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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I have mixed feelings about this book, because on one hand, I think it's so important and everyone should read it. But on the other hand, I had a few things to critique about it. I thought this book was going to be the kind of contemporary that would make me bawl my eyes out. It wasn't.
To start with some things I don't like... Some paragraphs were just boring to me. When Chris was talking about space or when Maia was talking about Mallory, I'm sorry but I was bored. It's so funny because there are two instances in the book where both Maia and Chris ask the other "Am I boring you?" And the other is like, "No, not at all!" and I'm here reading like "I don't care about space!" Obviously, people who are interested in space might find it interesting, but I thought it was a failed attempt to sound deep. Also, I'm the kind of person who thinks everyone needs to see a therapist, especially when someone traumatic happens in their life. So, there were so many times where I just wanted the characters to see somebody, to talk to somebody, to communicate their feelings! But again, this is sort of a little joke of mine, yelling at the characters saying "Please see a therapist!! It would really help!!"
Maia was not that strong of a character in my opinion. I hated how she had no personality, and I was so excited when she mentioned liking Grease because it was finally the one time that she mentioned liking something. Even now, besides Grease, going tubing, and being a vegetarian, I really don't remember anything more about Maia's personality. Even in real life, people who don't have many dreams, interests, or passions kind of bore me, so Maia really was not interesting to me. Also, Maia turning everything around on Chris and telling him he lied too for not telling her he was trans is so akin to that scene in Love Simon where his friends get mad at him for not telling them he was gay lol. I hate hate hate everything about that trope. Also, Maia's story seemed a bit unfinished to me
But CHRIS on the other hand. Man, do I love that boy so so so much. One of my OCs is literally exactly like Chris (except his passion is marine biology), and I love my OC a lot, so of course I was bound to like Chris. I just think he's an amazing human with such a kind soul. I really don't think he did anything wrong throughout the whole book. You can argue that he wasn't treating Cole all that well, but I kind of don't blame him for wanting space. I mostly only liked reading from Chris' point of view, and I think the fact that he is trans was written so well. I know the trans friends I have that have struggled with a lot of the things Chris has struggled with that my cis people probably don't think about, and I think a lot of people will learn a lot from Chris. A lot of the time in books with trans protagonists, they are used to teach cis people about being trans. Chris was not like this and had his own passions, interests, personality, etc. I absolutely adore him.
One scene that I really loved that nearly made me cry was when Chris finally talked to his mom at the end. Their whole conversation was sweet, relatable, emotional, and raw. One of the best scenes in the book.
Also, off topic but the dog... I saw it coming... it still hurt.
Overall, I think this book brings a great, rounded, new story that we don't really see in YA fiction. We need more trans characters, period. But, I like how in this novel, the trans character wasn't created for the purpose of educating cis people. I like how Maia was fine with Chris being trans (and didn't completely cut him off like I've seen in many other books with trans protags). I like the theme of timing, if you can fall in love at the wrong time vs the right time and what that means for the characters. As a person who has written three novels that take place over the summer, I know first hand that summer loves are hard to carry on into the rest of the year, and I like how this book wrapped up their relationship. But there were a lot of boring parts, and I wasn't as invested in Maia's story as I was Chris'. Still a good read, but not my favourite.
I have mixed feelings about this book, because on one hand, I think it's so important and everyone should read it. But on the other hand, I had a few things to critique about it. I thought this book was going to be the kind of contemporary that would make me bawl my eyes out. It wasn't.
To start with some things I don't like... Some paragraphs were just boring to me. When Chris was talking about space or when Maia was talking about Mallory, I'm sorry but I was bored. It's so funny because there are two instances in the book where both Maia and Chris ask the other "Am I boring you?" And the other is like, "No, not at all!" and I'm here reading like "I don't care about space!" Obviously, people who are interested in space might find it interesting, but I thought it was a failed attempt to sound deep. Also, I'm the kind of person who thinks everyone needs to see a therapist, especially when someone traumatic happens in their life. So, there were so many times where I just wanted the characters to see somebody, to talk to somebody, to communicate their feelings! But again, this is sort of a little joke of mine, yelling at the characters saying "Please see a therapist!! It would really help!!"
