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A review by nettles
Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve
3.0
Edit: After thinking about this book for a few days, I’m changing my rating to three stars.
I was bothered by the writing. I’m not a fan of first person present tense for novels. It draws attention to itself and creates an urgency that usually isn’t sustainable for the length of a book, especially a slice of life story like this. There’s also a temptation for the author to include details that aren’t important to the story, to keep up with the flow from moment-to-moment which happens consistently in this book.
Also, all the characters seem to revolve around Dean, specifically how each responds to his identity.
The first half of this book is slow, but it all comes together in the second half. Dean’s growth as a person is satisfying to read, especially any time when he stands up for himself. Dean makes it clear that he just wants to be himself, and it’s not his job to make other people comfortable with that.
This book also has a lot of important information for transmascs who are starting to transition (such as not using tape as a binder).
I think it’s important to have informed lgbtq+ stories. Is this a perfect novel? No, but in the right hands it can make an important difference in someone’s life.
[ Now go read Felix Ever After if you haven’t already. nuance, complex characters, discussions of intersectionality, and gender euphoria. They don’t cover the same topics, so I didnt want to compare the two in my review despite reading them back to back ]
I was bothered by the writing. I’m not a fan of first person present tense for novels. It draws attention to itself and creates an urgency that usually isn’t sustainable for the length of a book, especially a slice of life story like this. There’s also a temptation for the author to include details that aren’t important to the story, to keep up with the flow from moment-to-moment which happens consistently in this book.
Also, all the characters seem to revolve around Dean, specifically how each responds to his identity.
The first half of this book is slow, but it all comes together in the second half. Dean’s growth as a person is satisfying to read, especially any time when he stands up for himself. Dean makes it clear that he just wants to be himself, and it’s not his job to make other people comfortable with that.
This book also has a lot of important information for transmascs who are starting to transition (such as not using tape as a binder).
I think it’s important to have informed lgbtq+ stories. Is this a perfect novel? No, but in the right hands it can make an important difference in someone’s life.
[ Now go read Felix Ever After if you haven’t already. nuance, complex characters, discussions of intersectionality, and gender euphoria. They don’t cover the same topics, so I didnt want to compare the two in my review despite reading them back to back ]