Reviews

Man o' War by Cory McCarthy

Only show reviews with written explanations

hannahdegu's review against another edition

3.75

was obsessed in the end. in love with indie. theres lots of growing the main character goes through, and discussions on race could be better navigated… but it does give you a good warm heart feel

nonamesorgender's review against another edition

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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? No

5.0

I love this so much. I don’t really see books with both main character and love interest are trans, so it was such a good surprise. And the just with the main character growth and learning is so wonderful and so beautiful to read. The writing was also so nice.

cjsteadman's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

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

4.5

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

What a raw, honest, gorgeous, heartbreaking, joyful, witty, beautiful exploration of authenticity, love, and self-exploration. McCarthy not only shows you River’s experiences, but you feel them as if they were your own. Following River from their high school to college years while discovering what makes them feel the most comfortable and authentically themselves was an experience I feel so grateful to have read. Working through and processing in real time pronouns, name change, dysphoria, and more felt so authentic and true to River’s character. Watching them discover such a full and authentic life was such a joy. River and Indy’s relationship, how they come together, fall apart, and find one another again, was so complicated and beautiful and messy. The ending of the book truly reminded me that there are books that are essential in this world, and I believe this is one of them.

The ending acknowledgements from McCarthy were so kind and left me emotional. Like River, Knowing that McCarthy is also an Arab-American, nonbinary trans person, who also swam competitively, was so incredible to know how important this story was to McCarthy and his experience.

Finally, E.R. Fightmaster did an outstanding job narrating this book.

Content Warnings