caracalico 's review for:

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children by Kirstin Cronn-Mills

3.0

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This is a Young Adult novel about a pre-t pre-op trans guy named Gabe. He’s minimally out and lives in a town with some great people and some dangerous jerks. Most of the book is set between his house, his music obsessed old man neighbor’s house, and the radio station where he DJs a late night show once a week. The plot is equal parts trans issues and radio/music talk. The book spans the gamut of coming-out reactions, from “Hey bro, that doesn’t matter to me at all” to “I’m going to kill you with a baseball bat, so you better watch your back.” I enjoyed the music B plot because it helped to set the story in the real world instead of some vacuum where a trans person doesn’t have anything else in their life but trans stuff. For a con, the narrative is a bit dry and humorless. I understand Gabe is depressed but it would have been a little more enjoyable if it was a bit less flat or he was more emotive in thought. The book falls into the YA trap of “suddenly DRAMA” at the end which I could have done without. Some plot threads were left unresolved which was fine and realistic, and some were wrapped up too quickly after a large build up. I would have a little hesitation sharing it with a mostly closeted ftm youth because it might make him afraid of coming out due to the backlash and death threats Gabe gets. I would rather share it with cis teens so they could have a better understanding of their ftm peers. All in all, the book was a quick and easy read, but I wish Gabe’s character had been a little more engaging considering the book is 1st person POV from his perspective.

Despite the book being written by a cis woman, it rang true to me without feeling fake, gimmicky, or stereotypical. Mostly slice of life, could have used a little more structure and the pacing felt rushed at the end. Not ground breaking, but not bad either. Short enough to be worth giving a shot if you’re interested.