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A review by goosemixtapes
Can't Take That Away by Steven Salvatore
3.0
all right. i'll be up front. i feel like a mean bitch grinch for this one. but while i wanted to love this book, it is written like a wattpad novel. complete with random comma and capitalization errors. and with cliche prose and dialogue, characters speaking impromptu about their very emotional trauma in perfect polished speeches (seriously, no one in this book talks like a person; lots of "as you know, bob" except it's "as you remember, carey"), instalove, unnecessary romantic miscommunications/drama, and, early on, some paragraph-long infodumps about genderqueerness as a concept. it was hard to fully connect with these characters and this plot, because the writing - while not awful - was just unpolished enough that it kept jarring me.
of course, the fact that i can identify so many hallmarks of wattpad novels indicates that i've read at least a few of them, so i suppose i can't really throw stones. the truth is that despite my dislike of the style, this was a good story! i was genuinely really glad to see this kind of nonbinary rep; i think this is literally the second tradpub book i've ever read with a nonbinary lead. and this was definitely enjoyable to read. fair warning that this novel comes with a lot of triggers (homo/transphobia, physical assault, suicidal ideation, and family deaths, off the top of my head), but at its core it's an empowering story about a teenager learning to stand up for themself. and it was pretty good to read for hours at a time over the past week to forget about stuff going on in my personal life. so. that's something. also, i know a lot more about mariah carey now. like, a lot more.
of course, the fact that i can identify so many hallmarks of wattpad novels indicates that i've read at least a few of them, so i suppose i can't really throw stones. the truth is that despite my dislike of the style, this was a good story! i was genuinely really glad to see this kind of nonbinary rep; i think this is literally the second tradpub book i've ever read with a nonbinary lead. and this was definitely enjoyable to read. fair warning that this novel comes with a lot of triggers (homo/transphobia, physical assault, suicidal ideation, and family deaths, off the top of my head), but at its core it's an empowering story about a teenager learning to stand up for themself. and it was pretty good to read for hours at a time over the past week to forget about stuff going on in my personal life. so. that's something. also, i know a lot more about mariah carey now. like, a lot more.