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A review by philipkenner
Sasha Masha by Agnes Borinsky
5.0
“How could I want things to change if I didn’t know what changing meant?”
Sasha Masha is a book about the immutable possibilities of the queer future and the sometimes frustrating realities of the queer present. It is a book about the simultaneous power and ineptitude of imagination.
Agnes Borinsky gives us Sasha Masha, a protagonist who finds a hidden person within, and does his best to become that person.
I identified with the motif of Real vs not-Real and Sasha Masha’s struggles with those ideals. As a queer person, there are so few dominant categories that feel appropriate or safe. It is not until someone gives you the permission to reject the options presented that you realize you were always able to make your own option.
Spoilers beyond this point.
I really appreciated that by the end of the book, Sasha Masha was still unsure of his trajectory and identity. He was still grappling with his trans identity, and while he was sure about his name change, he did not change his pronouns. When Andre asks him what pronouns he wants to use, Sasha Masha asks to keep using “he/him.” Andre says “Let me know if you change your mind.” This moment was particularly gorgeous to me because it reflected that Sasha Masha still had changes ahead, but that the audience didn’t necessarily need to be let in on the later parts of the journey. For all we know, Sasha Masha’s gender expression gets to grow and mature in whatever way feels most genuine and liberating. That may or may not be with she/her or they/them pronouns, but what’s more important than exactly where Sasha Masha will end the journey is that the journey started at all.
The characters in this book are rendered with truth and delicacy. Tracy, for example, is a nuanced character drawn with patience. In a poorly written book, Tracy would be shrewish and explicitly antagonistic, but this book allows her relationship with Sasha Masha to be a complicated one. No, her reaction to Sasha Masha changing his name was not good. It was likely traumatic for Sasha Masha. But, Tracy also loves Sasha Masha, and helps him by giving him a taste of “Real”ness, even if Sasha Masha ends up rejecting that later. Borinsky never loses Tracy’s humanity as a victim of the same heterodominant knowledge under which Sasha Masha struggles.
Sasha Masha is also not the perfect protagonist, but he is human. When he tries to kiss Andre and it goes poorly, and then he blocks Andre’s number? This frustrated and upset me as a reader, but then I remembered that I have memories nearly identical to that night. As someone who was once a high schooler uncovering their sexuality and a current adult who is reckoning with their gender, I related to these messy interpersonal blips. It’s not all fairy godqueers and supportive friend groups. Like any big change or step into the future, it’s hard. It’s uncomfortable. It’s ultimately beautiful, but sometimes you’re so deep in the queer discovery that you can’t help but be mad at the ugly tree in the beautiful forest. Put differently, perspective isn’t always easy to achieve, and I related to Sasha Masha’s tunnel vision.
To make a long review short, I loved this book. It helped me practice a little bit of future.
Sasha Masha is a book about the immutable possibilities of the queer future and the sometimes frustrating realities of the queer present. It is a book about the simultaneous power and ineptitude of imagination.
Agnes Borinsky gives us Sasha Masha, a protagonist who finds a hidden person within, and does his best to become that person.
I identified with the motif of Real vs not-Real and Sasha Masha’s struggles with those ideals. As a queer person, there are so few dominant categories that feel appropriate or safe. It is not until someone gives you the permission to reject the options presented that you realize you were always able to make your own option.
Spoilers beyond this point.
I really appreciated that by the end of the book, Sasha Masha was still unsure of his trajectory and identity. He was still grappling with his trans identity, and while he was sure about his name change, he did not change his pronouns. When Andre asks him what pronouns he wants to use, Sasha Masha asks to keep using “he/him.” Andre says “Let me know if you change your mind.” This moment was particularly gorgeous to me because it reflected that Sasha Masha still had changes ahead, but that the audience didn’t necessarily need to be let in on the later parts of the journey. For all we know, Sasha Masha’s gender expression gets to grow and mature in whatever way feels most genuine and liberating. That may or may not be with she/her or they/them pronouns, but what’s more important than exactly where Sasha Masha will end the journey is that the journey started at all.
The characters in this book are rendered with truth and delicacy. Tracy, for example, is a nuanced character drawn with patience. In a poorly written book, Tracy would be shrewish and explicitly antagonistic, but this book allows her relationship with Sasha Masha to be a complicated one. No, her reaction to Sasha Masha changing his name was not good. It was likely traumatic for Sasha Masha. But, Tracy also loves Sasha Masha, and helps him by giving him a taste of “Real”ness, even if Sasha Masha ends up rejecting that later. Borinsky never loses Tracy’s humanity as a victim of the same heterodominant knowledge under which Sasha Masha struggles.
Sasha Masha is also not the perfect protagonist, but he is human. When he tries to kiss Andre and it goes poorly, and then he blocks Andre’s number? This frustrated and upset me as a reader, but then I remembered that I have memories nearly identical to that night. As someone who was once a high schooler uncovering their sexuality and a current adult who is reckoning with their gender, I related to these messy interpersonal blips. It’s not all fairy godqueers and supportive friend groups. Like any big change or step into the future, it’s hard. It’s uncomfortable. It’s ultimately beautiful, but sometimes you’re so deep in the queer discovery that you can’t help but be mad at the ugly tree in the beautiful forest. Put differently, perspective isn’t always easy to achieve, and I related to Sasha Masha’s tunnel vision.
To make a long review short, I loved this book. It helped me practice a little bit of future.