Maia was not that strong of a character in my opinion. I hated how she had no personality, and I was so excited when she mentioned liking Grease because it was finally the one time that she mentioned liking something. Even now, besides Grease, going tubing, and being a vegetarian, I really don't remember anything more about Maia's personality. Even in real life, people who don't have many dreams, interests, or passions kind of bore me, so Maia really was not interesting to me. Also, Maia turning everything around on Chris and telling him he lied too for not telling her he was trans is so akin to that scene in Love Simon where his friends get mad at him for not telling them he was gay lol. I hate hate hate everything about that trope. Also, Maia's story seemed a bit unfinished to me
But CHRIS on the other hand. Man, do I love that boy so so so much. One of my OCs is literally exactly like Chris (except his passion is marine biology), and I love my OC a lot, so of course I was bound to like Chris. I just think he's an amazing human with such a kind soul. I really don't think he did anything wrong throughout the whole book. You can argue that he wasn't treating Cole all that well, but I kind of don't blame him for wanting space. I mostly only liked reading from Chris' point of view, and I think the fact that he is trans was written so well. I know the trans friends I have that have struggled with a lot of the things Chris has struggled with that my cis people probably don't think about, and I think a lot of people will learn a lot from Chris. A lot of the time in books with trans protagonists, they are used to teach cis people about being trans. Chris was not like this and had his own passions, interests, personality, etc. I absolutely adore him.
One scene that I really loved that nearly made me cry was when Chris finally talked to his mom at the end. Their whole conversation was sweet, relatable, emotional, and raw. One of the best scenes in the book.
Also, off topic but the dog... I saw it coming... it still hurt.
Overall, I think this book brings a great, rounded, new story that we don't really see in YA fiction. We need more trans characters, period. But, I like how in this novel, the trans character wasn't created for the purpose of educating cis people. I like how Maia was fine with Chris being trans (and didn't completely cut him off like I've seen in many other books with trans protags). I like the theme of timing, if you can fall in love at the wrong time vs the right time and what that means for the characters. As a person who has written three novels that take place over the summer, I know first hand that summer loves are hard to carry on into the rest of the year, and I like how this book wrapped up their relationship. But there were a lot of boring parts, and I wasn't as invested in Maia's story as I was Chris'. Still a good read, but not my favourite.
Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for an advance digital copy of this book.
“…life doesn’t wait until you’re perfect, or better, or out of pain for you to be alive.”
This book is much more than a simple transgender love story. The struggles that both Chris and Maia go through in this book is a great representation of being a teenager. This felt real and true. The unabashed selfishness that all of the teens have (including Hayden, Gabby, Mallory, and Neil) is something that I know teens go through without realizing it. There is nothing wrong with being selfish at times, which is what I loved about parts of this book.
The parents also had some great development in this book. It seems that parents are often either overlooked in YA books or problematic to further the story. I think both Chris and Maia’s parents are dealing with their own struggles and it’s important for YA books to discuss those struggles to raise awareness to youths that they aren’t the only ones going through struggles.
While I do think some of the topics in this book can be difficult for some to deal with, I think it was handled in a great way and does tread lightly. This book probably has the least heavy subject matter I’ve read in this regard but there can be some triggering material. Personally, I do think Amber Smith could have pushed some of the issues a little further. I felt that a lot of the issues were dealt with just on surface level.
“…life doesn’t wait until you’re perfect, or better, or out of pain for you to be alive.”
This book is much more than a simple transgender love story. The struggles that both Chris and Maia go through in this book is a great representation of being a teenager. This felt real and true. The unabashed selfishness that all of the teens have (including Hayden, Gabby, Mallory, and Neil) is something that I know teens go through without realizing it. There is nothing wrong with being selfish at times, which is what I loved about parts of this book.
The parents also had some great development in this book. It seems that parents are often either overlooked in YA books or problematic to further the story. I think both Chris and Maia’s parents are dealing with their own struggles and it’s important for YA books to discuss those struggles to raise awareness to youths that they aren’t the only ones going through struggles.
While I do think some of the topics in this book can be difficult for some to deal with, I think it was handled in a great way and does tread lightly. This book probably has the least heavy subject matter I’ve read in this regard but there can be some triggering material. Personally, I do think Amber Smith could have pushed some of the issues a little further. I felt that a lot of the issues were dealt with just on surface level.
I fell in love with this book from the first page and was captivated the entire time by the emotions woven into such amazing story telling. Despite dual perspectives, the writing never loses its flow and instead gains something from the constant back and forth.
I had high hopes for this one, because I always love queer contemporaries, but this just wasn't it.
