A review by beastbark
Avi Cantor Has Six Months To Live by Sacha Lamb

3.0

Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live is a nice story with authentic and diverse representations of trans characters and queer families. It's a realistic and touching portrayal of the trans teenaged experience with mental illness and isolation, and has a lot to offer as a comfort read for transmasculine readers in the same age group (that is, if the heavy subject matters aren't a deterrent for finding comfort in this work). I'm giving this one three stars because it's a true middle for me: it was okay. I enjoyed reading it well enough, but there are some parts that didn't quite land with me. I don't think Avi was as fleshed out as he could have been; as another reviewer pointed out, the reader isn't shown anything about him other than the fact that he's trans and lonely and cursed. Ironically, Ian was more developed than Avi, but still felt kind of flat to me. I also wasn't super compelled by the story's magic; it felt disjointed, sometimes like it barely believed in itself.

Overall, it's a nice read, and it's obviously well-received for good reason. The T4T romance is sweet (though this also didn't super work for me), and it's overall really nice to see gay trans boys who have a happy ending that isn't forced.