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A review by goosemixtapes
And She Was by Jessica Verdi
2.0
This is a book written by a cis person, for cis people.
The main character in this book is casually transphobic, often misgenders her mother, and believes Mellie is selfish for wanting to get away from an extended family who treat her like a monster. It takes learning that said extended family tried to get Mellie accused of child molestation for her to realize that her mother wasn't just "running away because people were mean to her." Yes, that is something Dara actually tells her mother. "You just got sick of them being mean to you," as if transphobia is something that can be equated to teasing or playground cruelty.
I know that because I am trans, my experience reading this book is obviously going to be different than that of a cis person's. And I don't want to understate how important it is for cisgender people to read books about trans people and to learn from them. But this book seems to have been written without considering a transgender audience at all. This book was 350 pages. I spent 300 of them watching Dara be painstakingly guided through learning how to treat her mother with basic human decency. I highly doubt that the author intended for it to come across this way - Dara was just meant to be someone who had a lot to learn. But the result is the same: I, a trans kid, felt alienated by a book that is supposed to be about people like me.
The main character in this book is casually transphobic, often misgenders her mother, and believes Mellie is selfish for wanting to get away from an extended family who treat her like a monster. It takes learning that said extended family tried to get Mellie accused of child molestation for her to realize that her mother wasn't just "running away because people were mean to her." Yes, that is something Dara actually tells her mother. "You just got sick of them being mean to you," as if transphobia is something that can be equated to teasing or playground cruelty.
I know that because I am trans, my experience reading this book is obviously going to be different than that of a cis person's. And I don't want to understate how important it is for cisgender people to read books about trans people and to learn from them. But this book seems to have been written without considering a transgender audience at all. This book was 350 pages. I spent 300 of them watching Dara be painstakingly guided through learning how to treat her mother with basic human decency. I highly doubt that the author intended for it to come across this way - Dara was just meant to be someone who had a lot to learn. But the result is the same: I, a trans kid, felt alienated by a book that is supposed to be about people like me.