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A review by dunder_mifflin
My Brother's Name is Jessica by John Boyne
5.0
I've seen a lot of reviews saying 'this is transphobic! we don't want to hear about cis people struggling to accept their trans relatives! a cis person shouldn't be writing about this!' And I disagree. I'm not saying those opinions are wrong. I'm just sharing mine, too. (And for the record, I am trans lol).
I think it's good that cis people want to write about trans people. Everyone wants more representation, until they're given it. 'Include diverse characters!', everyone says to cis people, until they are included and they don't like certain things about how it was done. What does that do? Discourage authors from writing about them. Make trans people seem 'other', and like we're different and cis people cannot possibly comprehend us.
I've seen reviews saying the title is transphobic. It's a book trying to catch people's attention. 'My Brother's Name is Jessica' was what caught my attention, and I probably wouldn't have even looked into the book if it was called 'My Sister's Name is Jessica'. It's a way of saying, 'hey, look, this is a book with trans representation'.
As someone with cis relatives, I want them to have books with representation for them as well. I want them to be able to read a book where someone has to come to terms with their relative being trans. What I saw from this was Sam struggling to accept his sister, who he'd known all his life as his brother, is his sister (which happens). I saw Sam dealing with being bullied over it, making it harder to accept her (which happens). I saw Sam coming to terms with his sister being his sister, and coming to see that she is happier living her truth - happier when she's transitioning (which happens).
It didn't strike me as transphobic. Just because characters deal with transphobia, it doesn't mean the author is transphobic. Trans people have to deal with transphobia when they come out, even from (and especially from, in some cases) their families. That is a reality. It's good that that reality is being written about. Hopefully a few people reading this will be more accepting of trans people going forward.
I saw this book as more of a book for cis people to come to understand and support trans people better, which is good in my book.
Also, sidenote: I listened to this on Audible and it is the first Audiobook I have ever successfully listened to.
I think it's good that cis people want to write about trans people. Everyone wants more representation, until they're given it. 'Include diverse characters!', everyone says to cis people, until they are included and they don't like certain things about how it was done. What does that do? Discourage authors from writing about them. Make trans people seem 'other', and like we're different and cis people cannot possibly comprehend us.
I've seen reviews saying the title is transphobic. It's a book trying to catch people's attention. 'My Brother's Name is Jessica' was what caught my attention, and I probably wouldn't have even looked into the book if it was called 'My Sister's Name is Jessica'. It's a way of saying, 'hey, look, this is a book with trans representation'.
As someone with cis relatives, I want them to have books with representation for them as well. I want them to be able to read a book where someone has to come to terms with their relative being trans. What I saw from this was Sam struggling to accept his sister, who he'd known all his life as his brother, is his sister (which happens). I saw Sam dealing with being bullied over it, making it harder to accept her (which happens). I saw Sam coming to terms with his sister being his sister, and coming to see that she is happier living her truth - happier when she's transitioning (which happens).
It didn't strike me as transphobic. Just because characters deal with transphobia, it doesn't mean the author is transphobic. Trans people have to deal with transphobia when they come out, even from (and especially from, in some cases) their families. That is a reality. It's good that that reality is being written about. Hopefully a few people reading this will be more accepting of trans people going forward.
I saw this book as more of a book for cis people to come to understand and support trans people better, which is good in my book.
Also, sidenote: I listened to this on Audible and it is the first Audiobook I have ever successfully listened to.