Scan barcode
A review by lpineo
Like a Boy But Not a Boy: Navigating Life, Mental Health, and Parenthood Outside the Gender Binary by Andrea Bennett
2.0
Review by Lisa Pineo
*I received this eARC from Arsenal Pulp Press via Edelweiss+ in return for an honest review.
My ratings: * I hated it ** It was okay *** I liked it **** Really good ***** Great
TW (trigger warnings): homophobia, transphobia
"Like a Boy but Not a Boy: Navigating Life, Mental Health, and Parenthood Outside the Gender Binary" by andrea bennett, a new voice in the LGBTQIA+ memoir category, fails to keep me interested enough to finish the book. 2 stars
Description from the publisher:
"Inquisitive and expansive, Like a Boy but Not a Boy explores author andrea bennett's experiences with gender expectations, being a non-binary parent, and the sometimes funny and sometimes difficult task of living in a body. The book's fourteen essays also delve incisively into the interconnected themes of mental illness, mortality, creative work, class, and bike mechanics (apparently you can learn a lot about yourself through truing a wheel).
In "Tomboy," andrea articulates what it means to live in a gender in-between space, and why one might be necessary; "37 Jobs 21 Houses" interrogates the notion that the key to a better life is working hard and moving house. And interspersed throughout the book is "Everyone Is Sober and No One Can Drive," sixteen stories about queer millennials who grew up and came of age in small communities.
With the same poignant spirit as Ivan Coyote's "Tomboy Survival Guide", "Like a Boy but Not a Boy" addresses the struggle to find acceptance, and to accept oneself; and how one can find one's place while learning to make space for others. The book also wonders it means to be an atheist and search for faith that everything will be okay; what it means to learn how to love life even as you obsess over its brevity; and how to give birth, to bring new life, at what feels like the end of the world.
With thoughtfulness and acute observation, andrea bennett reveal intimate truths about the human experience, whether one is outside the gender binary or not."
I DNFd this book at the 50% mark. This is only the second or third one I've done that to but that doesn't mean there weren't some great things about this memoir. I was really interested in the subject of this book as there aren't too many queer memoirs by parents writing about that particular topic, as well as including other queer short essays about how being LGBTQIA+ has affected their lives. The first chapter was great. The second didn't resonate with me at all. The first few stories by other writers were terrible. The writing seemed to be done by people who had never had to write about themselves before and didn't know how to do it. I wanted to stop there but forced myself to continue, hoping andrea's sections would at least hold my attention. They did get better and I found myself interested if not quite enjoying myself. But my interest waned and I just didn't have the motivation to keep reading. I really hate giving this book such a low rating since I really love the ideas behind the memoir but it didn't keep me wanting to come back for more. Recommended to actual queer people (I'm the parent of an LGBTQIA+ person but not queer myself) who want a memoir along with queer topics and can push through some less than stellar writing.
*I received this eARC from Arsenal Pulp Press via Edelweiss+ in return for an honest review.
My ratings: * I hated it ** It was okay *** I liked it **** Really good ***** Great
TW (trigger warnings): homophobia, transphobia
"Like a Boy but Not a Boy: Navigating Life, Mental Health, and Parenthood Outside the Gender Binary" by andrea bennett, a new voice in the LGBTQIA+ memoir category, fails to keep me interested enough to finish the book. 2 stars
Description from the publisher:
"Inquisitive and expansive, Like a Boy but Not a Boy explores author andrea bennett's experiences with gender expectations, being a non-binary parent, and the sometimes funny and sometimes difficult task of living in a body. The book's fourteen essays also delve incisively into the interconnected themes of mental illness, mortality, creative work, class, and bike mechanics (apparently you can learn a lot about yourself through truing a wheel).
In "Tomboy," andrea articulates what it means to live in a gender in-between space, and why one might be necessary; "37 Jobs 21 Houses" interrogates the notion that the key to a better life is working hard and moving house. And interspersed throughout the book is "Everyone Is Sober and No One Can Drive," sixteen stories about queer millennials who grew up and came of age in small communities.
With the same poignant spirit as Ivan Coyote's "Tomboy Survival Guide", "Like a Boy but Not a Boy" addresses the struggle to find acceptance, and to accept oneself; and how one can find one's place while learning to make space for others. The book also wonders it means to be an atheist and search for faith that everything will be okay; what it means to learn how to love life even as you obsess over its brevity; and how to give birth, to bring new life, at what feels like the end of the world.
With thoughtfulness and acute observation, andrea bennett reveal intimate truths about the human experience, whether one is outside the gender binary or not."
I DNFd this book at the 50% mark. This is only the second or third one I've done that to but that doesn't mean there weren't some great things about this memoir. I was really interested in the subject of this book as there aren't too many queer memoirs by parents writing about that particular topic, as well as including other queer short essays about how being LGBTQIA+ has affected their lives. The first chapter was great. The second didn't resonate with me at all. The first few stories by other writers were terrible. The writing seemed to be done by people who had never had to write about themselves before and didn't know how to do it. I wanted to stop there but forced myself to continue, hoping andrea's sections would at least hold my attention. They did get better and I found myself interested if not quite enjoying myself. But my interest waned and I just didn't have the motivation to keep reading. I really hate giving this book such a low rating since I really love the ideas behind the memoir but it didn't keep me wanting to come back for more. Recommended to actual queer people (I'm the parent of an LGBTQIA+ person but not queer myself) who want a memoir along with queer topics and can push through some less than stellar writing.