The biggest thing for me was that it was just all, kind of, boring? Not much happened, and there was never much to get me into the book itself. It was largely about dealing with the past, and while books like that can be very good, this one still had so many scenes going on in the present as well, except they never really led to anything at all. There was just, not much, which feels odd considering how many emotional/relationship plot lines were actually being juggled all at once.
I also just, ended up really disliking, or well despising, Maia. It's honestly really hard to get me to dislike a narrator in a book, because I usually find myself understanding them on some level, but I just couldn't handle her. She's actually just a pathological liar, and couldn't tell the truth ever, basically, but when this is brought up in the book, it's just a quick drop of it and then the story moves on? Like please, get help??? I also just wasn't just finding her compelling, even before I started disliking her, and found her sections the most bothersome to get through, even though I liked her audiobook narrator.
I don't feel like I can really speak on the trans rep, but overall, I don't know how well this was done overall. I've seen many complaints in other reviews, and there were definitely so many triggering scenes that could have been done better/less graphically. There were also many things I wish could've been expanded on more, especially when it came to Chris's relationships with his mom and Mai. It was an almost 400-page book, where not much really happened, and yet this all still managed to feel glossed over? This aspect of the book was definitely what made me request this book in the first place, so I was frustrated with how it overall was handled.
Overall, this really just wasn't the book for me, and I do wish I had DNFed when I first realized, instead of spending the rest of my afternoon finishing it.
The biggest thing for me was that it was just all, kind of, boring? Not much happened, and there was never much to get me into the book itself. It was largely about dealing with the past, and while books like that can be very good, this one still had so many scenes going on in the present as well, except they never really led to anything at all. There was just, not much, which feels odd considering how many emotional/relationship plot lines were actually being juggled all at once.
I also just, ended up really disliking, or well despising, Maia. It's honestly really hard to get me to dislike a narrator in a book, because I usually find myself understanding them on some level, but I just couldn't handle her. She's actually just a pathological liar, and couldn't tell the truth ever, basically, but when this is brought up in the book, it's just a quick drop of it and then the story moves on? Like please, get help??? I also just wasn't just finding her compelling, even before I started disliking her, and found her sections the most bothersome to get through, even though I liked her audiobook narrator.
I don't feel like I can really speak on the trans rep, but overall, I don't know how well this was done overall. I've seen many complaints in other reviews, and there were definitely so many triggering scenes that could have been done better/less graphically. There were also many things I wish could've been expanded on more, especially when it came to Chris's relationships with his mom and Mai. It was an almost 400-page book, where not much really happened, and yet this all still managed to feel glossed over? This aspect of the book was definitely what made me request this book in the first place, so I was frustrated with how it overall was handled.
Overall, this really just wasn't the book for me, and I do wish I had DNFed when I first realized, instead of spending the rest of my afternoon finishing it.
Unfortunately, Something Like Gravity wasn't for me. I'd picked up this book because of the trans rep, and not only did I find that the rep was potentially harmful, neither Chris nor Maia's stories were particularly captivating to me, and I was bored for most of the book.
The book is told in alternating perspectives from Chris and Maia, two teenagers living next to each other in a small town. Both Chris and Maia are dealing with two very life-changing events, which is what brings them together: alienated from the rest of their community, they find comfort in each other because they understand what it's like to be alone without knowing the history behind it. That they don't know each other's histories is, I believe, the driving point behind their relationship, and it also makes their whole conflict possible: namely, both characters keep secrets from each other throughout the book.
Personally, I found Chris and Maia both to be quite frustrating during the book. I did sympathize with both of them, however: both are going through a lot, and it makes a lot of their behaviours understandable. Both of their storylines reflected each other in a very poetic way, which I liked: it definitely lent more weight to the story.
I was, however, definitely the most disappointed by how Chris was written. I'm not transgender, but a lot of the content surrounding Chris made me really uncomfortable. There's a couple ownvoices reviews that echo these thoughts here and here and I suggest you read those because they say it better than I could ever. But there is a scene where Maia spies on Chris as he changes, which is how Maia finds out that Chris is trans, and I feel like that's such a common yet harmful trope which was really uncomfortable to read about. Both Chris and Maia are hiding things from each other, but Chris being trans is treated with as much gravity as Maia lying about her hobbies, and it felt very wrong to me to equate the two. In addition, I'm just ... tired of reading about queer pain in contemporary novels, and tired of queer identities being held as hostage, so to speak. I know that the author is a lesbian, but she's cis and so is Maia, and I felt like Maia acted like Chris being transgender was something she used against him. Which isn't something I particularly enjoy reading about.
