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4.5 AVERAGE
4.5 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
WOODWORKING by Emily St. James is a novel centering on transgender women characters in Mitchell, South Dakota. From the moment I started reading it, I was learning, laughing, and crying.
Erica Skyberg teaches high school English, and Abigail Hawkes is a transgender girl in her class. Abigail is loud, unapologetic, and seems like a typical teenager. She, however, has moved in with her older sister in Mitchell because her parents cannot accept her transition.
Erica presents as a man, is recently divorced, and understands she has never felt right in her body. As Erica watches Abigail, she opens up to her about her truth, and Abigail becomes her secret-keeper. They attend support groups together, but Erica refuses to go public with her personal discovery.
As their lives unfold over the course of just a few months, Abigail and Erica find friendships, love, and mentors, but they also grapple with rejection, bigotry, and physical abuse. They also uncover decades-long secrets in their community.
But this book is about more than transgender identity. It's about the fronts we all choose to wear, the principles we are willing to abandon for security, the fights we are willing to have, and the lives we are willing to release. It's about the reasons for oppression (Spoiler Alert: It's always about power!) and how powerful people don't ever have to hide their reasons for bullying and cruelty. (Spoiler Alert: They do it simply because they can.)
This is a debut novel by a transgender woman, and it is told from multiple points of view. The honesty, insights, and vulnerability are spot on, and the different perspectives lead to humor, pain, and rawness. No character is perfect, and no life is without fault. This is an incredible book.
This is a debut novel by a transgender woman, and it is told from multiple points of view. The honesty, insights, and vulnerability are spot on, and the different perspectives lead to humor, pain, and rawness. No character is perfect, and no life is without fault. This is an incredible book.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
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:
Complicated
hopeful
informative
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:
No
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Starts funny and light and adds more and more depth, growth, love, support, connection, and hopes for their individual (and collective) brighter futures. This was just a beautiful (and so very important, duh) story through and through.
I am so glad a random bookstagram reel talking about this book caught my attention.
I am so glad a random bookstagram reel talking about this book caught my attention.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-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
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
I need to sit on this one to formulate a proper review but THIS BOOK IS REALLY FUCKING GOOD!! Trans solidarity!! Rowdy trans teen!! Extremely fucking complicated messy relationships full of love and care!! So much angst! But also TRAUMA✨
The way this book handles the dissociative experience of existing and being perceived in a body that is not Your Body is striking, and the writing itself is great on the whole — we’re doing Art here, folks.
There were several quotes I loved and immediately forgot, but this one I saved (it gives zero spoilers except Vibes I guess lol)“That’s all we are, maybe. People who pick each other out in a crowd, and realist that the face of someone you’ve just met can feel like home.”
(I listened to the audio tho so forgive my punctuation)
The way this book handles the dissociative experience of existing and being perceived in a body that is not Your Body is striking, and the writing itself is great on the whole — we’re doing Art here, folks.
There were several quotes I loved and immediately forgot, but this one I saved (it gives zero spoilers except Vibes I guess lol)
(I listened to the audio tho so forgive my punctuation)
hopeful
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