Reviews with content warning for Biphobia - Between Perfect and Real

Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve

7 reviews

dododenise's review against another edition

emotional

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

2.0

I didn’t like how some things were handled and most of the characters were just very meh.
Seeing Dean find and discover himself was pretty neat. But I couldn’t care about anything else in the story.

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cameronreads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.5

Sometimes you just read a book and you're pretty sure the author must have opened your brain up and poured it onto the pages. That was Between Perfect and Real for me. I have no idea how to review this book that isn't 'dude same!!!' So necessary and truthful. There were loads of really important conversations and messages, and I loved how it explored the variety of different responses to coming out, as well as the importance of talking to people, specifically people who understand. I cried so many times reading this book. My new aspiration is to play Dean in a movie adaptation (adaptation gods if you're listening please hit me up). This is my new number one book to recommend people if they want to learn about the trans experience.

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ashleereads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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lennie_reads's review

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

"You know what's not fair? Mom telling me I should dress differently my whole life. Me and my friends worrying about some jerk attacking us when we're just out living our lives. Me having to be a girl because no one ever told me there were other options."

This book follows Dean, who is already questioning their gender, after they are cast as Romeo in the school play.

I've read other books with trans characters but this was my first experience of meeting a character as they're still discovering their identity.
I loved being able to go along with Dean for the journey of discovery, self acceptance & coming out. I also found it very informative & helpful you are told about different types of binders, hormones & surgery options through Dean's research.

In the first chapter Dean describes themselves as white which I found refreshing. Often it is *assumed* that a character is white unless stated otherwise. And although the main character is white & it's a book about being trans, there are also multiple occasions where the author points out how different people's experience can be if they're black or POC. Dean's 2 best friends are Ronnie, a gay black guy, and Allison, a bisexual Japanese girl, they also have a skater friend called Jared who is white & straight. The fact that the world treats POC, especially Black people, differently in the US is also mentioned in reference to the Police.

At the beginning of the book Dean is in a lesbian relationship with Zoe & they have plans to go to college in NYC together.

This book deals with some heavy & sensitive issues regarding gender & sexuality within Zoe & Dean's relationship.
It also shows what it's like to not have supportive parents & what that can mean for trans people, especially trans people of colour.
We also witness how Dean is the victim of some intense bullying at school once he come out as trans.

The friendships in this book are amazing & I feel that a big focus for this book is found family & how important friendships are in the queer community.

It's a heavy book but so wonderful and I 100% recommend.

CW: Outing, deadnaming, transphobia, homophobia, violence, racism

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betweentheshelves's review

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emotional informative 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? Yes

4.5

Thanks to Abrams for sending an ARC of this book to the library where I work! This book was on my radar and I was happy to get a chance to read it early. And I'm happy to say that I'm not disappointed! A strong coming of age story about a trans guy finding his voice.

Many of the young adult books I've read recently focus on trans teens who have already gone through their coming out. What I liked about this is it takes us through Dean's process of coming out, the highs and the lows. He joins a support group, and they show him that there is no single way to be trans. This group, this found family is one of the best things about this book. Dean gets the support he needs through them, and his friends from school.

However, Dean's journey isn't without struggles. There are some instances of bullying and his mother isn't super accepting. Stoeve does an excellent job showing the complex feelings surrounding Dean's relationship with his mother. The analogies they use throughout the book are helpful for all kinds of readers, but I especially think trans teens will connect to it.

There were also a lot of great discussions about privilege within the queer community, since Dean's best friend is Black. There's also a lot of emphasis on the fact that trans teens need spaces to figure out their identity, to be able to have the support of others that know what they're going through. All around, there are just so many great messages in this book.

Since I'm not trans myself, I'd recommend checking out some own voices reviews on Goodreads!

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thedambookshelf's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense 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? Yes

3.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you to Netgalley and Amulet Books for the E-ARC of Between Perfect and Real in exchange for an honest review.

Between Perfect and Real is a YA debut about Dean Foster who is a trans boy finding his identity. Dean is a senior in high school who has adopted theater into his bones since he was a kid. Though Dean knows he is trans everyone at school, his girlfriend Zoe, and his theater director think he's a lesbian. Dean struggles with the idea of keeping who he truly is bottled down until college and makes the decision that he doesn't want to hide who he is until then.

This book was a solid three stars and I honestly struggled slightly with determining that rating because I did love this story but it dwindled out for me towards the end.

Dean is a very relatable character and as someone who is genderfluid, I could truly feel the depth of his character and struggle to find his identity and voice. I loved that Dean was written to be very complex and emotional. He felt very fleshed out to me, but his friend group? Not so much.

I loved Zoe, I found her character to be as real as Dean's. Did I enjoy her outing her boyfriend? No. Even so, she was sincere about her mistakes, and given her circumstances, I felt she was very naive, and given the chance to be educated she would have been a better character.

Ronnie was a sweetheart, Allison really irritated me because she just wasn't present much and when she was, I felt as if she was so passive. The support group Dean meets was probably my favorite, though Jade was kind of annoying with all of the negative advice or outcomes Dean could face. Yes, it's realistic that not everything is sunshine and rainbows but personally I didn't feel it was the best solution every time Dean came looking for advice. So that leaves me with how I felt about their blossoming relationship - not a fan.

Blake... that was so confusing. I feel like there was a lot of potential there plot-wise and it just fell off.

I felt the same way with the theater themes as well. We know that theater is a big part of Dean's life but we don't spend a lot of time in the theater or Romeo's role as Dean. I just expected a lot more from that.

Aside from that Dean's journey is fresh and realistic. That's why it's a solid three stars, I just didn't enjoy the ending all that much.

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valereads's review

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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

There’s no such thing a perfect – but this book comes pretty darn close.

This novel follows 17 year old trans boy, Dean. When he is cast as the male lead in the school play he begins exploring his gender further and realises he needs to come out and transition. It explores how his relationships with friends, family, his girlfriend and himself change and stay the same as he comes out and begins to socially transition.

This book was beautifully written. At times it felt more like poetry than a prose novel but it was still written in an accessible way. I really enjoyed the experience of reading it.

As a genderqueer trans man myself, I found the descriptions of dysphoria and the experience of being trans really spoke to me. Stoeve managed to capture these feelings in prose in a way that felt genuine and was beautifully written.

If I had any criticisms it’s that some parts were predictable but then again I am a 23 year old man and this is a YA novel so it’s not something that should bother most people. There was also a minor plot point which I thought would come back up but didn’t go anywhere – perhaps I read too much into it.

Overall I absolutely adore this book. A beautifully written novel of a trans guy figuring out who he is and what he needs set to the backdrop of my favourite play, Romeo and Juliet – it’s like it was written for me! I definitely recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest, trans or cis, it will not disappoint.

Content warnings: bullying, homophobia, transphobia, misgendering, outing, dysphoria, references to suicide

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