Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Margaret and the Mystery of the Missing Body

The last section made it a 5 star read for me. More books need this. A refusal of genre, going against a sensical linear narrative, not having a binary of character and author!
Definitely need to read trigger warnings before if have experience with eating disorders and self harm, although I would say this depiction of it is nuanced, complex, and insightful. The start with the mystery adventures was extremely fun and I was laughing out loud with how funny the protagonist was. I was drawn to the other characters. And always aware of ~society ~ eg the insurance that dictated whether the people could stay. The change of personal pronouns from third person to second to first…!

Really well written, extremely clever, and takes you on a journey you wouldn’t expect. It’s surreal and experimental and weird and risk taking. Wonderful representation of a queer coming of age( but also not quite because it can’t be defined by a genre), that actually most of those things don’t cover. It feels very authentic to the genderqueer / transmasc experience. Would want to highlight many parts of this book, if I were to read again in non audiobook form.

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sophie42's review

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challenging emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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wall0w's review

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adventurous dark hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

Girl (?), interuppted.

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mikeebeth's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny 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

4.0

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mccall17's review

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emotional funny reflective fast-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? Yes

5.0

Sent me into an absolute spiral of reflecting on my own adolescence and "girlhood" and the deep pains of adolescence for those who don't fit perfectly into it. Couldn't ever predict where it was going next and each new section felt exciting, terrifying, and impossible to tear away from, like a trance. Had to force myself to not read it in one sitting!

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_autumn_'s review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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lbressel's review

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emotional informative 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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demo's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.5

This book is like if Chuck Palahniuk's Damned and Jeanette Winterson's Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit had a trans baby. Palpable resonances with many different texts, some which Milks lists as direct influences in the back matter (e.g. Goosebumps books, Nancy Drew, Matilda, the documentary Thin, Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted, and Judith Butler's work), and others unmentioned (like Ghost World and Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak).

"If adolescence is a passageway, a twilight zone or liminal space, it's also the time when, like thick blobs of gummy dough, we get poured into shape and rise. It's a plastic time, a time of self-discovery and growth, and in some cases tremendous creativity. Teenagehood is that stage when you get to become who you are, or who you can be. Ah, there's the rub: How can you be who you are when—Margaret doesn't know how to finish this question." (p. 99)

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