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sglance9's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Transphobia, Outing, Deadnaming, and Dysphoria
Minor: Suicide
kotareadsbooks's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
When high school lesbian thespian Dean is cast as Romeo in the fall play, Dean is sure the director either made a mistake or knows something he couldn’t possibly about Dean. And that’s that Dean is pretty sure he’s a trans guy. But there’s no way - Dean is out as a lesbian, with a lesbian girlfriend, Zoe, who loves “her” just the way “she” is. As Dean gets into the character, though, he starts to confront his feelings about being a guy and all the stresses of senior year. College, first love, coming out, and gender dysphoria all seem to snowball because of Romeo and Juliet. Good job, Mr. H.
If you want a lot of angst and emotion in a trans book, this is the one for you. Dean is Going Through It. Poor dude. But there’s a lot of eye opening experiences that he gets as a trans kid and it’s really great to see. I do think Zoe gets a bad rep in this - it’s over the course of a single semester, and not everyone can wrap their heads around so many changes that really did come out of the blue - but ultimately I think the book wraps up nicely and I think that’s great. Everything happens a bit fast for me personally, but that’s okay. Overall it’s a good coming of age and gender book. Very emotionally heavy. There’s also quite a bit of lesbo and trans phobia in it so be warned if that’s triggering for you.
If you want a lot of angst and emotion in a trans book, this is the one for you. Dean is Going Through It. Poor dude. But there’s a lot of eye opening experiences that he gets as a trans kid and it’s really great to see. I do think Zoe gets a bad rep in this - it’s over the course of a single semester, and not everyone can wrap their heads around so many changes that really did come out of the blue - but ultimately I think the book wraps up nicely and I think that’s great. Everything happens a bit fast for me personally, but that’s okay. Overall it’s a good coming of age and gender book. Very emotionally heavy. There’s also quite a bit of lesbo and trans phobia in it so be warned if that’s triggering for you.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Hate crime, and Lesbophobia
gogurt's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Transphobia, and Hate crime
caoidh's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Transphobia
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
This was a lovely debut!!!!
Although I wanted to throw hands for my precious baby Dean at times, I felt that Ray wrote a tender and moving coming out story for Dean.
What I loved most was that even though some characters got it wrong or fumbled pronouns at times, Ray wrote compassion and determination into almost all of them. They all wanted to do better and to try for Dean.
I especially appreciated Dean’s theatre teacher, saying “I’m not experienced with this but how can I be here for you? How can I help?” Often, when we (humans) are presented with something new, we get anxious, fearful and defensive…. and unfortunately, we will often respond accordingly. However, for Dean’s teacher to not only acknowledge his own shortcomings in not being well-versed in the trans experience, he had the capacity to pause and ask what he could do for his student. He didn’t center himself or his own insecurities; he directly asked a student who felt safe enough to share with him how he could support them. I know this seems so small, but it was a powerful moment for me as an educator.
So grateful for this book and I highly recommend it!
This was a lovely debut!!!!
Although I wanted to throw hands for my precious baby Dean at times, I felt that Ray wrote a tender and moving coming out story for Dean.
What I loved most was that even though some characters got it wrong or fumbled pronouns at times, Ray wrote compassion and determination into almost all of them. They all wanted to do better and to try for Dean.
I especially appreciated Dean’s theatre teacher, saying “I’m not experienced with this but how can I be here for you? How can I help?” Often, when we (humans) are presented with something new, we get anxious, fearful and defensive…. and unfortunately, we will often respond accordingly. However, for Dean’s teacher to not only acknowledge his own shortcomings in not being well-versed in the trans experience, he had the capacity to pause and ask what he could do for his student. He didn’t center himself or his own insecurities; he directly asked a student who felt safe enough to share with him how he could support them. I know this seems so small, but it was a powerful moment for me as an educator.
So grateful for this book and I highly recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Deadnaming, Outing, Bullying, Violence, and Transphobia
capriqueen's review against another edition
emotional
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? It's complicated
3.0
This is a solid story, fairly basic in terms of what it teaches the audience about trans issues (probably would’ve enjoyed more when I was younger)
I think it covered a lot of good and relevant issues, but the coverage felt a little… shallow isn’t the right word but I wish it had really delved in. Overall it just felt a little flat; no soaring highs but also no terrible lows
I think it covered a lot of good and relevant issues, but the coverage felt a little… shallow isn’t the right word but I wish it had really delved in. Overall it just felt a little flat; no soaring highs but also no terrible lows
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia and Bullying
Moderate: Deadnaming and Outing
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
sabrinalefebvre's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Very little pop culture references, very good
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia and Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming
lesbianelvira's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
very sweet trans theatre kid story, felt very reminiscent of like, the show trinkets, but more trans. & it’s nice that there are many queer storylines in television to refer back to, and even more possibilities in literature. though i do agree with reviews that with as many issues that are parsed through in the book via dialogue with other characters or dean’s stream of consciousness, the author could’ve and should’ve found a way to more explicitly present zoe’s experience sensitively. we were given a window into the perspectives of other primary characters like ronnie’s and jade’s, which was done to fully form the characters And be realistic depictions for people of their identities. yet despite zoe’s conflicting feelings being a *hugely* essential part of the plot, her grappling with her love for dean and her sexuality didn't feel like it was handled in a way that felt like zoe was being written well as her own character (instead of just the romantic lead opposite our MC that disappoints him), let alone as a lesbian. frankly, the lesbian and trans communities (which aren’t two separate things) have gone through this exact scenario too many times (plus this author said they had sensitivity betas, so what gives) for us to have to write about the experience poorly
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime
Moderate: Dysphoria and Transphobia
Minor: Outing, Homophobia, Suicide, and Deadnaming
yelloweyedbeta's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.75
to sum it up by the author’s words:
“Queer and trans people everywhere: You are an endless source of wisdom, motivation, inspiration, imagination, innovation, beau-ty, joy, and resilience for me. Were here, and were not going any-where.”
“Queer and trans people everywhere: You are an endless source of wisdom, motivation, inspiration, imagination, innovation, beau-ty, joy, and resilience for me. Were here, and were not going any-where.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Bullying, and Violence
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, and Deadnaming