taleisin's review against another edition
3.0
"For the boy I was, the book I could not find" -- Dedication
Books like this need to be written, they need to be out there for teens, both queer and nonqueer, to find. Everyone should see people who are different from themselves in genres they know and understand, they will realize others are not as different as they thought.The fact that this is #ownvoices adds an extra level of authenticity.
As much as I enjoyed it, I realize (as a 37-year-old) that I am totally the wrong audience for this book. I could see myself devouring it in middle-school. As is, I found it hard to connect to characters in their early teens. I will totally admit to being misty-eyed in a few places, though.
My one complaint was that I found this book a bit short. Vidrine does an excellent job of creating a diverse and interesting cast of characters. I wanted more time with them.
Overall, this was a quick contemporary romance which also deals with some serious topics. I understand this was the author's first foray into the genre. I hope they write more.
Books like this need to be written, they need to be out there for teens, both queer and nonqueer, to find. Everyone should see people who are different from themselves in genres they know and understand, they will realize others are not as different as they thought.The fact that this is #ownvoices adds an extra level of authenticity.
As much as I enjoyed it, I realize (as a 37-year-old) that I am totally the wrong audience for this book. I could see myself devouring it in middle-school. As is, I found it hard to connect to characters in their early teens. I will totally admit to being misty-eyed in a few places, though.
My one complaint was that I found this book a bit short. Vidrine does an excellent job of creating a diverse and interesting cast of characters. I wanted more time with them.
Overall, this was a quick contemporary romance which also deals with some serious topics. I understand this was the author's first foray into the genre. I hope they write more.
kba76's review against another edition
3.0
This is one of those books that will probably really help someone, if you can overlook the sheer volume of information about sexuality and gender that gets thrown at you.
Our main character, Casey, is a trans boy who is determined to get the authentic summer camp experience. He goes with his best friend, Ella, to summer camp where most of his time is spent obsessing over his crush, worrying about how to feel comfortable in his body and trying to challenge certain stereotypes.
The story is set over a very short time-scale and it has some really positive messages. For me, it felt like the desire to explore some issues took precedence over the story and characters. However, I think it will be interesting to see how teen readers respond to it.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this.
Our main character, Casey, is a trans boy who is determined to get the authentic summer camp experience. He goes with his best friend, Ella, to summer camp where most of his time is spent obsessing over his crush, worrying about how to feel comfortable in his body and trying to challenge certain stereotypes.
The story is set over a very short time-scale and it has some really positive messages. For me, it felt like the desire to explore some issues took precedence over the story and characters. However, I think it will be interesting to see how teen readers respond to it.
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this.
cewhisenant's review against another edition
3.0
*An ARC was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*
"I could be like any other boy in just about every single way. It didn't matter what parts I did or didn't have. Out body parts didn't make us who we were. Why couldn't people treat others how they wanted to be perceived?"
There's not much to say about this one other than it is the perfect summer camp story to read over a free weekend, whether to further the feeling of summertime bliss or to beg some of that feeling to join you in the lingering wintry weather. Basically, a sweet and short summertime romance filled with lots of diversity rep and snarky characters. :)
"I could be like any other boy in just about every single way. It didn't matter what parts I did or didn't have. Out body parts didn't make us who we were. Why couldn't people treat others how they wanted to be perceived?"
There's not much to say about this one other than it is the perfect summer camp story to read over a free weekend, whether to further the feeling of summertime bliss or to beg some of that feeling to join you in the lingering wintry weather. Basically, a sweet and short summertime romance filled with lots of diversity rep and snarky characters. :)
sammah's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. On one hand I did like the characters, even though I sometimes forgot they were so young because they somehow seemed older to me, but on the other hand it felt sort of rushed and disjointed as well despite enjoying the characters people. I'm not sure that makes much sense, but I promise it does in my head and I will now try to explain it!
I found the character of Casey to be fascinating, as not only is he transgender and transitioning at the young age of fourteen, but that he is also a female-to-male transition which I had never read before in YA lit. That's probably on me, I've only read a few books that feature transgender leads, but the few that I have read have all featured male-to-female transitions. So it was very interesting to read about it from another point of view, and to see Casey struggling with things from a different point of view. I felt for him a lot when it came to his desire to live with the other boys and to seamlessly fit in, while fighting with binders and dysphoria issues when it came to his body. I just felt for him a lot, especially when things started to go a bit south.
I appreciated the character of Ella as well, and the way she was struggling in her own ways in the background. Ryan was a very well written bully type too, using his "religion" as an excuse to be cruel to others, and to try and get out of trouble when his bullying went to far. I could see someone like that very easily in real life pushing a girl like Ella, who is asexual, into trying to date him and when she declines quickly labeling her as a freak. I can also see someone being cruel enough to want to trick Casey into dating a friend of his only to use that as a way to continue the cruelty. So even the bully character was well written.
The one flaw for me here was Gavin, who I didn't like much at all. I know that in the end he redeemed himself to Casey, but I didn't care for the way it all shook out. He put himself out there in front of the camp by being very public with Casey in a flirty, sexual sort of way, and then we find out that it started as a joke that Ryan was orchestrating. So maybe in the end Gavin wasn't going to help with the end result (which was beating up Casey), but I still didn't like it or that Casey ended up with him anyway. I also was a little put off by the ending, which felt rushed and to in a hurry to resolve everything very happily. That, for me, was the one big issue with this book. The time frame took place over just a couple of weeks, and at times it felt much longer and then by the end it all felt like it was to rushed.
