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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Dysphoria
I’m too old for this book, it’s not bad though, concept is very good.
If you don’t care about the reality of trans lived experience, this book is fine. The story and vast majority of dialogue would make a lot more sense if the Phoebe was cis honestly, except the plot also hinges on Phoebe’s transness so like…?
Sometimes the book does address dysphoria and passing, which makes you think maybe it’s going to say something about those topics, but you would be mistaken. Phoebe passes 100% of the time unless the story briefly requires her not to, which only happens a couple of times. We never get to know how Phoebe thinks about herself in these moments, just how she reacts to other characters. One might argue these things are not essential, “why can’t this just be casual trans rep?”
I draw our attention back to the fact that parts of the plot hinge on Phoebe’s transness and also a huge amount of the dialogue in this book is conversations about sexuality and gender. The incidental rep excuse doesn’t work.
In general, Phoebe could be fleshed out way more! I feel like I know Mackenzie better than Phoebe by the end, Phoebe’s interiority was dearly missed.
It says something that this is a love triangle whereshe picks neither boy!! and the rest dissatisfied me so thoroughly that I just couldn’t be enthusiastic about that lol
Also, the writing was just sloppy. Ex: there’s a part where Phoebegets in a public screaming match with Mackenzie, who turns very transphobic!! And people in the background judge her for it… then the next time Phoebe goes to school everyone cheers for her as she walks down the hall????? …Wtf??
And why can’t we have any friends who aren’t shitty about trans stuff?? Why do we need to go back to Mackenzie why couldn’t we have some other friend who hasn’t been transphobic?? Like I don’t care how good of an apology I get, if you shout transphobic insults at me we’re done? Is that not? …normal??
Sometimes the book does address dysphoria and passing, which makes you think maybe it’s going to say something about those topics, but you would be mistaken. Phoebe passes 100% of the time unless the story briefly requires her not to, which only happens a couple of times. We never get to know how Phoebe thinks about herself in these moments, just how she reacts to other characters. One might argue these things are not essential, “why can’t this just be casual trans rep?”
I draw our attention back to the fact that parts of the plot hinge on Phoebe’s transness and also a huge amount of the dialogue in this book is conversations about sexuality and gender. The incidental rep excuse doesn’t work.
In general, Phoebe could be fleshed out way more! I feel like I know Mackenzie better than Phoebe by the end, Phoebe’s interiority was dearly missed.
It says something that this is a love triangle where
Also, the writing was just sloppy. Ex: there’s a part where Phoebe
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I have some criticisms and complex feelings about this one - for one, why did Phoebe only have one queer friend?? Like why is she getting all her life advice from cishet kids, where's the queer community she clearly needs?? Also I don't buy that she had never thought about sexism or misogyny until Mackenzie explained it to her, that seems v unrealistic - but overall I liked the art and I did think it had a good message in the end about self-determination, finding your path, and figuring out what YOU want instead of letting yourself be controlled by friends and partners.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was really looking forward to reading this graphic novel, but I found the persistent unchecked and unnecessary lesbophobia really uncomfortable on top of my issues with the cast of characters and the pervasive misogyny. I loved the artwork, but I don't think this book had many other redeeming qualities.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse
Moderate: Transphobia, Lesbophobia
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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:
Complicated
I had minimal expectations for this going in—it's a book club pick for my teen book club, so basically it's work—but I liked that the cover is riffing on one of my favorite movies, Clueless. I was pleasantly surprised, however, by how much substance there is here! This is not merely a lighthearted teen romcom about a young trans woman navigating friendships and romance at a new school (though any of that would have been valid in its own right, of course); this is a thoughtful, layered examination of girlhood as seen through the lens of Phoebe, who is experiencing it for the first time as a teenager. There were several aspects of this that surprised me, and then I felt foolish for never having considered them at all—such as the way Phoebe, who wasn't socialized as a female child, initially lacks a sense of caution when it comes to boys at parties; she's simply never been taught to be careful around boys and alcohol in the same way that cis girls are. (Thankfully, this lack of awareness doesn't lead her to physical harm, and her friends step in to rescue her from a creep.) Likewise, Phoebe is barraged with messages about what a girl "should" be, notably from her self-appointed new bestie Mackenzie and potential love interest Ethan: the former subscribes to a very narrow, toxic, and ultimately harmful type of femininity because of toxic messages she was taught (and eventually unlearns, in a very well-done subplot involving playing Audrey in a high school production of Little Shop of Horrors), and the latter appreciates Phoebe's femininity only to the extent that it does not threaten or call into question his own toxic masculinity (and his fear of being perceived as "gay" if people don't correctly perceive Phoebe as a girl). This is a hell of a lot to be discussed and parsed in a graphic novel that comes in at just over 200 pages, and left me seriously impressed with Visaggio's ability to tell this story in a way that doesn't hold the reader's hand. Here's hoping this is actually the month the book club kids READ THE BOOK THEY PICKED and we can have an interesting discussion! (But if not, at least I had a good time!)
