Reviews with content warning for Racism - Meet Cute Diary

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

plumpaperbacks's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

4.0

I’ve been hearing good things about this book for months now, and I’m so glad I finally read it. I sped through this book because, even in its more emotional moments, it was a joy to read. Lee’s debut was the perfect blend of fluff and heavier stuff, and eir definitely an author to watch.

I loved Noah from the very beginning. Although he’s sometimes romantically misguided, he’s a total sweetheart. Becca and Devin ended up seriously growing on me. The friendships here are top tier. I also really liked Noah’s relationship with his older brother Brian, and how determined Brian was to be supportive. It was heartwarming.

I didn’t expect Drew to be such an asshole, and honestly, it was kind of sad to see that side of him come to light. I’d been shipping him and Noah since, like, their second meeting. But Drew is a manipulative bumwaffle that can choke on a cactus, and Devin is so much better. It’s not even a contest, really. E’s such a sweet person, and e and Noah together are basically a recipe for cavities, but whatever. They’re adorable together and I’m happy for them. The scavenger hunt was super cute. ❤️

This is the first book I’ve read that features a character experimenting with gender and pronouns, and also the first I’ve read where a character uses neopronouns. Figuring out those parts of yourself isn’t always easy, and that should be represented in YA. Props to Lee for doing so.

Lastly, I just want to say that I loved the Meet Cute Diary. It’s such a cute idea for a blog, and the message alongside it—that trans kids are just as deserving of love stories—is important and lovely.

I definitely want to buy a copy of this book, and I could see myself rereading it both as a pick-me-up and because I miss my cinnamon rolls.

Representation

triracial bisexual trans boy protagonist (Afro-Caribbean-Japanese)
lesbian side character
Cuban genderqueer asexual side character that uses neopronouns (xe/xim at first, then e/em)

Content Warnings

melaniereadsbooks's review

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emotional hopeful 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

4.75

This is such a heartwarming and adorable story!!! I just!! The discussions of neo-pronouns and all that Drew went through. The way Noah learned who he was through the Meet Cute Diary and through Drew and his brother and his friends and just!!! This was so heartwarming. Honestly I am so glad I read it.

The character development is excellent!

Content Warnings

emily_mh's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

4.25

This was just a really joyful book on trans love and trans joy. It really spoke to me given what I am discovering about my own gender identity, and the endgame romance made me feel all mushy (I basically fell in love with Devin). The reason this book did not get 5 stars is that I wish the ending was slightly different.

Basically, I wish Noah hadn't had a tiff at the end over Becca. This felt really irrational and kind of against his character development and left his and Becca's relationship in a weird place again. I didn't so much mind his freak-out over Devin, but NOAH should have been the one to make the grand gesture for Devin, not the other way around. This would have given their relationship a little more power equality, and cemented more of Noah's character development, which I otherwise loved.

The main criticism of this book that I see other people have is that Noah is a bad main character. I want to challenge this as I think for the most part that's an unfair reason to dock the book stars. First of all, his narration is conversational and engaging. People say he is annoying, when really he is just cocky and confident which is a trait lauded in other beloved fictional characters (e.g. Tony Stark). And yeah, he's definitely not a perfect person, but that's a lot to expect 16 year-old - plus, he does undergo character development during the novel and recognises his own flaws. Finally, his flaws make him intensely relatable. Everyone messes up, especially at that age, and Noah's character shows how you can grow from those experiences. I really think that the ending of the book is just the beginning for his personal development. This is not to defend some of the decisions he makes, but to drive home the point that imperfection doesn't equal a bad character!

Content Warnings

possumspringz's review

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medium-paced

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? Yes

2.5

i enjoyed this for the most part! if im being fully honest tho, noah bothered me quite a bit and i felt like the whole diary thing + noahs whole like Love Expert Thing to be a bit over the top and kinda silly. anyway devin was like the coolest character and i Mainly cared about em tbh!

yeah devin was probably the part the felt the most well done to me, eir character was interesting and i really like that

eir being nonbinary was treated very normally, especially considering e changed eir pronouns several times thoughout the book. every time, even when talking to other people, noah just corrected them on their pronoun use and nobody did or said anything weird about it, which was super super refreshing to see, especially considering the way people respond when people are questioning their gender and either change their mind completely or change their pronouns (which devin does talk about eir experience with, though it wasn't something we see on page). i loved that eir being nonbinary was something that they had the space to explore without any harrowing transphobia to deal with (mega appreciate that as a trans reader).

i didn't like how drew's whole "omg im not gay noah's just special <3" thing was never addressed tho, and i know that part of the thing was that drew wasnt like. good for him, but also that really fucking sucks and it was just thrown in there. and as a trans guy that sets off Mega alarm bells about like. not actually believing noah is a guy and/or being Weird about him being trans. idk

um unfortunately i also felt a bit frustrated w the way gender and sexuality was talked about? calling people "masc" and "femme" as an equivalent to men and women, especially in the context of gay men = likes "masc" people. its so frustrating to run into this perception of like: men (automatically masc), women (automatically femme), and nonbinary people are grouped like based being "masc" or "femme" instead of their gender ? its like people just repackage the same shit in PC Inclusive Language instead of thinking about what any of it means? its so frustrating to see that peoples framework around gender is still stuck in this man/woman = masc/femme dichotomy that really doesn't account for anyone who falls outside of that, Including "binary" men and women who happen to be gnc (especially gnc trans people lol). i mean its also so weird to me to try and put nb people essentially back into the binary based on whether they present masc or femme?

(spoiler for tangential rant! not actual spoiler)

and take this with a grain of salt, but i personally think that this idea of ultra-exclusive, hard-cut boundaries about sexuality is such a bad idea.... like the idea that youre only gay or a lesbian if you exclusively like (implied: cis) men or women and you cant like..... be either of those things if you are nonbinary or like nonbinary people is so wild. when are people gonna get that being nb is not a distinct third gender that people are or arent going to be attracted to ? like how do you know that the person youre interested in isnt nonbinary? and being nb for one person may be completely different for another.

idk like the idea of separating sexuality into these ultra specific categories of who and when and how and why youre attracted to someone is really unhealthy, and i think ultimately it just separates people into so many tiny categories that you end up being separated from people who are ultimately similar to you (and isolating yourself tbh!). plus the idea that sexualities are inherently exclude nb people is so messed up, like some people still think trans people as a whole are/should be excluded from most sexualities and its soooooo. i mean fucked up obviously, but it also feels very dehumanizing to me personally and i can imagine its especially isolating for nonbinary people. and like ok if trans men/women are included but nonbinary people arent its. still not trans inclusive lol

and obviously i cant stop people from calling themselves whatever they want, and if it feels good and right to them, all the power to them, but i seriously feel like people are put through much more stress trying to figure out where they belong when being gay/straight/bi is treated as if its strictly binary and like they are inherently not included. (also super not a fan of people saying being into men/women and nonbinary people means you are bi, as if nb people are again, their own Third Gender and cant be straight/gay/lesbian ?)

anyway again its all very personal and these are just my thoughts! but it bothers me the way people continue to push the same views on gender, just repacked to sound more progressive and neutral!!! this is a tangent but yes <3

(tbh this is probably more of a 2 but. whatever!)

Content Warnings