This is also a very character-driven novel, which meant that because I wasn't too into the characters, I was not into the plot, either. Amber Smith's writing is beautiful, and I've heard a lot about her previous books -- so I was disappointed that I couldn't get into the rest of the book like I wanted to.
I feel like Something About Gravity had a lot of potential behind it, but I didn't find either of its main characters particularly interesting. In addition, the portrayal of Chris as a trans person played into a lot of harmful plotlines and tropes about trans people that made me really uncomfortable.
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The book is told in alternating perspectives from Chris and Maia, two teenagers living next to each other in a small town. Both Chris and Maia are dealing with two very life-changing events, which is what brings them together: alienated from the rest of their community, they find comfort in each other because they understand what it's like to be alone without knowing the history behind it. That they don't know each other's histories is, I believe, the driving point behind their relationship, and it also makes their whole conflict possible: namely, both characters keep secrets from each other throughout the book.
Personally, I found Chris and Maia both to be quite frustrating during the book. I did sympathize with both of them, however: both are going through a lot, and it makes a lot of their behaviours understandable. Both of their storylines reflected each other in a very poetic way, which I liked: it definitely lent more weight to the story.
I was, however, definitely the most disappointed by how Chris was written. I'm not transgender, but a lot of the content surrounding Chris made me really uncomfortable. There's a couple ownvoices reviews that echo these thoughts here and here and I suggest you read those because they say it better than I could ever. But there is a scene where Maia spies on Chris as he changes, which is how Maia finds out that Chris is trans, and I feel like that's such a common yet harmful trope which was really uncomfortable to read about. Both Chris and Maia are hiding things from each other, but Chris being trans is treated with as much gravity as Maia lying about her hobbies, and it felt very wrong to me to equate the two. In addition, I'm just ... tired of reading about queer pain in contemporary novels, and tired of queer identities being held as hostage, so to speak. I know that the author is a lesbian, but she's cis and so is Maia, and I felt like Maia acted like Chris being transgender was something she used against him. Which isn't something I particularly enjoy reading about.
This is also a very character-driven novel, which meant that because I wasn't too into the characters, I was not into the plot, either. Amber Smith's writing is beautiful, and I've heard a lot about her previous books -- so I was disappointed that I couldn't get into the rest of the book like I wanted to.
I feel like Something About Gravity had a lot of potential behind it, but I didn't find either of its main characters particularly interesting. In addition, the portrayal of Chris as a trans person played into a lot of harmful plotlines and tropes about trans people that made me really uncomfortable.
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this was such a heart-tugging book. the ending was beautiful but felt a little rushed. nevertheless i loved it
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this book.
Lets start with the cover. It looks like a lesbian romance novel. Chris does not pass in this picture. Why do I point this out? Chris passes 100% f the time in the book without any questions by anyone. He temporarily moves to a new town and NO ONE ever says or does anything that implies that he doesn’t pass as 100% male 100% of the time. One character asks if he is gay, but that is the closest it gets. I know many guys that passed most of the time as male without hormones, but they passed as much younger than they were as teens. Chris passing as a 17 year old male without hormones is very unlikely when he is 17.
My next issue is Chris is trans. Before you grab your pitchforks and scream I am transphobic, I am a trans man. I started my medical transition at 15. I have no issues with trans people being represented in media. I have problems when they are badly written characters that makes it really obvious that the author is cis. Chris’s entire trans life boils down to binding, almost being raped, and coming out while in the middle of hooking up with someone. So lets start with binding: the binder that Chris is wearing is one I have seen before and have worn before, basic google image search and you get the image. The issue is when you are binding running is not really the best idea. It inhibits your ability to breathe. Binders are also super expensive, so it is unlikely that Chris has too many binders laying around to go running in them all the time. Sleeping in a binder can be super dangerous because of the breathing issues. There is a scene where Chris takes off his binder and sleeps with someone in his bed. He then sleeps shirtless. Based on how strongly Chris reacted to his chest, it seems super unlikely that he would sleep without a shirt or a shirt and a sports bra (does some binding) while someone else was in the room. His backstory is very much “trans people can only ever be hated, raped, and killed” which is what the media seems to think. I am so done with that idea and I hate that yet another story with a trans lead has that basic plot. It also seems unlikely that Chris would have been unaware that they were trying to rape him, considering how everything went down. Coming out in the middle of a hook-up is dangerous. Chris had not started hormones or had any forms of surgery (never mentioned ever wanting them for that matter). There would be some pretty obvious issues with this plan that even someone who isn’t super trans versed would notice (erections for example). The sex scene where Chris is super against his chest being touched, but is all about about his genitalia just read as a lesbian sex scene. There was no dysphoria, which seems so odd considering how Chris was acting throughout the book. Not all trans people experience dysphoria about their genitalia or experience it all the time, but the way Chris was written would imply he would experience dysphoria around his body. So the trans character was not believable at all. Was I still excited that a trans character was dating and doing normal teen things? Hell yeah. Had I wished that a trans author had written this character so I could have actually seen myself in him? HELL YES.
