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k8lynn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
3.5
i flew through this one! this book had its up and downs for me. david levithan's writing is excellent, however i'm not a fan of how quickly things start with rhiannon & how things escalate between them rather quickly. why does he love her after like three days? & it felt VERY redundant how on a consistent basis every chapter started with "i'm X miles/minutes/towns away from Rhiannon." creepy stalker much? i'm also really disappointed in the fatphobic chapter and the chapter with the suicidal ideations; the way these were handled were very abrupt and insensitive. i understand why some people really hated this book (due to the chapter where A is like 300lbs & a trigger warning on the addict and suicidal people would have been nice!). his descrptions of life in a 2X body are quite offensive and i don't even relate to that. those parts made me very uncomfortable. the second to last chapter made me cry & i was very enamored with all the different people we had the opportunity to meet whilst reading this. very clever concept, but i would have handled certain ideas better and paced things a lot differently if i wrote this. finally, the ending is very sad and in some ways feels empty. & some topics/ideas/feelings A feels passionate about throughout the novel fall short at the end which bothered me a bit. an altogether great read, but i had a lot of qualms that skewed my overall judgment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Self harm, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Suicidal thoughts
ssgcedits's review
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Fantastic premise, agonisingly poor execution. Although there is some exploration of the intricacies of waking up as a different person since birth, the bulk of the book is wasted on a completely unnecessary romance and, by the time the protagonist gets close to understanding how and why that's been happening... the book ends--with more romantic considerations, of course. A complete disappointment. I'm glad I got it from the library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Mental illness, Self harm, and Transphobia
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, and Bullying
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