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kelly_e'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? It's complicated
4.0
Author: Sara Nović
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.00
Pub Date: April 5, 2022
T H R E E • W O R D S
Informative • Juvenile • Unresolved
📖 S Y N O P S I S
The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history final, and have doctors, politicians, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. Meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who's never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school's golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another--and changed forever.
💭 T H O U G H T S
True Biz was my May 2024 pick from my 12 recommendations from 12 friends project for this year. I knew very little more than it being an own voices novel focusing on deaf culture and sign language. It was also selected as a Reese's Book pick in 2022.
I listened to the audiobook while I read along with a physical copy, and I must say what I appreciate the most about this novel is the layout. It's equal part informative with 'lessons' interspersed throughout the main plot. There is also a lot of historical detail surrounding deaf culture and pride, as well as the civil rights of the collective community. The use of the sound of sign as an additional element in the audiobook was unique and added an extra layer to the experience.
Beyond the educative aspect, the story touches on the universal power of human connection through complex relationships. The writing definitely felt very YA with so much staying very surface level and lots of angst.
What kept this from being a standout read? The ending. Plain and simple. It felt rushed and while some things were resolved, so much was left unresolved that it ended up feeling incomplete. It just wasn't it for me.
Overall, True Biz was an interesting coming-of-age story which enlightened me to the topic of deaf pride and many other aspects of sign language. I think I took away more from the learning side of things than I did from the actual story. Would definitely recommend this one to high school students and new adults.
📚 R E A D • I F • Y O U • L I K E
• coming-of-age stories
• diverse representation
• YA fiction
⚠️ CW: ableism, medical content, medical trauma, injury/injury detail, grief, death, death of parent, car accident, drug use, alcohol, child abuse, dementia, religious bigotry, cursing, racism, sexual content, bullying, emotional abuse, vomit, pregnancy
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"Sign language had been so thoroughly stigmatized that in trying to avoid it, parents had unknowingly opted for a modern version of institutionalization, locking their children away in their own minds."
Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, and Car accident
Minor: Cursing, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Dementia, Racism, Child abuse, Sexual content, and Religious bigotry
gabbygarcia'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
3.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, Death of parent, and Ableism
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Grief, Cursing, Death, Medical trauma, Dementia, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
Minor: Car accident, Abandonment, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury
Deaf discriminationrisetorecede's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Ableism, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Dementia, Alcohol, Racism, Car accident, and Child abuse
lindsayhotrod's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical trauma
marioosa517'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Drug use, Alcohol, Medical content, Medical trauma, Ableism, Cursing, Dementia, Child abuse, Death of parent, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Child death, and Racism
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Police brutality, and Vomit
ashton_n'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
5.0
Favorite Quote: “This is not your fault; this is the way it always has been; there is nothing any of us can do; I love you so much for trying”
Graphic: Ableism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Child abuse
Minor: Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Body horror, Alcohol, Dementia, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
shirarweiss'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
5.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, Death, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Medical content, Car accident, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Ableism, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug use, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry
madelinedalton's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
3.5
Some criticisms:
Speaking of the ending, it was SO rushed. We needed at least 20 more pages to wrap all that up. The novel opens with Charlie, Elliot, and Austin disappearing, so I was expecting a major pay-off by the time we circled back to that action. Instead, it felt rushed and un-earned.
Charlie's involvement with the anarchists, and the anarchy plot line in general, didn't jive with me. It felt like Charlie was living two separate lives--normal kid with a lot of issues who is trying to find her way in the world vs. rebel child. Austin's willingness to go along with all of it also felt very uncharacteristic. I understand that Charlie needed some sort of outlet for rebellion, but based on how her character was portrayed, I'd expect it to be more tame than cooking literal bombs and planning to blow up Edge Bionics. That just seems too far for both her and Austin.
Finally, I didn't love the chapters that came from the perspectives of peripheral characters (Kayla, Wanda, Charlie's mom, Elliot, etc). It took me out of the story. I would have preferred that the narration stayed with our three main perspectives and that we were given more of the peripheral characters' perspectives via those chapters. Another cool option would have been to give those characters stronger narrative roles and more chapters, creating a true ensemble cast. For example, Kayla's chapter about racism and BASL was fascinating and educational, but we never circled back to it, and I was really disappointed. I would have loved a subplot about racism that ran through the novel as a whole rather than a couple random chapters. Wanda's chapter felt un-earned because the February/Mel conflict was never resolved.
Overall, I think all hearing people should read this to learn more about Deaf culture and support Deaf authors. The book is not without its writing flaws, though.
Graphic: Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual content
wy_woman'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? It's complicated
4.75
Graphic: Car accident and Physical abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Medical content, Medical trauma, Violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying, Grief, Racism, Classism, Sexual content, Cursing, and Infidelity
marissab's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Ableism, Alcohol, Car accident, Dementia, Medical content, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Gun violence, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Police brutality, Classism, Cursing, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, and Bullying