Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - True Biz

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True Biz by Sara Nović

20 reviews

kelly_e's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

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

Title: True Biz
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."

Content Warnings

reviewsandreadathons's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

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minaestchan's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

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clovetra's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

FUCKKKKK WAS THIS GOOD!!! I CANNOT RANT & RAVE ABOUT THIS BOOK ANYMORE THAN IM BOUT TO. EASILY MY FAVOURITE BOOK OF 2024 (so far)
this book has everything and more
- as a disabled person i go NUTS for representation. a book where most main characters are deaf, written by a deaf author? im a rabid dog im so thrilled
- the excerpts following charlie were so brilliant and added to this book quite a lot, such as the excerpt on alexander bell when she's learning about him in history class
- the excerpts about signs too!!!!! i loved them!!!!!
- the mention of the intersectionality between race & disability AND gender & disability.... chefs kiss
- highlighting BASL (which i didn't even know existed!) (granted im australian but still)!! this taught me so much about deaf culture in such an endearing and interesting form
- loved to see a CODA. i used to be able-bodied (long story) and as a child of disabled parents i resonated with february. obviously in very different ways, but mainly due to the underlying commonality between us (or at least a commonality that used to exist)
- wlw rep LETS GOOOOOOOO
- charlie and austin..... my loves. my little baby grills. i also loved kayla a LOT. couldn't stop picturing mel as mel buttle but u know what it works! every character felt like their own person, with motives and goals and a LIFE outside of the main plot.
- writing style was magnificent
- writing FORMAT????? ugh i was in love. the little italics to show when a character was signing vs orally speaking? perfect. the chapter titles being the main pov's initial fingerspelled???? magnificent.
this book accomplished so much. there were so many themes and none of them felt poorly fleshed out. this book covers everything - grief, eugenics, isolation, race, ableism, jealousy, teenage romance, rebellion, gentrification, community, ableism (both outright and unknowingly), and so much more.
i don't think i can truly put into words how much i loved this novel. this book is very clearly a love letter to the deaf community, and i have to say i fell hook line & sinker.

Content Warnings

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I received a copy of this book as a gift.
"True Biz" is a story that follows several students, and the headmistress, at a school for deaf students. The students at River Valley School for the Deaf just want to act like every other teenager in the world. February, the headmistress, is fighting to keep the school open, because she knows how important a school like this is for deaf students. Charlie is a transfer student who has never spent much time with other deaf people. Austin is trying to come to terms with the fact that his baby sister was just born and can hear, despite being born into a predominantly deaf family.
I believe this is the first novel I have read that has deaf representation. I found the commentary on ableism and racism associated with American Sign Language to be fascinating, and something that I had never really thought about. When segregation was still mandated, there were separate deaf schools for those who were white versus black. Because of this separation, American Sign Language developed differently, and some signs actually mean different things depending on which community the person is a part of. I always thought American Sign Language was seen as a universal language, and it was really eye-oping to realize it is not, and it too suffered from racism.
Overall, I enjoyed the story and themes in this book more than the characters. I think it was great that we got to read from a few different perspectives, and they all had a different relationship towards being deaf or the deaf community in general, but I was not overly invested in any specific character's story. I think all of the characters represent an important experience, but as a whole, I did not find any of them especially interesting.
I think this is a great story, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read about deaf characters or who wants to read a story about human connection.

Content Warnings

marioosa517's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative sad 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

5.0

Content Warnings

liesbethvv's review against another edition

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challenging informative mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I am very grateful for this book. It’s eye-opening and very informative. Although the informational bits interrupted the pace a bit, I didn’t really mind. It felt true to form to feel like an outsider for once, having to learn things to fully understand the setting and characters. As we are fed little bits of the characters’ struggles in their different parts of the Deaf community, we are immersed in a different world, that should very much be more intertwined with ours. Thanks to Sara, I’m now much more aware of the struggles and possible solutions that could be put in place for everyone’s sake, not just the hearing world’s. Also curious to read more of Sara’s work.

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