No man can be a wave, Phoebe.
3.5 stars. This was a really well-drawn, really insightful coming of age comic about a trans girl being pulled in a bunch of different directions, while trying to figure out how to be herself. It's sometimes a little frustrating, and I think it faltered in a few key places. But it's overall really well-meaning, and I loved the messages about identity and first relationships and friendship.
Phoebe moves to a new town and a new school to live with her dad after coming out as trans. She wants to adjust to life and fit in, but soon finds herself being pulled in several different directions. Mackenzie, her popular new best friend, wants to teach her all about girlhood, the things you need to do to survive, how to handle boys. Ben, the first friend she made who's into a lot of her own nerdier hobbies, is supportive and enthusiastic, but this seems to come with strings. Ethan is one of her first crushes, a very sweet guy, but seems to want her to conform to a very particular type of girlhood. I do have to give this props for how well it was drafted and storyboarded. I really liked how certain things happening at school would mirror certain things happening in Phoebe's life. Like the English teacher's lectures on Jane Eyre and identity and womanhood. Or, later in the book, the Physics teacher's lecture about movement and things changing depending on how you see it. And the way the events of Little Shop of Horrors helps Mackenzie come to some realisations. (I've never seen that movie? show? but I enjoyed the inclusion, and I was really glad that Phoebe didn't have to be the one to do all of Mackenzie's teaching for her. I loved Leah as a character.) Phoebe's father was great, and there was a great exploration of a tough topic: an absentee mother. It's very frustrating watching Phoebe being jerked around in different ways by so many different people, but it's purposeful, and there are lessons to be learnt in the end. Helps that it's balanced out by a couple characters who have nothing but the best intentions for her: her father and Jessica. I absolutely adored the surfing subplot.
There are a few fucked up things that happen that are jarring in the moment, but the book circles back on them in satisfying ways. Sometimes. Like, the obviously incel dudebro who seems like he's getting rewarded for being an incel? No, he shows his true colours (in a horrendous way; I wanted to kill him) and gets rejected in the end. The guy who wants to control how Phoebe presents her girlhood? No, he gets put in his place. Mackenzie and Phoebe start getting catty and slut-shamey about another girl whose only crime was getting with Phoebe's ex, and said girl shows up to confront Phoebe. Mackenzie says something really hurtful and transphobic, and has do a lot of learning and repenting.
So those things were good, but it also wasn't enough? Like, I'm glad that friendship was at the heart of this graphic novel, and I'm glad Mackenzie and Phoebe came to an understanding, but Mackenzie got forgiven way too easily imo. She needed to do more friend-grovelling!! Also the girl that Phoebe and Mackenzie slut-shamed? I wish we'd seen an actual conversation about that (and maybe, you know, Phoebe could have apologised for her words and for pushing her into a pool??). When Mackenzie is educating Phoebe about how unfair boys can be, and all the double standards they have for women, they both kept throwing around the word 'dyke' in a way that was super jarring to see. Especially Mackenzie's first, almost accusatory 'are you a dyke??' when talking about how Phoebe was dressed. I was waiting to come back around on this (like, maybe Phoebe could say it in front of Jess, and Jess could be like 'lol ease up on the slurs straight girl') but we never did. Kinda disappointing.
But I do think this was well-intentioned and sweet, and it succeeded in its intent in more ways than it failed. I had a good time with this! The art was really lovely. I would probably want to make a few changes to the writing to make this a perfect book (especially for its intended audience) but I think it was great overall.
Content warnings:
A well written, simple but very powerful story about a teenage girl trying to find herself. The story hits deep in its exploration of themes that many trans people can relate to but in a way that diverges from the same old tropes. Personally I have never been so touched by a comic book.