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michaelion's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
My ex bought me this for our one month anniversary and I finally read it two years later hoping the book would be bad so I could give it away but it was so good! So cue so sweet. I shall be keeping it.
I was so sure that The Outsiders wasn't canon in this world and then she mentioned it! It's nitpicky but naming yourself after Ponyboy is much cooler than just naming yourself after an animal randomly. That boy got to senior year and didn't read The Outsiders?! It's so gay he would've loved it.
A great book for explaining what a trans person is to kids / teens. It has a perfect mixture of people familiar with the world and explaining to someone who knows nothing. Great writing. I laughed a plenty.
I was so sure that The Outsiders wasn't canon in this world and then she mentioned it! It's nitpicky but naming yourself after Ponyboy is much cooler than just naming yourself after an animal randomly. That boy got to senior year and didn't read The Outsiders?! It's so gay he would've loved it.
A great book for explaining what a trans person is to kids / teens. It has a perfect mixture of people familiar with the world and explaining to someone who knows nothing. Great writing. I laughed a plenty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, and Outing
Moderate: Sexual violence, Vomit, Deadnaming, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Infidelity and Abandonment
hntodd's review against another edition
3.0
This book is pretty good. Did I read it all in one sitting? Yep. But did I have some problems with it? Yep. It was overall enjoyable, but not the best.
I feel like Georgia's character was not fully developed. She was horrible to Pony when he first came out to her. Yeah she wrote the amazing article and was there for him in the end, while it was nice, it didn't really make sense to me. It might just be because of switching between the two characters. We don't see her thought process as much as you would in a normal book, but to me it felt like she just immediately switched from one side to the other and doing so sort of validated how she acted to the readers. This might just be me as a queer person speaking who likes all genders, but I don't think how she acted was acceptable. The way that outing him even crossed her mind?!? She made his coming out about her. It kinda gave Love, Simon vibes if y'all know what I mean. My opinion is that no one owes anyone a coming out immediately. It's not lying; it's protecting yourself.
That is the second problem I have with this book. I do not agree with the idea that all queer and trans people need to speak out against all discriminatory actions, to be activists, to be visible, to be loud. Some of us just want to live as we are. There is no problem with that, and if you don't live as Max does that doesn't mean you aren't proud. I will make a disclaimer, though, and say that I am cisgender and can never fully understand what trans people go through. So, while I can say these things as a queer person, I acknowledge that I am not the same as Pony or Max.
graveyardpansy's review against another edition
2.0
this is going to be more of a rant than a review, because I really can’t be bothered to structure my feelings abt this book.
things I liked: Rocky as a character, the cover. that’s about it.
as much as I wanted to love this story, I’m in the camp of trans people who read it and were really, really disappointed. this book needs every trigger warning out there — transphobia, homophobia (esp. lesbophobia), slurs, sexual and physical assault, family abuse, suicidal ideation, etc. And sure, stories can be about that, but this is marketed as like a YA romance?? It’s not really that?? It is ownvoices, so that makes it marginally better, but it’s still extremely binary and trauma-filled. The summary and cover both scream YA romance, coming-of-age, whatever, and this is absolutely not that.
Pony, the main character, wasn’t very likeable for me; he constantly references pick-up artistry which leans into misogyny. He grows a lot as a person through the book, but that’s very much told and not shown. There are no apologies or actions that don’t come off to me as surface-level, and the conclusion is very much ‘he’s dating the popular cishet girl, is accepted by his cishet peers, and gets to medically transition, so now his life is perfect!’
Both Pony (our main character) and Max (pony’s best friend who’s also trans) feel like poorly-constructed stereotypes of trans people. Max is out, proud, and loud, and Pony is stealth. That’s fine, both of those narratives are real and deserve to be told, but their ‘friendship’ is so odd. Pony tells Max about not wanting to be out at his new school, and Max just doesn’t respect that decision, which doesn’t feel like an actual reaction that’d come from anyone so heavily involved in LGBT+ communities. He continues to push him to come out and be a loud advocate, and I understand his view because I’m a loud-and-proud trans person in my own life, but I also understand that many trans people can’t be that because of their own safety and comfort — and that’s okay!
