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greenlivingaudioworm's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Transphobia, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, Hate crime, Homophobia, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Grief, Mental illness, and Outing
tinyelfarcanist's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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
A sweet story of the relationship between a synesthetic genderfluid kid (Ash) and a boy (Daniel) who has trouble hiding his feelings and following the gender norm. They're both super cute and I love how they work together in the mission of saving Chewbarka.
Ash is super cool and a role model. I love them.
Daniel is so sweet and devoid of toxic masculinity. We need to teach more of that to our boys.
This is a great book for children and teens as it sheds light on important issues such as:
Trans visibility.
"People don't have a birth gender. We're assigned a birth sex."
I can't ask if he knows what Sam really is. It's the wrongest thing I can ask. It's fully disrespectful. Not to mention "what Sam really is" is a flawed concept to start with, which I totally freaking know, (...)
Sexism.
(...) even though he joked around her once that she'd friendzoned him and she gave him an earful about why that's a sexist concept that needs to die—(...)
"Tears don't mean you're weak," Iris says. "They mean you care real hard about what's right and good. That takes balls."
"Guts," I say. "It takes guts. My mom has no balls and she's a world champ at caring about right and good."
Toxic masculinity.
I don't know why Mitchell's brain works that way, where he transfers all his mad about one thing onto something else. But we'll never talk about it because Mitch isn't a "feelings" dude. I don't think he's aware he has feelings. He just acts on them while pretending he's made of logic.
Discrimination in the LGBT+ community.
It's not like there's a guarantee that just because it's called Rainbow Alliance, they'll be cool. One of the worst bullies at my old school was a super-girly lesbian who insisted that trans women aren't real women and that trans guys are just girls cross-dressing to smash the patriarchy from the inside. Which, no.
Non-binary gender experience.
It's a spectrum, not a binary. You can be both ends at the same time, or neither end. Hang out anywhere you want on the whole glorious continuum. You don't have to look like a guy to be a guy, or a girl to be a girl.
As a gender non-conforming person ever since I can remember and someone who could cry from being glared at, there are some things I had trouble with.
Daniel isn't just a kid who "cares a lot". He's going through a lot in his life and he's clearly depressed (something I learned after going to therapy). I believe men are allowed to show feelings too and it's great that Daniel meets people who understand him and support him , but he and his brother need to see a professional and learn how to deal with how they feel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, and Transphobia
Minor: Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Mental illness, and Outing
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