Scan barcode
paja2004's review
5.0
first I’d like to thank Goodreads for recommending this book to me, because I have no fckin clue where I’d be, if the recommending service wouldn’t do it
when I first saw the annotation I was like ehm? this-sounds-amazing-I-gotta-read-it?! and damn well I did
it really WAS amazing and far beyond even
yes there were times when I was asking myself some questions that should’ve been asked in the book but the story, the characters, the romances just fitted right and I immediately forgot these things
this is just masterpiece
read it
really do
it’s worth it
when I first saw the annotation I was like ehm? this-sounds-amazing-I-gotta-read-it?! and damn well I did
it really WAS amazing and far beyond even
yes there were times when I was asking myself some questions that should’ve been asked in the book but the story, the characters, the romances just fitted right and I immediately forgot these things
this is just masterpiece
read it
really do
it’s worth it
iam's review
1.0
1.5 stars
I'm surprised that I actually finished this.
But before going further into that, let me talk about what the book is about.
There's two main plot lines:
One centers around gender-fluid teen Declan, who with his sister's help after she finds him trying on her clothes attends a high-school party as cousin Layla - where he finally gets close to Carter, his crush of two years. Carter and Layla connect deeply, but Declan doesn't know how to reveal the truth, especially when the school year starts.
With the beginning of high-school the second plot line begins and boils down to: principal bans LGBTQ+ club, the students are Not Happy and a long series of protests start, at the head of which stand Carter and Declan.
These two plotlines do barely tangle as they are sequential, which broke the book up into two parts for me.
Most of my issues lay with the first part, or more concretely with the beginning.
First there was the writing. It's not bad exactly but it was just SO awkward and unnatural. The way characters interacted, what they said and what they thought was just so alien that at times I had no idea what was going on or was seriously creeped out by it. I think part of this was because the characters were supposed to sound like "real teenagers" who use slang, pop-culture references and are moody. It just didn't work.
Second there was the whole thing with Delia, the sister, finding Declan in her room trying on her clothes. Not only was it awkwardly written, but what was said just made me cringe.
One of her first comments to finding out he likes to dress in dresses and wear makeup is how he shouldn't have hid it from her because she understands. Why? Because she watched "every episode of RuPaul's Drag Race!!!" because of course that tells more about how accepting she is of queer people than her laughing about the gay jokes her friends make.
Then when Declain tells her he's nonbinary/gender-fluid and that he likes boys she summarizes it as "you're basically a straight tomboy trapped in a boy's body" which..... what????? Not only was that completely unecessary but Declan's reaction is that he "gave up trying to improve on [how to explain]" which broke my heart.
She does ask him about pronouns, but when he struggles with how to reply (he seems to prefer he/him pronouns and uses them consistently throughout the book but it's never elaborated beyond his vague stuttering) it seems like she doesn't even let him finish talking and immediately bombards him with other questions about his sexuality.
It just felt wrong to me, especially since Delia is supposed to be supportive, and seemed to take away from this very emotional and raw scene for Declan (who expected to be hated), turning it into something to get over with quickly so that the "real plot" could start.
That also made it not feel right that immediately after this Delia dresses him up as Layla and drags him to a party where he knows nobody (aside from being acquaintanced with Delia's friends).
That's where we meet Carter. Carter is the typical picture-perfect popular high-school guy (though he's not a jock I think) complete with white-knight/I-need-to-save-everyone complex. He has virtually no flaws. He's funny, sensitive, intelligent, skilled in various ways, acknowledges his mistakes, and so on.
I was surprised to find that he is actually a POV character, and especially in the second half of the book he seems to take over as main protagonist.
Looking back, despite all this, I feel like I have almost no grasp of what his personality is.
When Carter and Layla meet for the first time, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Their conversation was all over the place and often I couldn't figure out what they were talking about exactly.
This got better with time - I am not sure if I got used to the style or if the writing really improved, or if it was due to the beginning being so rushed. That improvement (?) and the fact that I wanted to know what happens was the one thing that kept me reading. Up to 20% I came very close to DNF'ing this book several times.
But it wasn't just the conversations that were confusing. While the talking improved, I still often had no idea what was going on exactly in the background, why the characters were doing or where they were going, because it was simply not elaborated. I think part of my confusion was because I am not American - I only have a vague idea of the American high-school experience and what it exactly entails, so I assume a lot of explanations were simply left out because it was assumed that the reader would automatically know what was going on. (Because of course: Europe? Any other continents and countries? Don't know her)
All that said, I think that the second plot line about the fight for the LGBTQ+ club was rather well done. The "evil principal" was a bit caricature-like at times, but I still liked the overall plot.
The ending surprised me.
The fact that the epilogue was about them proposing to one another WHILE DECLAN IS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL (though he's about to gratuate) was... um. Just seemed a bit weird to me, though there were instances of them being sure that the other is "the one". I guess I'm just not a fan of high-schoolers/teens deciding to marry/proposing.
What I wish there was more of was talk about sexuality and gender. Not every YA book with queer characters has to be deeply introspective, but in this case I felt like it would have benefited of some more, especially in conversation between the protagonists. ESPECIALLY given that they are fighting for an LGBTQ+ club. They bascially never talk about sexuality or gender or their own feelings regarding these with each other which I found weird, given their developing relationship. The few conversations they do have about this are vague and "theoretical".
There is pining for each other at several times, but in direct contact with each other they almost never consider their attraction for one another.
Additionally, I would have just liked to know more about how Declan in particular was feeling. While he's still in the process of figuring out himself and how he wants to present himself, the way he feels about his gender/being gender-fluid is written extremely vaguely for the most part and only mentioned rarely, so I wouldn't say it's as big a part of the book as I hoped it would be.
There still are several important conversations, especially about sexism. At the same time a lot of the way they talk follows harmful stereotypes about gender roles or other concepts, like the"friendzone", and the language used is very binary/cis-normative.
While I liked how some topics were handled, the way they were integrated into conversations between two teenagers didn't feel natural, instead being very philosophical and a bit clinical. Of course teens can be philosophical, but it got too deep too fast, and given my other issues with the writing I just didn't find it believable at all.
Another thing I didn't find believable was how nobody recognized Declan as Layla. Even Declan's best friend doesn't. There are several situations where I was 100% sure someone would realize but then they just... didn't.
On the one hand I just didn't think it made any sense (like, I'm pretty sure I would recognize my best friends even with makeup and wearing clothes I've never seen them in before, especially when they start talking to me about our favourite shared interests, in a language that both of us speak but nobody currently around us understands???), but on the other hand I appreciated that there was no drama around such an unplanned reveal, and Layla/Declan is never in danger because of how he presents or dresses himself.
Overall the book has an interesting premise and is entertaining for the most part, but it has a very weak start and some big flaws.
Content warnings for
I'm surprised that I actually finished this.
But before going further into that, let me talk about what the book is about.
There's two main plot lines:
One centers around gender-fluid teen Declan, who with his sister's help after she finds him trying on her clothes attends a high-school party as cousin Layla - where he finally gets close to Carter, his crush of two years. Carter and Layla connect deeply, but Declan doesn't know how to reveal the truth, especially when the school year starts.
With the beginning of high-school the second plot line begins and boils down to: principal bans LGBTQ+ club, the students are Not Happy and a long series of protests start, at the head of which stand Carter and Declan.
These two plotlines do barely tangle as they are sequential, which broke the book up into two parts for me.
Most of my issues lay with the first part, or more concretely with the beginning.
First there was the writing. It's not bad exactly but it was just SO awkward and unnatural. The way characters interacted, what they said and what they thought was just so alien that at times I had no idea what was going on or was seriously creeped out by it. I think part of this was because the characters were supposed to sound like "real teenagers" who use slang, pop-culture references and are moody. It just didn't work.
Second there was the whole thing with Delia, the sister, finding Declan in her room trying on her clothes. Not only was it awkwardly written, but what was said just made me cringe.
One of her first comments to finding out he likes to dress in dresses and wear makeup is how he shouldn't have hid it from her because she understands. Why? Because she watched "every episode of RuPaul's Drag Race!!!" because of course that tells more about how accepting she is of queer people than her laughing about the gay jokes her friends make.
Then when Declain tells her he's nonbinary/gender-fluid and that he likes boys she summarizes it as "you're basically a straight tomboy trapped in a boy's body" which..... what????? Not only was that completely unecessary but Declan's reaction is that he "gave up trying to improve on [how to explain]" which broke my heart.
She does ask him about pronouns, but when he struggles with how to reply (he seems to prefer he/him pronouns and uses them consistently throughout the book but it's never elaborated beyond his vague stuttering) it seems like she doesn't even let him finish talking and immediately bombards him with other questions about his sexuality.
It just felt wrong to me, especially since Delia is supposed to be supportive, and seemed to take away from this very emotional and raw scene for Declan (who expected to be hated), turning it into something to get over with quickly so that the "real plot" could start.
That also made it not feel right that immediately after this Delia dresses him up as Layla and drags him to a party where he knows nobody (aside from being acquaintanced with Delia's friends).
That's where we meet Carter. Carter is the typical picture-perfect popular high-school guy (though he's not a jock I think) complete with white-knight/I-need-to-save-everyone complex. He has virtually no flaws. He's funny, sensitive, intelligent, skilled in various ways, acknowledges his mistakes, and so on.
I was surprised to find that he is actually a POV character, and especially in the second half of the book he seems to take over as main protagonist.
Looking back, despite all this, I feel like I have almost no grasp of what his personality is.
When Carter and Layla meet for the first time, I had absolutely no idea what was going on. Their conversation was all over the place and often I couldn't figure out what they were talking about exactly.
This got better with time - I am not sure if I got used to the style or if the writing really improved, or if it was due to the beginning being so rushed. That improvement (?) and the fact that I wanted to know what happens was the one thing that kept me reading. Up to 20% I came very close to DNF'ing this book several times.
But it wasn't just the conversations that were confusing. While the talking improved, I still often had no idea what was going on exactly in the background, why the characters were doing or where they were going, because it was simply not elaborated. I think part of my confusion was because I am not American - I only have a vague idea of the American high-school experience and what it exactly entails, so I assume a lot of explanations were simply left out because it was assumed that the reader would automatically know what was going on. (Because of course: Europe? Any other continents and countries? Don't know her)
All that said, I think that the second plot line about the fight for the LGBTQ+ club was rather well done. The "evil principal" was a bit caricature-like at times, but I still liked the overall plot.
The ending surprised me.
Spoiler
The "reveal" (Declan telling Carter that he is Layla/Layla is him) happened way later in the book than I expected. Carter's reactions (that he knew almost the entire time) wasn't surprising but not exactly built up to well either.The fact that the epilogue was about them proposing to one another WHILE DECLAN IS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL (though he's about to gratuate) was... um. Just seemed a bit weird to me, though there were instances of them being sure that the other is "the one". I guess I'm just not a fan of high-schoolers/teens deciding to marry/proposing.
What I wish there was more of was talk about sexuality and gender. Not every YA book with queer characters has to be deeply introspective, but in this case I felt like it would have benefited of some more, especially in conversation between the protagonists. ESPECIALLY given that they are fighting for an LGBTQ+ club. They bascially never talk about sexuality or gender or their own feelings regarding these with each other which I found weird, given their developing relationship. The few conversations they do have about this are vague and "theoretical".
There is pining for each other at several times, but in direct contact with each other they almost never consider their attraction for one another.
Additionally, I would have just liked to know more about how Declan in particular was feeling. While he's still in the process of figuring out himself and how he wants to present himself, the way he feels about his gender/being gender-fluid is written extremely vaguely for the most part and only mentioned rarely, so I wouldn't say it's as big a part of the book as I hoped it would be.
There still are several important conversations, especially about sexism. At the same time a lot of the way they talk follows harmful stereotypes about gender roles or other concepts, like the"friendzone", and the language used is very binary/cis-normative.
While I liked how some topics were handled, the way they were integrated into conversations between two teenagers didn't feel natural, instead being very philosophical and a bit clinical. Of course teens can be philosophical, but it got too deep too fast, and given my other issues with the writing I just didn't find it believable at all.
Another thing I didn't find believable was how nobody recognized Declan as Layla. Even Declan's best friend doesn't. There are several situations where I was 100% sure someone would realize but then they just... didn't.
On the one hand I just didn't think it made any sense (like, I'm pretty sure I would recognize my best friends even with makeup and wearing clothes I've never seen them in before, especially when they start talking to me about our favourite shared interests, in a language that both of us speak but nobody currently around us understands???), but on the other hand I appreciated that there was no drama around such an unplanned reveal, and Layla/Declan is never in danger because of how he presents or dresses himself.
Overall the book has an interesting premise and is entertaining for the most part, but it has a very weak start and some big flaws.
Content warnings for
Spoiler
bullying of all kinds on- and off-page, homophobia, violence tied to the bullying and homophobia, bigotry, and there's one scene that sounded very questionable-consent-y to me but I am not sure because it's written so weirdly that I can't figure out if there really was sexual contact or not.katts_bookworld's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
4.5
becandbooks's review against another edition
4.0
This book is brilliant in so many ways, it was moving and relatable, and I laughed and cried. I also cringed a bit. Despite the absolutely fantastic job that Meister did with this publication, there were a few moments that rubbed me the wrong way that I want to discuss.
This book leaves a lot to unpack; from talks about sexuality, gender and self presentation, to love and lust, civil rights and LGBTQ+ support it would be easy to think this would be a heavy book.
But it's not.
With a lot of the fluffiness of a typical YA contemporary, this book explores some really important issues with sugar-coating or feeling too serious. A tough feat if you ask me.
The characters are absolutely incredible. Dee, Dex's older sister, is a force to be reckoned with and someone everyone should aspire to be more like. Despite her sometimes dubious advise, her heart is always in the right place and can we talk about her conversation with Dex regarding his identity?! I want to say it's one of the best, and still most authentic, coming out scenes I have ever read. It made me bawl, not gonna lie.
Carter is a gem. He is not what he appears and his growth throughout the book is phenomenal. While not my favourite character, by the end he was truly deserving of everything he ended up with and it couldn't make me happier.
Dex is of course our MC. The authenticity of his feelings, his attempts to fit in, but also blend into the background, while sorting out who he is, but also how he wants to be seen, is something that I think any LGBTQ+ person can relate to. His mistakes and victories only added depth and dimension to his character.
(Even the side characters had fantastic growth! Shout out to Goat my gorgeous bean!)
The LGBTQ+ diversity is obviously amazingly present in this book. There were times however where I was surprised a situation wasn't handled better.
For example,
Nothing major, but I personally felt a little uncomfy about this and was surprised Meister didn't make more of an effort to include neutral pronouns.
And then there was the (kind of?) outing that went under the radar.
Now there were two main outings that occur in this book, one that is discussed and one that is not. The first outing is what we are discussing, when someone turns Dex into a hero because he knocked out someone who called him a homomisic slur. Despite this being something that was done with good intentions and not strictly outing him, it put Dex's sexuality under the spotlight and resulted in his coming out at school. While the outing in this story was not particularly harmful to the queer person in question, what it could have been, the potential damage involved, and the fact that noone has the right or privilege to out another person.
This isn't something that should be okay and normalized, because the harm that can arise from such a situation. It really disappointed me that this was included but not explored. Even the second outing, the school principal contacting parents regarding their sexuality and support of LGBTQ+, which was dealt with more seriousness wasn't readily explored and it felt like a missed opportunity.
Despite these concerns, this book has SO MUCH going for it that I couldn't give it a rating lower then 4-stars. It is still going on my list of favourite books of 2018!
Note: Review copy received from NetGalley. This does not impact opinions within this review.
becandbooks.com ‧ trigger warning database ‧ book depository ‧ more links
"As long as he avoided discussing half of his identity, he could slip under the radar."
This book leaves a lot to unpack; from talks about sexuality, gender and self presentation, to love and lust, civil rights and LGBTQ+ support it would be easy to think this would be a heavy book.
But it's not.
With a lot of the fluffiness of a typical YA contemporary, this book explores some really important issues with sugar-coating or feeling too serious. A tough feat if you ask me.
The characters are absolutely incredible. Dee, Dex's older sister, is a force to be reckoned with and someone everyone should aspire to be more like. Despite her sometimes dubious advise, her heart is always in the right place and can we talk about her conversation with Dex regarding his identity?! I want to say it's one of the best, and still most authentic, coming out scenes I have ever read. It made me bawl, not gonna lie.
Carter is a gem. He is not what he appears and his growth throughout the book is phenomenal. While not my favourite character, by the end he was truly deserving of everything he ended up with and it couldn't make me happier.
Dex is of course our MC. The authenticity of his feelings, his attempts to fit in, but also blend into the background, while sorting out who he is, but also how he wants to be seen, is something that I think any LGBTQ+ person can relate to. His mistakes and victories only added depth and dimension to his character.
(Even the side characters had fantastic growth! Shout out to Goat my gorgeous bean!)
"Sometimes he was okay with jeans, and others he desperately wanted to wear a dress; he wanted to be both and do both simultaneously, and the only way to accomplish that was to have an alter ego."
The LGBTQ+ diversity is obviously amazingly present in this book. There were times however where I was surprised a situation wasn't handled better.
For example,
Spoiler
when we first meet Chloe, an androgynous lesbian, Dex is unsure if they identify as a male or female. And yet, the rest of the discussion about Chloe uses pronouns her and she, and refers to Chloe as 'the girl'.Nothing major, but I personally felt a little uncomfy about this and was surprised Meister didn't make more of an effort to include neutral pronouns.
And then there was the (kind of?) outing that went under the radar.
Now there were two main outings that occur in this book, one that is discussed and one that is not. The first outing is what we are discussing, when someone turns Dex into a hero because he knocked out someone who called him a homomisic slur. Despite this being something that was done with good intentions and not strictly outing him, it put Dex's sexuality under the spotlight and resulted in his coming out at school. While the outing in this story was not particularly harmful to the queer person in question, what it could have been, the potential damage involved, and the fact that noone has the right or privilege to out another person.
This isn't something that should be okay and normalized, because the harm that can arise from such a situation. It really disappointed me that this was included but not explored. Even the second outing, the school principal contacting parents regarding their sexuality and support of LGBTQ+, which was dealt with more seriousness wasn't readily explored and it felt like a missed opportunity.
"Reality does not rely upon your opinions, Principal Taggert. Complex sexualities exist, whether or not you understand them, whether or not you possess one."
Despite these concerns, this book has SO MUCH going for it that I couldn't give it a rating lower then 4-stars. It is still going on my list of favourite books of 2018!
→ trigger warnings: queermisia, queermisic/homomisic language
Note: Review copy received from NetGalley. This does not impact opinions within this review.
becandbooks.com ‧ trigger warning database ‧ book depository ‧ more links
kasperin's review
4.0
*Copy kindly provided by Netgalley and author in exchange of an honest review*
I don't know how is that this book isn't more popular within my friends: Cinderella retelling with a gender fluid protagonist.
Declan is caught by her sister, Delia, trying on her clothes and she decides that is a good idea to give him a make over and take him to a party in the house of the most popular boy in school, Carter. Delia presents Declan as her cousin Layla, and Carter inmediatly likes her. Layla and Carter start to date but when things get serious, Layla disapears before school starts. Declan and Carter meet at school later and join forces when the principal ban a Lgbt+ club.
I must say that at first the story wasn't working for me. It was that insta love that I'd read a thousand times before and I didn't felt any chemistry between Carter and Layla/Declan. But when school starts the story picks up. It's when the Rainbow Corps, a lgbt+ club is banned that Declan and Carter decide to stop being cowards in their own ways, Declan coming out of the closet and Carter actually fighting for something he believes in.
The characters were amazing! Really, there aren't any flat character here (Delia is an extraordinary fairy godmother!). Now, I don't know much about gender fluid sexuality and it's the first time I read about it and so I can't really say how accurate is portrayed here and I can't compare, yet I really liked Declan. He's cute, sassy, brave and trying to figure out who he is. Carter is sweet and has an incredible character development. I really like this two together, they're so adorable!
This story isn't only a romance, is about being yourself and standing by what you believe. It talks about prejudice and why it's important to face it.
I don't know how is that this book isn't more popular within my friends: Cinderella retelling with a gender fluid protagonist.
"It was the finest irony that bullies thought they were winning at life, when all they were doing was training their targets to be stronger and more ferocious"
Declan is caught by her sister, Delia, trying on her clothes and she decides that is a good idea to give him a make over and take him to a party in the house of the most popular boy in school, Carter. Delia presents Declan as her cousin Layla, and Carter inmediatly likes her. Layla and Carter start to date but when things get serious, Layla disapears before school starts. Declan and Carter meet at school later and join forces when the principal ban a Lgbt+ club.
I must say that at first the story wasn't working for me. It was that insta love that I'd read a thousand times before and I didn't felt any chemistry between Carter and Layla/Declan. But when school starts the story picks up. It's when the Rainbow Corps, a lgbt+ club is banned that Declan and Carter decide to stop being cowards in their own ways, Declan coming out of the closet and Carter actually fighting for something he believes in.
The characters were amazing! Really, there aren't any flat character here (Delia is an extraordinary fairy godmother!). Now, I don't know much about gender fluid sexuality and it's the first time I read about it and so I can't really say how accurate is portrayed here and I can't compare, yet I really liked Declan. He's cute, sassy, brave and trying to figure out who he is. Carter is sweet and has an incredible character development. I really like this two together, they're so adorable!
This story isn't only a romance, is about being yourself and standing by what you believe. It talks about prejudice and why it's important to face it.
maximum83's review
5.0
This was written by someone who really knows what is means to be gender fluid. Being agender myself, I really needed this book in my life. To top it off, it's a beautiful story and well written!
myendlessshelf's review
5.0
I know? After reading that blurb how could I not read this?!?
Quick note: I'm still learning when it comes to all of the different types of sexuality, gender-fluidity being something I don't know a great deal about at the moment, and so I can't honestly say whether or not the author appropriately handles this, all I can offer is my own opinion. So, apologies in advance if I make any mistakes and please feel free to correct me.
I can honestly say that I haven't been able to get this book off my mind since I finished reading it.
This is one of the most poignant LGBT books I've had the pleasure of reading. If you're looking for a book that's ready to take the world by storm and show everyone just how diverse we are, and how that's perfectly okay, this is the book for you!
I absolutely love Dex and Carter, Dex more so for his wit, his passion and his heart. He really is the purest of souls.
Beyond the passionate protest for human rights that forms a solid backbone intertwined with a burning romance, this book is a cover to cover nerd fest, full of the most delightful witty conversation between the two main characters. My nerdy brain was so happy with the glorious geekiness of this book.
My favourite aspect of this book was watching Dex transform, not into Layla as such, but into himself, watching his evolution from the nervous, shy, closeted Declan we meet at the beginning to the beautiful, confident, radiant Dex who evolves through the events of this book.
His sass, confidence and unforgiving mouth as he blooms are brilliant and the chemistry between these two is perfect.
Carter also goes through a pretty big personality transformation and it was wonderfully delivered.
This book does a fantastic job of making you think, making you reassess the world around you, in very much the same way that Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli has made huge progress recently.
I found myself thinking back to high school and how not a single person was openly gay or otherwise. We were all closeted, all afraid to make a wrong move. Constantly forced to be fake or fall victim to another. Cinderella Boy made me wonder how different life could have been if we'd had the courage to stand up for ourselves and for something that truly mattered.
I loved every aspect of this book. The ending resolved things beautifully, it was perfectly sweet and poignant.
I also have to mention the other fantastic characters we meet from Delia, Dex's sister, to Chloe, and Carter's mum. Even the antagonist's, whilst unpleasant are perfectly portrayed.
If you're a fan of Becky Albertalli, Mackenzie Lee and Adam Silvera, Cinderella Boy should definitely be on your TBR!
If you love lingering glances, passionate embraces and a friendship that will change everything, read this book!
4.5 tiara's from me!
P.S. I also desperately want my own treehouse castle...
Quick note: I'm still learning when it comes to all of the different types of sexuality, gender-fluidity being something I don't know a great deal about at the moment, and so I can't honestly say whether or not the author appropriately handles this, all I can offer is my own opinion. So, apologies in advance if I make any mistakes and please feel free to correct me.
I can honestly say that I haven't been able to get this book off my mind since I finished reading it.
This is one of the most poignant LGBT books I've had the pleasure of reading. If you're looking for a book that's ready to take the world by storm and show everyone just how diverse we are, and how that's perfectly okay, this is the book for you!
I absolutely love Dex and Carter, Dex more so for his wit, his passion and his heart. He really is the purest of souls.
Beyond the passionate protest for human rights that forms a solid backbone intertwined with a burning romance, this book is a cover to cover nerd fest, full of the most delightful witty conversation between the two main characters. My nerdy brain was so happy with the glorious geekiness of this book.
My favourite aspect of this book was watching Dex transform, not into Layla as such, but into himself, watching his evolution from the nervous, shy, closeted Declan we meet at the beginning to the beautiful, confident, radiant Dex who evolves through the events of this book.
His sass, confidence and unforgiving mouth as he blooms are brilliant and the chemistry between these two is perfect.
Carter also goes through a pretty big personality transformation and it was wonderfully delivered.
This book does a fantastic job of making you think, making you reassess the world around you, in very much the same way that Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli has made huge progress recently.
I found myself thinking back to high school and how not a single person was openly gay or otherwise. We were all closeted, all afraid to make a wrong move. Constantly forced to be fake or fall victim to another. Cinderella Boy made me wonder how different life could have been if we'd had the courage to stand up for ourselves and for something that truly mattered.
I loved every aspect of this book. The ending resolved things beautifully, it was perfectly sweet and poignant.
I also have to mention the other fantastic characters we meet from Delia, Dex's sister, to Chloe, and Carter's mum. Even the antagonist's, whilst unpleasant are perfectly portrayed.
If you're a fan of Becky Albertalli, Mackenzie Lee and Adam Silvera, Cinderella Boy should definitely be on your TBR!
If you love lingering glances, passionate embraces and a friendship that will change everything, read this book!
4.5 tiara's from me!
P.S. I also desperately want my own treehouse castle...
heresthepencil's review
4.0
rep: genderfluid mc, bi li
genderfluid kid finding love and acceptance and happiness?? with a perfect boy?? THIS is what the gays want
tw some homophobia, mentions of past bullying
genderfluid kid finding love and acceptance and happiness?? with a perfect boy?? THIS is what the gays want
tw some homophobia, mentions of past bullying
iamshadow's review
2.0
DNF at 100 pg. Utterly artificial dialogue and characterisation, and I never connected with the premise enough to hand wave the fact that the protagonist was completely unrecognisable and confident and able to walk in heels perfectly the first time ever while stealthing. Also, I didn't believe that the conversations sounded like teenagers at all - more like pretentious twenty-somethings who think they've invented philosophy.