The novel had so many great opportunities for Pony to discuss or even just address his internalized transphobia, but instead it’s all covered up with justifications for it. Pony’s transness was very much medicalised, which I’d be more comfortable with if he’d presented it as HIS story, but the way it’s presented feels like he’s making everything very matter-of-fact. The happy conclusion is that he’s going to raise enough for his top surgery, which is great, but having surgery is not the end-all be-all to transness, and it’s kind of presented as if it is.
The narrative as a whole also has a giant cis saviour trope, and Pony ends up with Georgia (obviously, everyone saw that coming) without her even apologizing for the awful way she treated him when he came out?? And after Pony comes out to his school, GEORGIA OUTS HIM TO THE ENTIRE INTERNET/WORLD WITHOUT HIS CONSENT WHILE HES IN A HOSPITAL BED. And that’s presented as a lovely, positive ally move. Georgia writes this article talking about being an ally and how much she admires Pony, but she never even addresses how she spent the vast majority of this novel being concerned about her social status if she dates Pony and how people might think she’s a lesbian (which is simply the worst possible thing people could think about you, according to her and her friend group.)
On the note of Pony & Georgia’s relationship, it’s averagely written at best? I feel some level of chemistry between them, but Georgia’s transphobia, as I’ve discussed, is just never countered. On top of that, the fact that Pony’s trans is presented as him “lying” to Georgia, especially throughout the beginning/first 3/4 of the book, and that viewpoint is never countered either.
I enjoyed the plotline with Ted London, but it did feel somewhat underdeveloped, and when that plotline ended, it felt messily wrapped up. I wish it was more substantial, I feel like there could’ve been more meaning there.
I know it’s #ownvoices, and I’m glad it is, but to me, it feels written to make cis people feel better. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this book to cis people, as I feel like they might pick up some really harmful and uncontested views on trans people. And I wouldn’t really recommend it to trans people either, as it’s full of microagressions that are rarely countered, medicalized transness, and violent, traumatic transphobia. This isn’t really a contemporary romance or a coming-of-age YA book.
Why is every trans YA novel a narrative about trauma?
Why is the turning point of every trans YA novel a hate crime?
things I liked: Rocky as a character, the cover. that’s about it.
as much as I wanted to love this story, I’m in the camp of trans people who read it and were really, really disappointed. this book needs every trigger warning out there — transphobia, homophobia (esp. lesbophobia), slurs, sexual and physical assault, family abuse, suicidal ideation, etc. And sure, stories can be about that, but this is marketed as like a YA romance?? It’s not really that?? It is ownvoices, so that makes it marginally better, but it’s still extremely binary and trauma-filled. The summary and cover both scream YA romance, coming-of-age, whatever, and this is absolutely not that.
Pony, the main character, wasn’t very likeable for me; he constantly references pick-up artistry which leans into misogyny. He grows a lot as a person through the book, but that’s very much told and not shown. There are no apologies or actions that don’t come off to me as surface-level, and the conclusion is very much ‘he’s dating the popular cishet girl, is accepted by his cishet peers, and gets to medically transition, so now his life is perfect!’
Both Pony (our main character) and Max (pony’s best friend who’s also trans) feel like poorly-constructed stereotypes of trans people. Max is out, proud, and loud, and Pony is stealth. That’s fine, both of those narratives are real and deserve to be told, but their ‘friendship’ is so odd. Pony tells Max about not wanting to be out at his new school, and Max just doesn’t respect that decision, which doesn’t feel like an actual reaction that’d come from anyone so heavily involved in LGBT+ communities. He continues to push him to come out and be a loud advocate, and I understand his view because I’m a loud-and-proud trans person in my own life, but I also understand that many trans people can’t be that because of their own safety and comfort — and that’s okay!
The novel had so many great opportunities for Pony to discuss or even just address his internalized transphobia, but instead it’s all covered up with justifications for it. Pony’s transness was very much medicalised, which I’d be more comfortable with if he’d presented it as HIS story, but the way it’s presented feels like he’s making everything very matter-of-fact. The happy conclusion is that he’s going to raise enough for his top surgery, which is great, but having surgery is not the end-all be-all to transness, and it’s kind of presented as if it is.
The narrative as a whole also has a giant cis saviour trope, and Pony ends up with Georgia (obviously, everyone saw that coming) without her even apologizing for the awful way she treated him when he came out?? And after Pony comes out to his school, GEORGIA OUTS HIM TO THE ENTIRE INTERNET/WORLD WITHOUT HIS CONSENT WHILE HES IN A HOSPITAL BED. And that’s presented as a lovely, positive ally move. Georgia writes this article talking about being an ally and how much she admires Pony, but she never even addresses how she spent the vast majority of this novel being concerned about her social status if she dates Pony and how people might think she’s a lesbian (which is simply the worst possible thing people could think about you, according to her and her friend group.)
