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oceansofnovels's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
moh's review
5.0
I was not prepared to love this book so much. I hope to say more about when I'm less exhausted, but even though I'm old this book felt a live preserver. I can only imagine how life-affirming this gorgeous book is queer young adults.
sterkaim's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
_soraya_pl's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
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? No
4.25
YA is so good and complex these days! Recommending to many adults. I’m sure teens will love this.
dani794's review against another edition
4.25
“All of this was a part of me, and it wasn’t a reason to give up the war against hate, it was the reason to fight a lot harder for joy.”
This was a wonderful read. Although gender dysphoria isn’t something I personally relate to, I’m sure this would be really supportive to any type of trans kid that is worried about their future.
I liked River’s personality and their journey coming to terms with the internalised homophobia/transphobia that they had and it did feel natural.
Their journey accepting their Arab side was interesting too.
This was a wonderful read. Although gender dysphoria isn’t something I personally relate to, I’m sure this would be really supportive to any type of trans kid that is worried about their future.
I liked River’s personality and their journey coming to terms with the internalised homophobia/transphobia that they had and it did feel natural.
Their journey accepting their Arab side was interesting too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Transphobia
leer_amor's review
4.0
There is so much I can say about this book. This is a book that I wish I had three years ago, but at the same time, I think it would have torn me apart. There was a lot of parts of this book that I related to deeply. And it kind of made me really sad to read about a character who was stuck so deeply in a place that I was once. Because high school is hard. And family is hard. And being queer and trans is extremely hard. Not necessarily because a person is queer or trans but because of how society at large acts and views them.
I do think this is an incredibly important book. And I think this book has the capability of helping a lot of people and offering an extremely specific perspective to a lot of people that is needed. This book had a lot of representation for non-binary identities that is not prevalent in the media and in books. This is a type of representation that we need more of it. It was done really well here.
I specifically enjoyed that main character was a swimmer. And that the book talked extensively about how their sexuality and gender affected their swimming and their feelings about swimming. That is something that I have experienced. I tend to stay away from books that have characters who are swimmers because there is usually details that are wrong and it really bugs me. And there were some things about swimming in here that are different from what I know, but I think that is more because of regional and state differences. For example, in this book the high school swim team was coed. Which is different than my high school team. But most of the basic things about swimming were accurate and there wasn’t always a lot of details about the swimming itself. The book focused more on the main characters’ internal conflict in relation to swimming rather than specific details about swimming techniques and specifics. One thing that I particularly enjoyed is that the main character licked their goggles to try to keep the fog off. People who don’t swim always think that’s weird and gross but that’s a swimmer staple.
I think this book could be a five star read for a lot of people and it definitely has a potential of a five star read. But I can’t give it five stars because of my own feelings that relate to this book. It kind of brought back a lot of memories. Some bittersweet and not so nice.
One last thing I really like about this book is that it takes up a lot of time within the narrative. It goes through many years in the main characters life instead of just focusing on one year of high school. It follows the main character through high school and then into college and a little bit beyond. In doing this, the author offers a more expensive view of trans experience. Not specific to one year of high school, but a larger life experience. I appreciate it. Also, I liked how the romance in the book developed over that time. But there’s still happy ending. That might be a minor spoiler alert.
And lastly, I appreciate that the author included the main characters journey when it comes to transition and surgeries. I’ve read a lot of trans books, and while they have mentioned these things, none of them have brought up the details of, for example top surgery, in the way that this book did. And I think those are also important details to include in a book about and for trans youth.
I do think this is an incredibly important book. And I think this book has the capability of helping a lot of people and offering an extremely specific perspective to a lot of people that is needed. This book had a lot of representation for non-binary identities that is not prevalent in the media and in books. This is a type of representation that we need more of it. It was done really well here.
I specifically enjoyed that main character was a swimmer. And that the book talked extensively about how their sexuality and gender affected their swimming and their feelings about swimming. That is something that I have experienced. I tend to stay away from books that have characters who are swimmers because there is usually details that are wrong and it really bugs me. And there were some things about swimming in here that are different from what I know, but I think that is more because of regional and state differences. For example, in this book the high school swim team was coed. Which is different than my high school team. But most of the basic things about swimming were accurate and there wasn’t always a lot of details about the swimming itself. The book focused more on the main characters’ internal conflict in relation to swimming rather than specific details about swimming techniques and specifics. One thing that I particularly enjoyed is that the main character licked their goggles to try to keep the fog off. People who don’t swim always think that’s weird and gross but that’s a swimmer staple.
I think this book could be a five star read for a lot of people and it definitely has a potential of a five star read. But I can’t give it five stars because of my own feelings that relate to this book. It kind of brought back a lot of memories. Some bittersweet and not so nice.
One last thing I really like about this book is that it takes up a lot of time within the narrative. It goes through many years in the main characters life instead of just focusing on one year of high school. It follows the main character through high school and then into college and a little bit beyond. In doing this, the author offers a more expensive view of trans experience. Not specific to one year of high school, but a larger life experience. I appreciate it. Also, I liked how the romance in the book developed over that time. But there’s still happy ending. That might be a minor spoiler alert.
And lastly, I appreciate that the author included the main characters journey when it comes to transition and surgeries. I’ve read a lot of trans books, and while they have mentioned these things, none of them have brought up the details of, for example top surgery, in the way that this book did. And I think those are also important details to include in a book about and for trans youth.
witchofottawacounty's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
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? Yes
5.0
As a trans masc person who grew up and still live in the Midwest, this book hit hard for me. Haven't felt this seen since reading Gender Queer for the first time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Racism and Self harm
thegreenship's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
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? Yes
4.75
falfy's review
emotional
informative
2.5
I really wanted to like this book. It just seemed to miss the mark in a lot of ways. Indy seemed pretty selfish and not at all a good communicator. The ending seemed like they were trying to wrap it up with a nice bow. A lot of details were left out and it made it confusing for me.
I did like how the author made River’s journey realistic by going through the internalized queerphobia stages.
I did like how the author made River’s journey realistic by going through the internalized queerphobia stages.