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wintergirl94's review against another edition
5.0
This book is beautiful, it’s important, it’s a masterpiece.
This has gone right to the top of all the lists of all the best books I’ve ever read. Wow.
This has gone right to the top of all the lists of all the best books I’ve ever read. Wow.
lauraelizah's review against another edition
1.0
My rating doesn’t reflect the book itself, just my patience. The story was good but I just couldn’t get into a flow of reading it. I may go back and try again, but for now I’m not really feeling it.
lauraowen's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.5
currentlycheckedout's review against another edition
5.0
This book was fantastic. It’s a week later and I still can’t stop thinking about it. Easily in my favorite books of the year and of all time.
annekeluiseeichert's review against another edition
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
hotleifuice's review against another edition
5.0
audiobook
this book absolutely SLAYED me. it was so good and Meredith Russo does it again. i love her writing so much and there is so much love and work that goes into her craft and the writing that you can really feel it while listening or reading the book. i love that Erik loved Morgan as a person and a woman since the beginning and i love how she writes about southerners falling in love when a lot of people tend to view us as stupid hicks who only have hate in our hearts.
the malice mizer reference slapped me in the face in the best way since it was something that pulled me back into my own gender confused adolescence. i love Morgan and i'm so glad she had a happy ending this book really was the best read of the year for me so far. she really was a complete person and i love that we see her journey of self-acceptance since the road to accepting your gender is more than just if others will accept you, but you accepting yourself and working through that since it's not a linear thing and while other accepting you help, progress can't be made until we do the work for us and i can't stop gushing about this book!
this book absolutely SLAYED me. it was so good and Meredith Russo does it again. i love her writing so much and there is so much love and work that goes into her craft and the writing that you can really feel it while listening or reading the book. i love that Erik loved Morgan as a person and a woman since the beginning and i love how she writes about southerners falling in love when a lot of people tend to view us as stupid hicks who only have hate in our hearts.
the malice mizer reference slapped me in the face in the best way since it was something that pulled me back into my own gender confused adolescence. i love Morgan and i'm so glad she had a happy ending this book really was the best read of the year for me so far. she really was a complete person and i love that we see her journey of self-acceptance since the road to accepting your gender is more than just if others will accept you, but you accepting yourself and working through that since it's not a linear thing and while other accepting you help, progress can't be made until we do the work for us and i can't stop gushing about this book!
catanddoglover775's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
heathersnerdyworld's review against another edition
4.0
This is such an important read. I cried at least 3 times due to the challenges trans youth face. Most importantly this is an own voices novel. I feel like a LGBTQ+ novel has not made me understand the internal and struggles the way this novel did. That being said I have not read every own voices LGBTQ+ novel out there, just that Birthday is the one that impacted my understanding the most. The struggles of mental health, bullying, self hate, and the physical limitations of being in the wrong body are all laid out and the story feels extremely real.
There are 2 reasons this book is 4 stars. It took me a long time to get into the novel, and I feel this ties into my second reason, I found Eric's perspective to be the more generic and bland jock stereotypical POV we've seen time and time again. It took away from some of the more impactful moments with Morgan for me, though there are times it complimented Morgan's POV and the story well.
There are 2 reasons this book is 4 stars. It took me a long time to get into the novel, and I feel this ties into my second reason, I found Eric's perspective to be the more generic and bland jock stereotypical POV we've seen time and time again. It took away from some of the more impactful moments with Morgan for me, though there are times it complimented Morgan's POV and the story well.
charlie_mtz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
nicolemhewitt's review against another edition
5.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
This book!! This book made my heart hurt and also made it incredibly happy. I have to warn you, there were tears shed. If you've ever wanted to understand how someone could feel a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth, you need to read this book. (Obviously this book can't represent every transgender person's experience, but it does a great job of portraying one person's experience.) Being inside Morgan's head makes it so clear---the struggle to fit in when you just feel wrong somehow, the fears of how others will react, the painful process of coming to terms with a reality you might not want to face at first. The book chronicles four birthdays, shared by Morgan and her best friend Eric, and it shows how Morgan and Eric's relationship transforms over those years. It's definitely a character-driven book---don't expect a fast-moving plot (the plot basically centers on events that bring Morgan closer to accepting her transition). But DO expect a heartrending portrayal of coming to terms with being transgender. One other small critique is that the romance aspect of the book all happened a little easily (it's clear from the beginning that Eric already sees Morgan as female in a lot of ways---I'm not sure how many transgender people have someone who sees them so clearly from the outset), but that's a small detail, and honestly, everyone deserves to see the possibility of a happy, easy relationship in their future.
This book is powerful and eye-opening. I think everyone should read it!
This book!! This book made my heart hurt and also made it incredibly happy. I have to warn you, there were tears shed. If you've ever wanted to understand how someone could feel a different gender than the one they were assigned at birth, you need to read this book. (Obviously this book can't represent every transgender person's experience, but it does a great job of portraying one person's experience.) Being inside Morgan's head makes it so clear---the struggle to fit in when you just feel wrong somehow, the fears of how others will react, the painful process of coming to terms with a reality you might not want to face at first. The book chronicles four birthdays, shared by Morgan and her best friend Eric, and it shows how Morgan and Eric's relationship transforms over those years. It's definitely a character-driven book---don't expect a fast-moving plot (the plot basically centers on events that bring Morgan closer to accepting her transition). But DO expect a heartrending portrayal of coming to terms with being transgender. One other small critique is that the romance aspect of the book all happened a little easily (it's clear from the beginning that Eric already sees Morgan as female in a lot of ways---I'm not sure how many transgender people have someone who sees them so clearly from the outset), but that's a small detail, and honestly, everyone deserves to see the possibility of a happy, easy relationship in their future.
This book is powerful and eye-opening. I think everyone should read it!