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A review by queenfury
The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
[this review might contain spoilers, but i only included information that can be found on the back cover of the book. it’s more important to me that cis people don’t think this is a good piece of trans-themed literature or that other trans people get their hopes up about a book with two trans narrators.]
for a book about two trans teenagers, written by a cis woman who apparently worked with trans youth, this is OVERWHELMINGLY TRANSPHOBIC. the back cover uses the trans girl narrator’s chosen name, and not only does no one who knows she’s trans use her correct pronouns, but when she tells the trans guy her name, he continues to call her by his deadname and misgender her!!! not to mention there is a plethora of incorrect and harmful trans-related cliches, including but not limited to “i want to be a girl,” “i was born a girl,” and the dreaded “i prefer natal female or biologically female.”
tldr, skip this mess.
for a book about two trans teenagers, written by a cis woman who apparently worked with trans youth, this is OVERWHELMINGLY TRANSPHOBIC. the back cover uses the trans girl narrator’s chosen name, and not only does no one who knows she’s trans use her correct pronouns, but when she tells the trans guy her name, he continues to call her by his deadname and misgender her!!! not to mention there is a plethora of incorrect and harmful trans-related cliches, including but not limited to “i want to be a girl,” “i was born a girl,” and the dreaded “i prefer natal female or biologically female.”
tldr, skip this mess.