Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Gender Queer: A Memoir

Some people are born in the mountains, while others are born by the sea. Some people are happy to live in the place they were born, while others must make a journey to reach the climate in which they can flourish and grow.

Between the ocean and the mountains is a wild forest. That is where I want to make my home.

4.5⭐ but rounding up to 5⭐

The stream of consciousness narrative style was a little disjointed at times, especially in the graphic novel format. Maybe distinguishing "chapters" of sorts would have made some of those jumps a little less confusing.

But overall, this was a wonderful memoir.

TW: visuals of blood and minor body horror

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smeyer's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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abookofwildflowers's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

I read this for class but found it poignant and relatable to the point of being eerily familiar. Maia Kobabe has a real talent for communicating experiences in an almost viscerally honest and comprehensible way. A great, quick read.

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jhbandcats's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

I am SO glad I read this book. As an older heterosexual woman, I feel very ignorant about gender issues, and this memoir taught me so much about how a nonbinary person - at least this specific nonbinary person - would feel.

There are all the questions starting in childhood when friends, schoolmates, other kids’ parents, and teachers start asking about gender. How do you answer if you don’t know? How do you explain if you don’t have the words? What feels right, what feels most natural, and how does that fit into more conventional thinking of gender? *Does* it fit into conventional thinking of gender?

The section on trying to find pronouns that felt most appropriate helped me a lot. I often accidentally misgender nonbinary people and I’m horrified whenever it happens - I feel so ashamed. It really made me feel better when the author described eir difficulties getting used to new words. It made me think that maybe there’s hope for me, that I just have to keep practicing till I no longer need to think about it. Until then I need to try harder, to make sure I know how someone wants to be addressed.

I can see why conservatives would want this book banned but, to me, I think it should be required reading. If there were more understanding and compassion, the world would be a safer, more livable place.

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amandalorianxo's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

A much needed voice in queer representation. The controversy surrounding this mostly stems from those who most likely are not as literate as they want you to think. The “graphic” image of two consenting adults engaging in oral sex was only for two panels and even then Maia expresses to sir partner they weren’t comfortable and it was met with patience & understanding. The only reason I would encourage parents to read this before handing it to their children is because Maia expresses the pain from going to the gyno as a knife impaling inside eir genitals. While I understand as a cis female that having a Pap smear isn’t comfortable, I would talk to my kids about gynos and the importance of visits.

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cozylifewithabby's review against another edition

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3.0

I read this book because it tops the most banned list. I am against banning books, and I don't think this book should be banned. I think that it could be really helpful to teens, young adults, or adults struggling with their identity or people in those persons' lives who want to understand them. There are many triggers in this book though so be aware of those if you are checking it out. I also think it is important to not that this is only one person's journey and people's experiences can be very different.

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displacedcactus's review

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emotional informative reflective fast-paced

Gender Queer is a very personal memoir of gender and sexuality from a non-binary AFAB author. I found it to be a very brisk read, with easy-to-read lettering and cleanly rendered illustrations, with the occasional really beautiful full-page panels to explore particularly poetic concepts.

I feel like this would be an excellent read for anyone trying to understand non-binary and gender queer identities, whether as they question their own gender or just to empathize with others around them. The book also touches on what it's like to be on the ace/aro spectrum.

This book does deal with some "mature" concepts, such as masturbation, menstruation, and gynecological exams. There's some very brief non-sexual nudity. I feel like it would be appropriate for teens who are old enough that they're starting to have questions and ideas about gender, sexuality, and self-pleasure, but the body horror surrounding menstruation and pap smears could be very disturbing for sensitive young readers. When in doubt, read it before handing it over to a teen, and be prepared to answer some questions.

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librarianmage's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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