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A review by joanna1905
If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
3.0
CW: Homophobia, Transphobia, R*pe and A pretty brutal public outing
So this book was just as awesome as I had expected! I'm going to preface this review by saying I'm cisgender so I can't speak for the accuracy of this depiction of a trans-girl. However, going by what I know it seemed pretty decent and considering this is an own voices novel I assume its at least somewhat accurate.
Everyone needs to read more books like this, Cis people who need to develop a better understanding of the trans community in order to be better allies, and trans people who deserve to see themselves represented in literature.
I want to start by talking about Amanda's parents, I think this book did an awesome job of showing how parents can hurt their LGBTQ+ kids without being super outwardly homophobic or transphobic. Amanda's mother seemed pretty awesome and supported her daughter through her transition because a happy and healthy daughter is ten times better than a dead son. Obviously, understanding how to help and handle (I use that term lightly because trans people are amazing and don't need to be 'handled') having a trans kid is probably an emotional experience, but Amanda's mother did a perfect job of showing while it might take some time to adapt love should prevail.
Amanda's dad was another story, what an ass. Any parent who doesn't visit their suicidal kid in the hospital is trash and while he did seem to grow and begin to accept Amanda the way he treated her in those early days was so wrong. Her father did make some good points about safety since there is a massive issue when it comes to the safety of trans people, women especially; but he went about it in the wrong way. While I certainly can't say I liked or agreed with Amanda's father it was probably a good representation of how parents can change once they begin trying to understand.
Now let's talk about Amanda's friends. In the beginning, I did like Bree and I felt so sorry for her because of everything she had been through. However, I had a feeling she would be the one to out Amanda and for that she is trash. There is no excuse ever to out someone, it's dangerous and disgusting.
I love Chloe and Layla who after the brutal outing went and looked for Amanda, rescued her from that piece of crap Parker and told her how much they loved and supported her no matter what. Girls supporting girls is so important and these two were fab. Anna was alright but using religion as an excuse to be lowkey trans/homophobic - i.e. telling them that its a sin - is not okay. I don't fully blame her because she's a byproduct of her crackpot parents and I think she would have learned to be more accepting as time went on.
I'm not sure how I feel about Grant, I didn't love him to begin with but he seemed like a good guy. I had hoped he would handle finding out about Amanda a bit better - which I think he probably would have if it didn't go down the way it did. He handled it alright and I think they probably would have wound up staying together.
Parker was a piece of crap and I hated him.
Anna's parents were also massive pieces of crap - the 'I can't help that I'm homphobic! I was born that way' bumper sticker was disgusting and they were also sexist which is always lovely. Ugh.
Overall this book is pretty awesome!, It would have been good if we got to see a bit more development in Amanda's relationships with her friends and with Grant as it felt like we didn't really get to know them very well! But overall a great read and super important for cis and trans folk alike!
So this book was just as awesome as I had expected! I'm going to preface this review by saying I'm cisgender so I can't speak for the accuracy of this depiction of a trans-girl. However, going by what I know it seemed pretty decent and considering this is an own voices novel I assume its at least somewhat accurate.
Everyone needs to read more books like this, Cis people who need to develop a better understanding of the trans community in order to be better allies, and trans people who deserve to see themselves represented in literature.
I want to start by talking about Amanda's parents, I think this book did an awesome job of showing how parents can hurt their LGBTQ+ kids without being super outwardly homophobic or transphobic. Amanda's mother seemed pretty awesome and supported her daughter through her transition because a happy and healthy daughter is ten times better than a dead son. Obviously, understanding how to help and handle (I use that term lightly because trans people are amazing and don't need to be 'handled') having a trans kid is probably an emotional experience, but Amanda's mother did a perfect job of showing while it might take some time to adapt love should prevail.
Amanda's dad was another story, what an ass. Any parent who doesn't visit their suicidal kid in the hospital is trash and while he did seem to grow and begin to accept Amanda the way he treated her in those early days was so wrong. Her father did make some good points about safety since there is a massive issue when it comes to the safety of trans people, women especially; but he went about it in the wrong way. While I certainly can't say I liked or agreed with Amanda's father it was probably a good representation of how parents can change once they begin trying to understand.
Now let's talk about Amanda's friends. In the beginning, I did like Bree and I felt so sorry for her because of everything she had been through. However, I had a feeling she would be the one to out Amanda and for that she is trash. There is no excuse ever to out someone, it's dangerous and disgusting.
I love Chloe and Layla who after the brutal outing went and looked for Amanda, rescued her from that piece of crap Parker and told her how much they loved and supported her no matter what. Girls supporting girls is so important and these two were fab. Anna was alright but using religion as an excuse to be lowkey trans/homophobic - i.e. telling them that its a sin - is not okay. I don't fully blame her because she's a byproduct of her crackpot parents and I think she would have learned to be more accepting as time went on.
I'm not sure how I feel about Grant, I didn't love him to begin with but he seemed like a good guy. I had hoped he would handle finding out about Amanda a bit better - which I think he probably would have if it didn't go down the way it did. He handled it alright and I think they probably would have wound up staying together.
Parker was a piece of crap and I hated him.
Anna's parents were also massive pieces of crap - the 'I can't help that I'm homphobic! I was born that way' bumper sticker was disgusting and they were also sexist which is always lovely. Ugh.
Overall this book is pretty awesome!, It would have been good if we got to see a bit more development in Amanda's relationships with her friends and with Grant as it felt like we didn't really get to know them very well! But overall a great read and super important for cis and trans folk alike!