Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - Nevada

i think the book is okay, i don't think it's awesome but i also don't think its a bad book. personally, the way the author writes makes it difficult for me to understand what the characters are saying out loud and what the characters are thinking in their minds. i didn't really get to love the main character, but i ended up liking james & steph more. i did like the way the author made maria speak about trans exclusion inside the trans community and the fact that the queer community as a whole isn't this wonderful place all the time, there's also still lots of hatred inside of it, and we have to continue to change that

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

Okay, so half of this book felt as if it was second-person because often during the narration, the narrator would say “you know” etc. so I think that made me enjoy it even more — I love a tangential stream of consciousness hahaha!

I loved that we leave Maria in the first part and then move to James, who meets her a month after the events of the first part take place. It was a funny time jump and I didn’t expect that level of spontaneity hahaha.

I also thought it was so fascinating how short Maria & James’ intersecting parts were after they met; the complete lack of closure could ring anticlimactic to some readers but whenever this happens, I just think it’s a fantastic parallel to real life. We don’t always get closure, sometimes we have to make peace with that and just keep it moving!

I’m also glad I read this with the updated author’s note at the end, because Imogen provided helpful context and perspective of why she wrote that ending for both Maria & James.

I am loving finding new authors (to me, not to the world) this week & I’m so grateful for the #TransRightsReadathon for providing that impetus.

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sofipitch's review against another edition

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funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Normally I'm not a huge fan of stream of consciousness writing style, and idk if this fits that definition exactly but I really enjoyed this book. The voice of the book is distinct, my only complaint would be the voice seems distinct for Maria at the beginning, as we get other POVs they all talk the same, but whatever. I looked at other reviews and some ppl hate the ending, but I think ending with no big epiphany is interesting, sometimes there is no clear "lesson" or the first thing you do isn't going to fix everything in your life

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lhodgson26's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

I'm really not sure about this book and think I need further time to process it. The first half of the book was solely based on Maria's story and then the second half we are introduced to James' character who Marie then sets out to try and help by embarking on a road trip. Whilst this book at the heart was based on what it felt like to be a trans women in today's society I felt like I wanted more story to it. I get the abrupt ending as it felt as though James was still not ready to come to turns with who he really is. It felt like a lot of the story was based around drugs and sex which detracted from the main conversation of the book.

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nica_chan's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad fast-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

5.0

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laurataylor's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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