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A review by wren_a
My Brother's Name is Jessica by John Boyne
1.0
In the author’s note at the end, John Boyne says that a writer should not be limited to writing only what they know. I agree, but I also think a writer has a responsibility to think carefully about whether they are the best person to write a particular story.
John Boyne is not the best person to write this book and he makes many worrisome errors. What’s more worrying is that because he is a well-known writer, this book is held up as a shining example of transgender-related fiction, which is most definitely is not.
(Mild spoilers below)
Some of the problems include:
- the transgender character is dead named and misgendered by pretty much every other character for the majority of the book, and this is never addressed.
- Jessica is hardly in the book at all. We get little of her story or how her family’s ridiculous response is impacting her.
- the mother is portrayed as an uncaring, career-obsessed, bad mother, presumably because no woman can possibly have a high powered job AND be a good parent?
John Boyne is not the best person to write this book and he makes many worrisome errors. What’s more worrying is that because he is a well-known writer, this book is held up as a shining example of transgender-related fiction, which is most definitely is not.
(Mild spoilers below)
Some of the problems include:
- the transgender character is dead named and misgendered by pretty much every other character for the majority of the book, and this is never addressed.
- Jessica is hardly in the book at all. We get little of her story or how her family’s ridiculous response is impacting her.
- the mother is portrayed as an uncaring, career-obsessed, bad mother, presumably because no woman can possibly have a high powered job AND be a good parent?