A review by thereadingchallengechallenge
Can't Take That Away by Steven Salvatore

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This hit hard. Carey reminded me so much of myself in high school - depressed, scared, feeling everything so deeply, and just trying to sing my way through it. So this was a hard read. But I absolutely loved it. There's so much heart in this novel and its message of not only tolerance but acceptance was wonderful. And I loved the #OwnVoices genderqueer representation - I've been looking for more genderqueer rep and this was a great one to start with!

Warnings: explorations of homophobia and transphobia, anxiety, grandparent loss, references to depression, gender dysphoria and suicidal ideation.

Small complaint: the audiobook's quality is not great. the level's change and the narrator doesn't ennunicate very well so speeding it up just garbles it.