Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Both Sides Now

This book is emotional and plot-driven. It is a book with characters that actually feel like teenagers - teenagers who are imperfect humans, occasionally self-centered, self-righteous, and irritating. People who make mistakes even when they're trying their best.

That said, it is a white queer book. Aside from our love interest, the non-white characters don't really have as much depth as the white characters. And although I am happy to bash the anti-Asian racism that is the entire premise of Thourghly Modern Millie any day of the week, alluding to the racism of the show that will likely still have thousands of high school productions this year is not a stand-in for actually looking at the way race is impacting the people in the narrative here. This novel can look at the glaring and obvious examples of racism, but it doesn't handle the topic of race with any real nuance.

I would also say as someone who works in politics - the dream of a high schooler to move to DC, become a member of congress, and change the world is relatable; but the constant dismissal of other theories of change, of work that makes a difference in our communities everyday, and the way that Finch's stubbornness caused them to look down on doing actual political work was disappointing at best. It presents a narrative that I think harms teenagers' ability to see themselves taking action.

I think this is a book that tries. It could have been better. At its core this is a friends-to-lovers YA romance that feels a bit rushed in places. But the first-person POV let's us really dig into the feelings and complicated relationships of a support system that exists even when you don't feel like you have a lot of support.

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zoepagereader's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring slow-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

Wow, did I enjoy this read. While the beginning was slow, the rest of the book made everything worth it. I did, however, feel that Finch’s parents were very one dimensional. But other than that my only complaint is the fact that the author had no clue how high school debates run. Maybe this is just from my personal experience, but you can’t hypothetically change the time period during a round and a POI is not a part of a debate, it is a speech style which cannot be made up on the spot, which they also did in this book. Once my nerd self gets past that though, 5🌟

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kahi_cow's review

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funny inspiring reflective 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

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maxwell7373's review

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0

I picked this book up randomly at a book store and had hoped for this to be good rep, but unfortunately it was a mess for me. The main character is very flawed and often is rude or acts like he knows better than others. I had hoped this would be brought up as a big negative of his actions, but nope. His mistakes and flaws really end up being glazed over, and he doesn’t learn much at the end. Most of the characters were a stereotype of some sort, some more in your face than others. The trans aspect was quite relatable for me, but the rest of it was disappointing and harmful. There is some good in there, but it’s grossly outweighed by the constant undertones of racial stereotypes and general (snootiness? self righteousness?) of the main character. I’m planning on painting over the book and turning it into a decorative box -because I don’t like wasting- and really, really don’t recommend it to anyone.

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