Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith

31 reviews

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Misogyny, Hate crime, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, and Transphobia

Moderate: Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Death, and Medical content

Minor: Child death, Alcoholism, Suicide, Physical abuse, Self harm, Murder, Excrement, Sexual content, Biphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Vomit

use of f slur

grace_koalateareads's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative tense 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

3.5

“We can’t change those people’s minds. We just love louder and harder than they can hate.”

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith was a difficult  yet important read. The story is split into Pony’s (a trans boy) and Georgia’s (a cis girl) point of view. Both are seniors at a Texas high school just outside of Dallas. For Pony it’s all about going “stealth” and just being a normal guy, for Georgia it’s about cheerleading and being the person people expect her to be. I loved both of them so much, they had great personalities and felt real and genuine. I loved the puns, the banter and the deep and meaningful conversations. 

“When the school treats trans students like they’re different, it gives the green light for the other kids to do the same, but kids are way meaner.”

The side characters were where my discomfort started, especially with Max, Pony’s “out and proud” best friend, who came across very “black and white” and wanting him to share things on social media that made him feel uncomfortable. I know the ending sort of cleared those things up, but it felt too rushed and too shiny (or gold, if you will) like it wasn’t real.  Being “out and proud” is great, it’s awesome, but not if it isn’t safe to do so. It also made me uncomfortable with the amount of trans and queer slurs, especially as they didn’t need to be written down to get the point across.

“Some days, I barely think about being trans. And other days, it’s an obstacle course.”

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the book, just not as much as I was expecting. A lot of really heavy topics were covered, such as transphobia, misgendering and forced outting - these weren’t the reason for my lower rating, but more how they were handled/written especially when a character was the one causing said topics. I was definitely hooked and finished the book in just over a day. It’s one that I think a lot of people, who don’t understand what being trans means, should read, however, overall it just made me feel drained.

“I raise my glass in toast and say (but not too loudly, “Here’s to being trans in Texas.””

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, Emotional abuse, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Bullying

Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body shaming, Medical content, Vomit, Drug use, and Grief

wrinnola's review

emotional hopeful 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Body shaming, and Hate crime

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Bullying, Deadnaming, Lesbophobia, Outing, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Vomit, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

ian_loves_dragons's review

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

The main cis-trans romance in this book could be described as “why I’m t4t,” except we’re supposed to root for them to be together 

-sincerely, a frustrated trans person 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Death, Deadnaming, and Suicide

maxmaxmax's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Deadnaming, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Child abuse, Medical content, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, and Suicidal thoughts

luxxltyd's review against another edition

emotional inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Hate crime, and Outing

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Deadnaming

stailysh1's review

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing tense 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

4.0

I think this book is great for what it is.  It reads like it was the author's high school fantasy, but in the case of this book, I believe that's excusable because this book could really help a lot of people who need it.  It shows the mentality behind being both in and out of the closet and focuses on visibility.  The ending kind of pushes being out and visible, which I find challenging because that is not safe or desired by everyone who is part of the LGBT+ community, especially transgender individuals.  The main characters are generally lovable and funny, and work through their flaws and grow together.  All in all, it's an enjoyable and (mostly) light read that should be taken for what it is: a YA LGBT+ novel with a happy ending.  
**Please read the content warnings before diving into this book.**

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Outing, Transphobia, Homophobia, and Hate crime

Moderate: Biphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, and Infidelity

Minor: Alcohol

elskabee's review against another edition

funny hopeful 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

3.5

 It's hard to say much about this book because it's painfully generic. Like almost every teen romcom trope feels like it's here except one of the main characters is trans. Buuuut being really stereotypical doesn't make it bad, just not a standout. I laughed at a decent amount of the jokes and the characters are complex and I was rooting for their relationship. 

I'd say please check for trigger warnings especially to do with transphobia and suicidal ideation. This book has a happy ending and for most of it a fairly light tone but it's not exactly cosy. It is about queer youth in Texas after all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Violence, Outing, and Hate crime

Moderate: Dysphoria, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Alcohol and Drug use

katieduffy151's review

emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A great book to highlight the significant daily struggles of trans youth and what is unfortunately an all too common experience. The book is quite joyful and light-hearted at the beginning but a warning is needed because takes a drastic turn toward the end with incredibly violent scenes but I understand why it was included.

I would maybe suggest that this is a really insightful book for cisgender people to read in order to more fully understand the struggles of trans people (particularly teenagers), but a warning that it might be very triggering for those who are trans. I would like to think there are better books out there to read that highlight trans joy and love.

I still maintain Pony deserves better than Georgia. I also felt uncomfortable that his friend wouldn't respect his decision to go stealth given the potential safety risks, but I understand the issue of visibility is a complex one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Bullying, Deadnaming, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, and Transphobia

Minor: Toxic friendship and Toxic relationship

queerloras's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Hate crime, Body shaming, Outing, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Dysphoria, Biphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia