Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Characters - 7.5/10
Atmosphere/Setting - 7.25/10
Writing - 7.25/10
Plot - 8.75/10
Intrigue - 7.75/10
Logic - 8.5/10
Enjoyment - 7.75/10
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Medical content, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Acephobia/Arophobia
Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Dysphoria
Moderate: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Transphobia
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug use
Minor: Homophobia
“For trans and nonbinary youth: You’re beautiful. You’re important. You’re valid. You’re perfect.”
I have so many feelings, I was going to drag reading this out even longer because I absolutely fell in love with Kacen Callender’s writing, but I just blew through the last hundred pages. I’ll write a longer review later, just know that I love this.
“I’m not flaunting anything. I’m just existing. This is me. I can’t hide myself. I can’t disappear. And even if I could, I don’t fucking want to. I have the same right to be here. I have the same right to exist.”
Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Racism
Minor: Medical content
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming
Minor: Alcoholism, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism
Graphic: Bullying, Transphobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Deadnaming
“I was hurt this summer, hurt more than I thought I ever could be. It could’ve been easy to say I was hurt because I’m trans, because someone singled me out for my identity, but there’s something weird about that—something off, about suggesting that my identity is the thing that brought me any sort of pain. It’s the opposite. Being trans brings me love. It brings me happiness. It gives me power.” Ezra’s biting his lip as he grins at me. I shrug a little. “It makes me feel like I’m a god. I wouldn’t change myself for anything.”
He shrugs with a smile. “I honestly don’t care that much about labels. I mean, I know they’re important to a lot of people, and I can see why—I’m not knocking them. It’s just . . . I kind of wish we could exist without having to worry about putting ourselves into categories. If there were no straight people, no violence or abuse or homophobia or anything, would we even need labels, or would we just be? Sometimes I wonder if labels can get in the way. Like, if I was adamant that I’m straight, does that force me into only liking girls? What if that’d stopped me from falling in love with a guy? I don’t know,” he says again. “I get that labels can be important.”
“They connect us. They help create community,” Leah says. “I can see what you’re saying. If the world was perfect, maybe we wouldn’t need labels. But the world isn’t perfect, and labels can really be a source of pride—especially when we’ve got to deal with so much crap. I’m really freaking proud to be a lesbian.”
😭😭😭😭 This is my first time seeing something like this be on page, and have a discussion. These type of discussion in queer always makes it awesome-and how just being labeled as ‘queer’ is okay.
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Drug use, Homophobia, Transphobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Racism