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sundayfever's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Outing, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Rape
emiliehomme's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Transphobia
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Rape, Suicide, and Violence
standerson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Rape, Suicide, Bullying, Deadnaming, Drug use, Hate crime, Mental illness, Medical content, and Transphobia
james1star's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
If I Was Your Girl follows the story Amanda, a trans female teenager, who moved to small town southern America to live with her dad. This is just after a recent hate crime and worries from her mum, with the focus on Amanda keeping her head down, graduating and then living her life. But this is hard considering her newness attracts female friendships and attraction from the boys too. She is finally living as a girl, has a great girl gang and a boyfriend - all things she’d never have thought were possible. Interspersed is also flashbacks to different points in her life which were written well as it’s like she is actually that age. There is more to the plot but I don’t want to spoil it.
The main character Amanda was really great, she was so developed and had a lot to her, was lovable, a great friend and you truly wanted good things to come her way. In the author’s notes, Russo states she wrote her to be a very positive and rather unrealistic portrayal of a trans woman but her life isn’t not possible, it’s just an unattainable ideal for many trans people (e.g. passing, attractive, family financially capable to afford surgeries and so forth). I think this could possibly be to cater to the cisgender majority, alongside some other plot points, as this was one of the first widely distributed YA novels about a trans teen written by a trans woman where some more complexity would’ve have gone a miss. The main love interest Grant is an adorable character with many lovable personality traits and just generally a cutie. As the book goes on there is something I wasn’t that happy with but I won’t say anymore. This also goes for Bee who I absolutely loved until something as well. Ananda’s friendship with Layla, Chloe and Anna was very nice and they were written well. However, it is hard to mention all that much about them except their ‘tokenism’ being the fashionista I guess but kinda forgettable one, gay one and religious one respectively. That being said, as a group they were good.
In terms of writing, I think this was done well. It’s nothing amazing but there are some well curated parts, three quotes are at the end. The messages are good I’d say as well, it’s hard to read at times with a sense of ‘queer shame’ being a prevalent motif like other books. But there is a very hopefully element to it as well. I think this was good at laying some of the groundwork for other trans books to grow upon, catered to a cisgender audience still but I’m guessing would be great for transgender people to read a story like this when there wasn’t many. In 2023 I would say it’s aged slightly, not being the first choice for a trans contemporary but 7 years ago, it would have been a vital resource for many. There are many trigger warnings in this novel with quite a few difficulty passages as well, focusing on transphobic and homophobic rhetoric, hate crimes, bullying, suicide and others. It’s not a bombardment in a ‘torture p*orn’ way and in many ways it’s a realistic portrayal of such incidents but yes it can be an emotional one - I did end up shedding a few tears. I cannot speak for trans people as a 23 year old half-out gay male-presenting (I don’t really know my gender identity for sure but right now I’m comfortable being labelled cisgender) person, but I would think young closeted trans girls and boys might find particular points more distressing but hopefully uplifting too.
Overall, this was definitely quite a difficult book to get my head around in terms of reviewing it. I think it is good and would recommend but do take into consideration the TWs, it’s a rather up and down storyline too but Yhh… I don’t want to give away any spoilers.
Quotes:
‘Bodies pressed and swirled around me, but I didn't mind. I always avoided crowds instinctively, but tonight the crush of bodies actually felt comforting. Dancing with a boy for the first time in my entire life, I felt like a part of the people around me, like another cell in a healthy body instead of a hidden disease.’
‘I wished I could walk up into the sky and live on some distant planet, far away from the things I was afraid of. I wondered if joy could ever be felt by itself without being tainted with fear and confusion, or if some level of misery was a universal constant, like the speed of light.’
‘felt myself in my own body being loved and accepted, and it felt so good it was almost surreal. This wasn’t my life. This couldn’t be my life. Things like this did not happen to girls like me.’
Graphic: Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Transphobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Outing
Minor: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Rape
carey's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
I did struggle with some aspects related to actions and the setting (
Graphic: Sexual violence and Suicide
read_with_shawntel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Suicide
anneknut's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Outing
Minor: Sexual violence
penguinsquack's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Outing, Suicide attempt, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Medical content, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Transphobia
eagleshouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The story of Amanda, a trans girl in southern USA, is incredibly important, especially coming from a trans author. The book takes on a difficult topic and faces it bluntly and head on, and goes into detail about her emotions and difficulties in being trans. These sections were brilliantly written, and made me understand and realise things that even I as a nonbinary person had not gotten beforehand.
However, I do have a few issues with the book. First and foremost, it feels very much like a Mary Sue. Amanda seems perfect. She passes perfectly, she moves and immediately everyone loves her, she is fully transitioned at the age of 18, and gets a perfect boyfriend and life. Whilst I understand that this may be the author trying to give a trans person hope that this is an option, it feels very detached from the unfortunate reality, and also creates a pretty boring main story. The story tends to ramble about how Amanda is gorgeous, how everyone is in love with her, how she's an A* student and is homecoming queen. Until the very end, where this is questioned (no spoilers from me!), it creates a bland style of writing that took me a little to power through. Had it not also been about Amanda's struggles as a trans woman, I most likely would have put the book down within the first 10 chapters (there are 33 total).
(SPOILERS AHEAD!!)
Another small issue that I had was the only openly sapphic character being the person to out Amanda purely because she wouldn't get with her. Whilst I understand that Bee was the only one Amanda felt like she could tell due to her also being lgbt+ and a "loner" of sorts, it did feel like it fell into the "bi people are slutty" and "predatory wlw" stereotype as Bee broke up with Cloe (the other sapphic character who was closeted before Bee also outed her) just for a shot at Amanda, who she had known was straight anyway, and had even said she was only dating Cloe because she felt bad for her. Bee also sexually harassed Amanda after she turns her down, kissing her without consent. I know for the storyline to progress, Bee was the only person able to out Amanda, but it still rubbed me up the wrong way.
(END OF SPOILERS)
tldr; the book is incredibly important, showing the story of a transwoman by a transfemme author. However, the story is not without its flaws, and often ends up being bland or falling into a Mary Sue style read. I still reccommend the book, as the sections regarding Amanda's relationship with her gender is poignant and informative from the perspective of an author who understands personally what she is going through.
Graphic: Violence, Outing, Transphobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
lindsayhotrod's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Graphic: Dysphoria, Hate crime, Suicide attempt, Violence, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Bullying, and Suicide
Moderate: Deadnaming and Homophobia
Minor: Sexual violence, Drug use, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Classism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment