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A review by andraebutler25
The Ship We Built by Lexie Bean
4.0
(tw: transphobia, homophobia, abuse, implications of SA)
This was such a tough read.
The Ship We Built is about a trans boy named Rowan, as he is discovering his identity and dealing with his abusive father.
This is told similarly to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Rowan is sending letters to whoever finds them and reads them. He sends them up in balloons, which is so sweet.
I don’t even know what to say right now I feel like an empty shell.
Reading about Rowan’s constant struggles with his identity was very hard. He gets bullied at school by his old friends, nobody talks to him, his parents constantly deny who he is and punish him for wanting to be himself.
This book really dives into the guilt and isolation that comes with being a trans person and how wrong other people make you feel for existing.
He also has to deal with his father at home who, “comes in to kiss him goodnight”, and “sleeps with him”. Who is always yelling and punching holes in the wall.
But alongside all of this pain there is also so much love and hope.
Rowan has a friend named Sophie who is always by his side no matter what. She sticks by him even though she is going through her own hardships, her dad was put into jail and her mother is barely getting by so she is frequently staying home and taking care of her little sister as well.
There are so many cute little aspects of this book too, because, even though it is easy to forget through all these hardships, Rowan is still just a little kid.
He dreams of being a mailman when he’s older, he builds a ship out of a refrigerator box with Sophie, he brings rocks to her house when she isn’t around and leaves them at her door so she knows he’s thinking of her.
This is such an impactful story that is so important for so many kids out there, it is hard to get through but in the end it is worth it.
———————————————————————————
i feel so empty but so full at the same time
This was such a tough read.
The Ship We Built is about a trans boy named Rowan, as he is discovering his identity and dealing with his abusive father.
This is told similarly to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Rowan is sending letters to whoever finds them and reads them. He sends them up in balloons, which is so sweet.
I don’t even know what to say right now I feel like an empty shell.
Reading about Rowan’s constant struggles with his identity was very hard. He gets bullied at school by his old friends, nobody talks to him, his parents constantly deny who he is and punish him for wanting to be himself.
This book really dives into the guilt and isolation that comes with being a trans person and how wrong other people make you feel for existing.
He also has to deal with his father at home who, “comes in to kiss him goodnight”, and “sleeps with him”. Who is always yelling and punching holes in the wall.
But alongside all of this pain there is also so much love and hope.
Rowan has a friend named Sophie who is always by his side no matter what. She sticks by him even though she is going through her own hardships, her dad was put into jail and her mother is barely getting by so she is frequently staying home and taking care of her little sister as well.
There are so many cute little aspects of this book too, because, even though it is easy to forget through all these hardships, Rowan is still just a little kid.
He dreams of being a mailman when he’s older, he builds a ship out of a refrigerator box with Sophie, he brings rocks to her house when she isn’t around and leaves them at her door so she knows he’s thinking of her.
This is such an impactful story that is so important for so many kids out there, it is hard to get through but in the end it is worth it.
———————————————————————————
i feel so empty but so full at the same time