even feel like that representation was just there for show, just for the sake of representation. I felt that all of it was there for a reason with development. I have just never felt so understood than when I read this book!
Our main character Etta is a black, overweight, bisexual teen who is also going through recovery for her eating disorder. There is so much depth to her character, and I just related to her so much. As many of you know, I am bisexual so to read the things she was thinking and feeling and the bi-erasure she felt, it just made me so happy to have a character who feels the same things I do. If you're dating a man, you're still bisexual. If you're dating a woman, you're still a bisexual. You don't have to pick a side. That's kind of the point of being bisexual. You go both ways! I also loved the representation of gay men as well. There was a really cute romance blossoming in this book between two guys, which I adored.
There was also representation for eating disorders. Our main character has an eating disorder that doesn't really have representation in literature, from my experience anyway. She has what is known as EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). She is not skinny enough to be anorexic, and she just doesn't seem to fit in anywhere so that is the diagnosis for her. Along with that is her problems with her weight. A lot of the personal struggles she goes through in this book have to do with her race and her weight coupled with the fact that she wants to be a ballerina. She was, but she quit because she didn't look like the typical ballerina. I thought the representation was really well done because it was fleshed out, and it wasn't something that was really swept under the rug.
One thing that does piss me off in this book is how the lesbians are portrayed in this book. I am not saying that this does not happen. I am not saying that lesbians are welcoming to bisexual women because generally, they aren't. They can be real assholes, not going to lie, but this takes that to a whole other level. They bully Etta, use her bisexuality as a means to get other students to bully her, too. My girlfriend and my best friend are both lesbians, and they don't feel this way and would never behave this way, so it's sad to think this is a real thing that happens to other bisexual girls in the world.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I would say this is the best way to understand what its like to be a bisexual girl and the kind of things we have to go through. I loved the simplistic writing and the characters and storyline and representation and just everything about it. I highly recommend you check this one out because it is just such an amazing book, and it has definitely jumped to the top of my favorites list for this year.
dynamicdylan's review against another edition
5.0
This is Hannah's best book yet. You can tell she spent years writing it. It is a beautiful, scary, and wonderful portrayal of eating disorders and bullying. You absolutely HAVE to read it. Etta "Kiss-ass" Sinclair is beautiful and inspiring.
aruejohns's review against another edition
4.0
It's funny how much I enjoyed this book, because I'd read all the stories before. A high school girl gets kicked out of her friend group for some insignificant thing (in this case she's bisexual, which none of her friends seem to think is a thing) and discovers an opportunity to win a scholarship to a prestigious musical theater school in NYC, a school that she's always dreamed of attending (or has she always dreamed of ballet?). In its basic form, this is the book that every high school girl reads and can see themselves in because of course everyone wants to get a break, go to a big city, follow their passions. I had also read the story of the girl struggling through anorexia, the story of the ballerina who was too short or too black or both, the story of the fight over acceptance from a family. The thing is, I had never read them all together. One of the problems with books written intending to be "diverse" is that they tend to give you a character who is gay, or black, or sick, or who sticks out in some other way. They never write a character whose diversity is multidimensional, whose issues go beyond a single issue. The beauty of Not Otherwise Specified is not that it tells an entirely new story that no one has ever heard before, it's that it reminds us that people exist who have more than one struggle, who face multiple issues every day, and who society likes to tell us aren't possible. This is the book that every high school girl should be reading, because this is the book that reminds us what it means to be human: that our character traits aren't mutually exclusive.