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gale_laura's review against another edition
5.0
Very empowering stories with lots of relatable experiences. It makes being queer feel like a blessing and torture, but in the end we will survive and that feels amazing to be acknowledged by so many
jadejade's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
One thing I wondered going into this was, how diverse are the voices assembled in this compilation? After all, it claims to assemble "voices from across the spectrum of LGBTIQA+ identity." Well, based on the information in their own stories (and some very basic internet searches of some of the more well-known contributors), here's what I could work out:
Contributor queer identities
We get to hear from people who expressly identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, trans, nonbinary, intersex and queer (noting it's possible I may have missed a voice under the Asexual umbrella when I was flipping back through the book). Some contributors have multiple identities, and some have chosen not to label themselves (whether in this book or in general). Many contributors also discuss queer and straight people who have been in their lives.
Part of Australia Contributor associates with
There was strong representation of the eastern States, with specific mentions (however brief) of Queensland (including Gold Coast and Brisbane), NSW (including Wollongong and Sydney), South Australia (including Adelaide), Victoria (including Melbourne), Perth, Tasmania, Canberra, and rural areas/small towns generally. I'd say Melbourne is overly represented in this compilation! However, a lot of contributors have moved around Australia, whether they were born here or not. Some contributors also do not indicate where in Australia they grew up.
Contributor background
Contributors have indicated that they are part of or connected to the following groups: African, Canadian, Caucasian, Chinese, Filipino, First Nations Australians, Greek, people who are HIV+, Hongkonger, Iban, Indian, Jewish, Macau, Malaysian, mixed-heritage, people with a disability, Tamil, Vietnamese. Many contributors do not indicate their specific background, and many discuss people in their lives who have a different background to theirs.
Contributor age
There are multiple decades between the youngest contributors and the oldest contributors: a couple of contributors were born in the 1940s, there was at least one contributor born in the 1990s, and there seems to be at least one contributor born in every decade in between (there may be older and younger contributors in this compilation but not every contributor shares their birth year).
There are of course many more voices and experiences out there but overall I was delighted that this compilation is able to give the reader a taste of the diversity in the queer community.
Contributor queer identities
We get to hear from people who expressly identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, trans, nonbinary, intersex and queer (noting it's possible I may have missed a voice under the Asexual umbrella when I was flipping back through the book). Some contributors have multiple identities, and some have chosen not to label themselves (whether in this book or in general). Many contributors also discuss queer and straight people who have been in their lives.
Part of Australia Contributor associates with
There was strong representation of the eastern States, with specific mentions (however brief) of Queensland (including Gold Coast and Brisbane), NSW (including Wollongong and Sydney), South Australia (including Adelaide), Victoria (including Melbourne), Perth, Tasmania, Canberra, and rural areas/small towns generally. I'd say Melbourne is overly represented in this compilation! However, a lot of contributors have moved around Australia, whether they were born here or not. Some contributors also do not indicate where in Australia they grew up.
Contributor background
Contributors have indicated that they are part of or connected to the following groups: African, Canadian, Caucasian, Chinese, Filipino, First Nations Australians, Greek, people who are HIV+, Hongkonger, Iban, Indian, Jewish, Macau, Malaysian, mixed-heritage, people with a disability, Tamil, Vietnamese. Many contributors do not indicate their specific background, and many discuss people in their lives who have a different background to theirs.
Contributor age
There are multiple decades between the youngest contributors and the oldest contributors: a couple of contributors were born in the 1940s, there was at least one contributor born in the 1990s, and there seems to be at least one contributor born in every decade in between (there may be older and younger contributors in this compilation but not every contributor shares their birth year).
There are of course many more voices and experiences out there but overall I was delighted that this compilation is able to give the reader a taste of the diversity in the queer community.
wynndann's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed small little stories from different queer identities but the stories are short they so really cant go deep.
I acknowledge the importance of this book to young queer readers.
thomas_croitoru's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
elishaleshi's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I liked a lot of the stories
njames92's review against another edition
5.0
Some may be more literary than others, but it was truly wonderful reading all the stories in this collection.
libby_metz's review against another edition
This is the second ‘Growing up ____ in Australia’ collection that I’ve read (both on audiobook). Can’t wait to read the rest of them if the first two I read were this good!
miss__manga__'s review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
"You can't choose to opt-out. If you don't tell the story, others will fill in the gaps for you." St Louis
'Rob' made me cry and I couldn't come back to this for months since I was such an emotional wreck. This was both gorgeous, comforting and incredibly heartbreaking.
"I think I was born free from anything and then stories accumulated on me and some of them turned out to be incorrect." St Louis
I think this works better as a physical book where you can put it down after each story and come back to the next when you're ready. As an 11 hour audio with some repeat narrators when your on a tight library loan, it was a little much.
I wished the stories were linked a bit better thematically so the themes naturally followed through. Some stories I wanted a lot more from since they were so good, others not so much.
'Rob' made me cry and I couldn't come back to this for months since I was such an emotional wreck. This was both gorgeous, comforting and incredibly heartbreaking.
"I think I was born free from anything and then stories accumulated on me and some of them turned out to be incorrect." St Louis
I think this works better as a physical book where you can put it down after each story and come back to the next when you're ready. As an 11 hour audio with some repeat narrators when your on a tight library loan, it was a little much.
I wished the stories were linked a bit better thematically so the themes naturally followed through. Some stories I wanted a lot more from since they were so good, others not so much.