So now that I have ranted, the rest of the book in a few sentences. The characters were flat. I didn’t ship them. I didn’t care about what was happening. There were cheap tricks to try to elicit emotions (the dog plot). There were too many coincidences at the end that made the story wrap up very nicely, without actually addressing any of the major plot points. It was just an eh story. Why two stars? It wasn’t a terrible book. I really enjoyed Maia’s character development and how trauma was represented for her and her family. If the story was all from Maia’s perspective or Chris wasn’t trans then this book would probably have been a better book.
I got an ARC of this book.
Lets start with the cover. It looks like a lesbian romance novel. Chris does not pass in this picture. Why do I point this out? Chris passes 100% f the time in the book without any questions by anyone. He temporarily moves to a new town and NO ONE ever says or does anything that implies that he doesn’t pass as 100% male 100% of the time. One character asks if he is gay, but that is the closest it gets. I know many guys that passed most of the time as male without hormones, but they passed as much younger than they were as teens. Chris passing as a 17 year old male without hormones is very unlikely when he is 17.
My next issue is Chris is trans. Before you grab your pitchforks and scream I am transphobic, I am a trans man. I started my medical transition at 15. I have no issues with trans people being represented in media. I have problems when they are badly written characters that makes it really obvious that the author is cis. Chris’s entire trans life boils down to binding, almost being raped, and coming out while in the middle of hooking up with someone. So lets start with binding: the binder that Chris is wearing is one I have seen before and have worn before, basic google image search and you get the image. The issue is when you are binding running is not really the best idea. It inhibits your ability to breathe. Binders are also super expensive, so it is unlikely that Chris has too many binders laying around to go running in them all the time. Sleeping in a binder can be super dangerous because of the breathing issues. There is a scene where Chris takes off his binder and sleeps with someone in his bed. He then sleeps shirtless. Based on how strongly Chris reacted to his chest, it seems super unlikely that he would sleep without a shirt or a shirt and a sports bra (does some binding) while someone else was in the room. His backstory is very much “trans people can only ever be hated, raped, and killed” which is what the media seems to think. I am so done with that idea and I hate that yet another story with a trans lead has that basic plot. It also seems unlikely that Chris would have been unaware that they were trying to rape him, considering how everything went down. Coming out in the middle of a hook-up is dangerous. Chris had not started hormones or had any forms of surgery (never mentioned ever wanting them for that matter). There would be some pretty obvious issues with this plan that even someone who isn’t super trans versed would notice (erections for example). The sex scene where Chris is super against his chest being touched, but is all about about his genitalia just read as a lesbian sex scene. There was no dysphoria, which seems so odd considering how Chris was acting throughout the book. Not all trans people experience dysphoria about their genitalia or experience it all the time, but the way Chris was written would imply he would experience dysphoria around his body. So the trans character was not believable at all. Was I still excited that a trans character was dating and doing normal teen things? Hell yeah. Had I wished that a trans author had written this character so I could have actually seen myself in him? HELL YES.
So now that I have ranted, the rest of the book in a few sentences. The characters were flat. I didn’t ship them. I didn’t care about what was happening. There were cheap tricks to try to elicit emotions (the dog plot). There were too many coincidences at the end that made the story wrap up very nicely, without actually addressing any of the major plot points. It was just an eh story. Why two stars? It wasn’t a terrible book. I really enjoyed Maia’s character development and how trauma was represented for her and her family. If the story was all from Maia’s perspective or Chris wasn’t trans then this book would probably have been a better book.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
challenging
emotional
inspiring
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