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A review by drjharrison
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
4.0
This is a young adults book (aimed at mid teens) and needs to come with a couple of Content Warnings for Suicide, Assault and Sexual Assault. Sadly these three pieces are key to the narrative and also key to representing the lives of many young trans and gender non-conforming people. Which gives the book its power - its also pre JK Rowling coming out as a complete Transphobe - so it has a lot of Harry Potter love and references which are the thing that will make it date quite quickly.
Otherwise it is the tale of 15 year old Riley who is GenderFluid and how they are coping with starting at a new school, dealing with their identity, finding and making friends - unlike many young adult fictions the friends and their relationships are complex and changing and challenging. Riley starts a blog - and this is set in the early Tumblr days - which makes what happens moderately believable.
Would recommend for anyone with a curiosity about what pressures gender non-conforming youth are under - as a book for teens - yes but be aware of the content warnings.
Otherwise it is the tale of 15 year old Riley who is GenderFluid and how they are coping with starting at a new school, dealing with their identity, finding and making friends - unlike many young adult fictions the friends and their relationships are complex and changing and challenging. Riley starts a blog - and this is set in the early Tumblr days - which makes what happens moderately believable.
Would recommend for anyone with a curiosity about what pressures gender non-conforming youth are under - as a book for teens - yes but be aware of the content warnings.