Reviews

Double Exposure by Bridget Birdsall

silviaacevedo's review

4.0

An intersexed teen (having both male and female sexual organs) leaves his bullying high school across the country to start fresh as a girl in a Wisconsin high school. Her lifelong interest in basketball helps her make friends and eventually keeps her sane when her past inevitably roars into the present.

This is not normally the sort of thing I’d read, and maybe that’s exactly why it’s good to change habits once in a while. It’s good to expand your world. Double Exposure‘s story was engaging, the characters sympathetic, and the conflict real for our times. I’d recommend it to anyone who might benefit seeing the grey between the lines.

competencefantasy's review

challenging emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

Engrossing and readable from an underrepresented POV. The examples of bullying were heartbreaking. 

saidahgilbert's review against another edition

4.0

This is a book about an intersexed teenager who prefers to be of the female sex though her parents brought her up as a boy. This is a somewhat uncomfortable topic for me because I know nothing about it. I am totally ignorant. Plus, I am also sheltered and privileged so I couldn’t relate to the situation at all. I have never been bullied nor have I ever seen bullying and I find myself unsympathetic to bullying victims when I read them in books for some reason. However, I liked the book well enough. I’m glad I bought it.

crystal_reading's review

There aren't many young adult novels out there that share the intersex experience. I found this to be a compelling book. Alyx has gone through some tough situations, but is trying to figure out who she is and stay true to herself.

Alyx believes her father wanted a boy and so raised her that way, but she has had issues with that. Now she is getting the chance to be herself.

alisonfaith426's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Outing, Fatphobia, Transphobia, Bullying, Hate crime, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Racism, Classism, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

babyleo's review

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Hate crime, and Bullying

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

plumeriade's review

3.0

i tried to find reviews of this book by intersex people but couldn't--if anyone knows of any please share! that said, Alyx feels authentic as a character, and Double Exposure presents a situation where her parents knew forcing a surgery on an infant was wrong, but that their decision to leave her genitalia ambiguous still had an impact on her, and they could not and did not raise her as gender neutral--they raised her as a boy. and when she's old enough, she realizes she does not want that. i think there's an extra feeling of betrayal because her parents were not doing this obliviously; they were not raising her as a boy because well, she looked like one and what else would they do? they knew they had to make a decision, and they did, and in her view, they chose wrong.

so i like Alyx a lot, but the rest of the book was just so-so for me. none of the other characters really feel fleshed out, and the ending was waaaay, way too sugarcoated.

Spoiler

Alyx forgives Pepper, the girl who bullied her and outed her, and they make up quickly after Pepper's dad takes the blame in a tearful scene for pushing Pepper too hard. oh my god REALLY??? i realize they have a game to get to, but the rest of the team was confident they could win without Pepper, and even if Alyx wanted her to play in the game they didn't have to sappily make up like everything's better.

also, small annoyance, but "genderfluid" and "intersex" are 100% not the same thing (someone could be both, sure, but Alyx makes it pretty clear she considers herself a girl and only a girl).

blazewrites's review

5.0

As one of the reviews on the cover says, this is the type of book that might save a teens life. This book was wonderful, Alyx had a good personality and was sure of herself. All the other characters were written well. Pepper was an excellent antagonist and I was able to hate her, not because she was a badly written character but because she so perfectly reminded me of all the bullies I have known in my own life. Read this book, you won't regret it.

alexagracezupko's review against another edition

4.0

At first I wasn’t sure about this book, but once I got into it, I couldn’t stop reading. It was fun to read a book about girl’s basketball, and I also learned a lot about being intersex from Alyx’s character. I wish that there was more development between Alyx and Peter because there dynamic was very interesting and I wanted to see how it could progress. I also wished that there was more talk about Alyx going to therapy or talking through some of her struggles because she seems to have PTSD and suicidal thoughts. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

amdame1's review against another edition

4.0

Would probably be 3.5 stars except I think it is so important to represent intersex teens in YA literature. Also good sports/basketball story-line. Important addition to middle and high school collections.