darryn_gray's reviews
118 reviews

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I remember when people started calling Love, Simon and the book connected to it as something written for straight people and I never understood that. As a baby gay when I saw Love, Simon at the time with my then partner, I was instantly obsessed. It was the first time I saw gay teens being focused on, and the book just opened up this whole new world of the fact that gay people can be the lead in books. To this day, it is still one of my comfort books and movies, I always recommend it to people as a good book to start when it comes to reading queer books.
And I remember this crap getting so bad that Becky was forced to come out- while I appreciate wanting to read books that come from actual queer people about queer identities, I always found it sort of ironic how much Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda was about "why is straight the default?", one of the best damn scenes in the whole movie is everyone coming out to their parents as straight just to show how dumb it is.
And yet people took that, heard that Becky was married to a man, had kids, and just assumed she was straight.
And this book perfectly captualizes the pure stupidity of it. There are multiple points of what it means to still be part of the lgbt community even when not being- or not knowing- you're queer, about how even if you didn't realize you were at the end of the day you were the entire time.
I might not have always known that I was trans, but I was always trans. Its not something that just appeared one day. And I love seeing Becky take that rage and write a book about it, to hopefully make people realize how crazy it was. And I hope to see her write more WLW books, they always are some of my favorites of hers.

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Wow this book. I'm going to be honest, I only listened to it because of Elden Henson. I absolutely adore him as an actor and finding out he did this audiobook I only assume around the same time he did the movie (which I have yet to see), meaning it was around the time of Fulton Reed- I was hooked.
And that's an easy way to talk about it, if you know Fulton Reed in the Mighty Ducks, that is Maxwell. Too big for his age, not always the smartest but sure is one of the strongest. They're very similar characters which makes it even better for at the time a young Elden Henson.
I'll warn there are uses of abelist slurs in it such as the m word directed towards little people, the r slur, and the c word towards disabled people. It is used a lot but other wise the disability rep is done really well. 
Maxwell has a learning disability and Kevin (aka Freak) has a physical disability. Max is better at moving and Freak is better at giving directions. They use their differances to their advantages to make themselves better.

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Its rare that I hate a main character so much, but that was kind of the point of this book, Jeremy starts out as the biggest piece of shit, he is impossible to root for. But as he grew, it was easier to relate to him and everything he was going to. He still wasn't my favorite guy but like all of us, he's a work in progress

Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin

adventurous challenging fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I have started to realize how much harder 3rd person books are to listen to, especially with names that are so similiar, but once I got the hang of it, it really did become a fun book. It had some cool rules to it's world that made it a unique story. But by the time I actually had started to realize who was who name wise, we were already starting to get really far into it. 
If you don't struggle with names like I do, I really recommend it.

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Southern gothic queer story. There's nothing else to say about it! Super cool and crazy story that kept me hooked until the very yet.

Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow! Gatsby is my comfort classic book and when I found out about this one, as a trans man, I was HOOKED instantly. The title is perfect even based on the original story let alone the ways this one twists it.
This isnt just a play by play rewrite of the story just now with little details about it being t4t. It takes a lot of the original ideas and scenes and expands upon it and changes it in a way that only would fit this telling of this story.
AND THE ENDING. If you know the original ending, NO YOU DON'T. 

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Odd, but when I say odd I don't mean in a bad way, I mean it in a- the book is wild and crazy and the only word I can think of to describe it is odd. It kept you unsure of where it was going to the very end

Ghost Hunters Adventure Club and the Express Train to Nowhere by Dr. Cecil H.H. Mills

adventurous challenging lighthearted mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book had the same amount of meta fun parts from the first ones that I really enjoyed in this one, however, I didn't find the plot quite as strong, some of the turns felt really forced. The first book is certainly stronger, but this one is still a fun read if you enjoyed the first one.

Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Yet another book I completely adored! It was simply and fun and made me happy! I could read a book like this forever

The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons

adventurous challenging hopeful inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

OKAY HI
I chose this book because of a filter on tiktok to read for trans rights readathon and I didn't expect to love it so much. The only sport I really know is hockey, and yet this book didn't make me feel like I shouldn't be listening to it just because it was all about soccer.
While the book had minor mentions of transphobia, it wasn't JUST about transphobia, which is something I find really rare in trans books. 
I 100% recommend it.