Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Can't Take That Away

Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Can't Take That Away by Steven Salvatore

39 reviews

barnacleg00se's review

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved the bits about protesting unfair school policies. The characters grew on me a lot as well. I wasn't the biggest fan of the writing style, but it was easy to overlook whilst reading.

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thefightinside's review

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challenging emotional 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

4.25

This book is very inspiring to young LGBT+ people who feel pushed down. The ending is--to me--a bit too-good-to-be-true, but the ending works well for the story's sake.

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seawarrior's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There's a lot of ways I feel about this story and how I relate to it, but I'll try not to go on too long. I sincerely hope this book was as validating an experience to write as it surely will be for the genderqueer people who read it.

I began this story feeling that I couldn't see much of myself in Carey and was somewhat at odds with their melodramatic perspective of the world. Yet after reading further, I quickly became invested in their life and their dreams. Their wish to just exist authentically without having to make a political statement to do so is painfully close to my heart. I loved that as Carey grew kinder to themselves, they learned to apply similar kindness and understanding towards the people they were close to. It's very rewarding to watch a character who's a self-described diva learn to de-center themselves and prioritize their loved ones, along with those they have the power to inspire. Carey's love towards themselves and their friends and family made me love and respect them too as a reader. The supporting characters don't feel like props in Carey's play of life. Instead they are written with their own dreams, and anxieties they learn to overcome over the course of the story.

Really my only significant criticism of this story was that some of the character's speeches read more like a well-plotted lecture than organic dialogue that would realistically occur between people. However, I understand how difficult these moments must be to create as a writer, especially when your character is representing a piece of yourself. For the most part I felt this story was refreshing and inspiring, and the characters' voices will likely stick with me for a long time.

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readalongwithnat's review

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emotional tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I just absolutely loved this book with my whole queer heart. Seeing Carey's pronouns change day-to-day made me feel very validated as a nonbinary person.

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solenekeleroux's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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caidyn's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Wow, what a damn good book. When I heard about this book, I was worried that this would be like another Stay Gold. Not a bad book, but not one I enjoyed. It crammed too many hard topics in it and then held up themes I strongly disagree with up as a great thing. So, I was happy that this book wasn't like that. It was overall hopeful and happy. Did it have dark and hard themes? Hell yes. But it was handled right and with a very satisfying conclusion.

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ellis7e3ad's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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prebeartobemoosified's review

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I didn’t like the writing. This was the author’s first book, so I’m very happy to keep a lookout and watch their writing career, but for right now, this one wasn’t it for me.

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thereadersofrohan's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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ramunepocky's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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