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A review by graveyardpansy
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
5.0
4.5 — biblical angels, wonderful casual diversity, a strong friendship (without romance!!), effortless worldbuilding, and cutting themes of justice, utopia, fear, and strength. definitely needs a CW for csa/parental abuse, but the author does a good job of handling it at a YA-appropriate, non-graphic level. really nice writing for a YA imo, and the representation is refreshing. the MC is Black, trans, and partially nonverbal, the main cast is all Black I think, there’s a tri-parental family unit (with a nonbinary parent!), and a wonderful wheelchair user librarian.
stories about marginalization and the intricacies of oppression are important and deserve to be heard, but it’s also /really/ important to have worlds like this, where being trans and partly nonverbal is just a part of a character, not a “challenge” or even something that is seen as troublesome by wider society. i really hope people are able to see themselves in Pet, and i think lots of people can.
side note, i adore all the character’s names, they really add to the semi-futuristic post-revolution vibe.
stories about marginalization and the intricacies of oppression are important and deserve to be heard, but it’s also /really/ important to have worlds like this, where being trans and partly nonverbal is just a part of a character, not a “challenge” or even something that is seen as troublesome by wider society. i really hope people are able to see themselves in Pet, and i think lots of people can.
side note, i adore all the character’s names, they really add to the semi-futuristic post-revolution vibe.