On the note of Pony & Georgia’s relationship, it’s averagely written at best? I feel some level of chemistry between them, but Georgia’s transphobia, as I’ve discussed, is just never countered. On top of that, the fact that Pony’s trans is presented as him “lying” to Georgia, especially throughout the beginning/first 3/4 of the book, and that viewpoint is never countered either.
I enjoyed the plotline with Ted London, but it did feel somewhat underdeveloped, and when that plotline ended, it felt messily wrapped up. I wish it was more substantial, I feel like there could’ve been more meaning there.
I know it’s #ownvoices, and I’m glad it is, but to me, it feels written to make cis people feel better. I definitely wouldn’t recommend this book to cis people, as I feel like they might pick up some really harmful and uncontested views on trans people. And I wouldn’t really recommend it to trans people either, as it’s full of microagressions that are rarely countered, medicalized transness, and violent, traumatic transphobia. This isn’t really a contemporary romance or a coming-of-age YA book.
Why is every trans YA novel a narrative about trauma?
Why is the turning point of every trans YA novel a hate crime?
lbarsk's review against another edition
3.0
Ahhh gosh I feel really conflicted about this book. There were good THREADS -- Pony and Georgia's parallel journeys to self-acceptance and truer expressions of their inner wants/needs/identities; the lesbian coming out subplot that I would've loved to see more of; the development of family dynamics; the evolution of friendships; connections with our queer elders and queer history.
But at the same time it was all so COMPRESSED. Like, one of those themes alone would've made for an interesting book! I've read other Queer Ownvoices YA stories that did tackle a more limited scope and enjoyed them! So maybe McSmith's next book will be something a little tighter? I dunno, I feel bad being like "this was just okay" when there were actually parts that shone for me and it was compelling enough to read in pretty much 24 hours. But there was just a little too much going on for me to truly get into it. I'M SORRY
But at the same time it was all so COMPRESSED. Like, one of those themes alone would've made for an interesting book! I've read other Queer Ownvoices YA stories that did tackle a more limited scope and enjoyed them! So maybe McSmith's next book will be something a little tighter? I dunno, I feel bad being like "this was just okay" when there were actually parts that shone for me and it was compelling enough to read in pretty much 24 hours. But there was just a little too much going on for me to truly get into it. I'M SORRY
murderpigeonsgobump's review against another edition
2.0
In general this was an okay book, the writing was not as bad as it could have been. The main issues with this book are the massive amount of trigger warnings it needs, and the marketing and cover/summary making it sound like a cute romance. It's described as a "coming-of-age teen love story about a transgender boy", and sure that's true to an extent but there is so much transphobia here from so many sources that's painful to read, including the extremely graphic assault scene near the end that has no warning. The book is entirely marketed as a cute romance and that can be really harmful if you have triggers and just go into this looking for an optimistic trans story. Also, the moral of this book seems to be that going stealth is bad for yourself and the community and it will never work out no matter what, this theme is driven home so much by everyone "supportive" in Pony's life and it's really weird to read when Max is going on about how he won't be friends with Pony anymore if he continues failing the trans community by being stealth.
ambereen's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts
literaryleftie's review against another edition
5.0
I literally bawled like a baby at the end. The last couple of chapters gripped my heart and would not let go. This is the best book that I have ever read.
inkwell_god's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
First book to make me cry in about 7 years.
rinorsomething's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to rate this higher. Georgia spent so much of the book being ignorant, self obsessed, and unsympathetic. After Homecoming, she has this miraculous change of heart that was obviously supposed to be more meaningful than I found it, especially given that she immediately (and pretty successfully) makes everything from that point on about her. Her article, facing off with Pony’s dad, the grand display at the very end, she made certain to put herself at the center of it all to show off how Educated she suddenly is.
Also! The implication that Pony is lying to or deceiving people by choosing not to come out? Perpetrated by multiple characters? No thank you.
Also! The implication that Pony is lying to or deceiving people by choosing not to come out? Perpetrated by multiple characters? No thank you.
ifflandm's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5