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A review by bookishmillennial
Between Perfect and Real by Ray Stoeve
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
This was a lovely debut!!!!
Although I wanted to throw hands for my precious baby Dean at times, I felt that Ray wrote a tender and moving coming out story for Dean.
What I loved most was that even though some characters got it wrong or fumbled pronouns at times, Ray wrote compassion and determination into almost all of them. They all wanted to do better and to try for Dean.
I especially appreciated Dean’s theatre teacher, saying “I’m not experienced with this but how can I be here for you? How can I help?” Often, when we (humans) are presented with something new, we get anxious, fearful and defensive…. and unfortunately, we will often respond accordingly. However, for Dean’s teacher to not only acknowledge his own shortcomings in not being well-versed in the trans experience, he had the capacity to pause and ask what he could do for his student. He didn’t center himself or his own insecurities; he directly asked a student who felt safe enough to share with him how he could support them. I know this seems so small, but it was a powerful moment for me as an educator.
So grateful for this book and I highly recommend it!
This was a lovely debut!!!!
Although I wanted to throw hands for my precious baby Dean at times, I felt that Ray wrote a tender and moving coming out story for Dean.
What I loved most was that even though some characters got it wrong or fumbled pronouns at times, Ray wrote compassion and determination into almost all of them. They all wanted to do better and to try for Dean.
I especially appreciated Dean’s theatre teacher, saying “I’m not experienced with this but how can I be here for you? How can I help?” Often, when we (humans) are presented with something new, we get anxious, fearful and defensive…. and unfortunately, we will often respond accordingly. However, for Dean’s teacher to not only acknowledge his own shortcomings in not being well-versed in the trans experience, he had the capacity to pause and ask what he could do for his student. He didn’t center himself or his own insecurities; he directly asked a student who felt safe enough to share with him how he could support them. I know this seems so small, but it was a powerful moment for me as an educator.
So grateful for this book and I highly recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Deadnaming, Outing, Bullying, Violence, and Transphobia