All in all, this book is worth reading. It tells a good story from a not often seen perspective, and Gabriel Vidrine has a ton of potential!
I found the character of Casey to be fascinating, as not only is he transgender and transitioning at the young age of fourteen, but that he is also a female-to-male transition which I had never read before in YA lit. That's probably on me, I've only read a few books that feature transgender leads, but the few that I have read have all featured male-to-female transitions. So it was very interesting to read about it from another point of view, and to see Casey struggling with things from a different point of view. I felt for him a lot when it came to his desire to live with the other boys and to seamlessly fit in, while fighting with binders and dysphoria issues when it came to his body. I just felt for him a lot, especially when things started to go a bit south.
I appreciated the character of Ella as well, and the way she was struggling in her own ways in the background. Ryan was a very well written bully type too, using his "religion" as an excuse to be cruel to others, and to try and get out of trouble when his bullying went to far. I could see someone like that very easily in real life pushing a girl like Ella, who is asexual, into trying to date him and when she declines quickly labeling her as a freak. I can also see someone being cruel enough to want to trick Casey into dating a friend of his only to use that as a way to continue the cruelty. So even the bully character was well written.
The one flaw for me here was Gavin, who I didn't like much at all. I know that in the end he redeemed himself to Casey, but I didn't care for the way it all shook out. He put himself out there in front of the camp by being very public with Casey in a flirty, sexual sort of way, and then we find out that it started as a joke that Ryan was orchestrating. So maybe in the end Gavin wasn't going to help with the end result (which was beating up Casey), but I still didn't like it or that Casey ended up with him anyway. I also was a little put off by the ending, which felt rushed and to in a hurry to resolve everything very happily. That, for me, was the one big issue with this book. The time frame took place over just a couple of weeks, and at times it felt much longer and then by the end it all felt like it was to rushed.
All in all, this book is worth reading. It tells a good story from a not often seen perspective, and Gabriel Vidrine has a ton of potential!
kyliieamberr's review against another edition
2.0
** I received an ARC from NetGalley and publisher NineStar Press in exchange for my honest review**
I'm so sad I didn't enjoy this ):
The start for me was so eye catching and I was excited because I haven't read as many LGBTQ+ books as I want to, and having the main character be a trans 14-year old boy I thought that was so interesting!
It starts off with Casey going to camp with his best friend Ella (which is the cutest little bean ever)
Off the bat I was like OMG so cute, I loved what I was reading and then suddenly things just went south.
- First off, the age did set some things off for me. It was so insanely immature which makes sense for the age of 14, but it seemed unrealistic in the sense of relationships that the characters had been speaking about. Ella even talked about a conversation of "touching" at the age of 12 and something about all of that just made me uncomfortable.
-The relationship of happened way too fast. They were holding hands and all that jazz without really knowing each other at all. Then some serious ish went down, they cut ties, and then suddenly are back together saying they have fallen in love with each other. But the camp is only a 12 day camp
-I also did not enjoy when admits he has feelings for Casey, that he "really really" liked him, and that now he is suddenly over Casey again in a 12 day span of camp. Which again is not totally realistic, but also you never know with these little teens anymore, am i right?
Something I did enjoy though was the family character development. Casey's family goes through a hard time along with their son and it was quite beautiful to see that blossom.
All in all, this book absolutely had potential but I found myself left wanting SO MUCH MORE
Being inside the mind of a 14-year old who is transitioning is such a dense topic and could be filled with a lot of "guts" instead of being a hollow idea. I wish I knew even more about how Casey was feeling in this transition other than bullying. Maybe where his mind was at the entire time and not only that he was trans. A background or past tense view would have been nice to see as a reader.
I'm so sad I didn't enjoy this ):
The start for me was so eye catching and I was excited because I haven't read as many LGBTQ+ books as I want to, and having the main character be a trans 14-year old boy I thought that was so interesting!
It starts off with Casey going to camp with his best friend Ella (which is the cutest little bean ever)
Off the bat I was like OMG so cute, I loved what I was reading and then suddenly things just went south.
- First off, the age did set some things off for me. It was so insanely immature which makes sense for the age of 14, but it seemed unrealistic in the sense of relationships that the characters had been speaking about. Ella even talked about a conversation of "touching" at the age of 12 and something about all of that just made me uncomfortable.
-The relationship of
Spoiler
Gavin and Casey-I also did not enjoy when
Spoiler
AlexSomething I did enjoy though was the family character development. Casey's family goes through a hard time along with their son and it was quite beautiful to see that blossom.
All in all, this book absolutely had potential but I found myself left wanting SO MUCH MORE
Being inside the mind of a 14-year old who is transitioning is such a dense topic and could be filled with a lot of "guts" instead of being a hollow idea. I wish I knew even more about how Casey was feeling in this transition other than bullying. Maybe where his mind was at the entire time and not only that he was trans. A background or past tense view would have been nice to see as a reader.
cdkjacobson's review against another edition
4.0
A charming story! This novel helps fill a gap in the range of coming-of-age stories while being very relatable to anyone who was that awkward, uncertain teenage. Even reading it as an adult, I found Casey's teenage drama very authentic, both the ordinary challenge of adjusting to a new group of people, and the difficulties of dealing with gender identity, orientation, and dating for the first time. The description of the camp and its routines really brings the reader into the setting. The author addresses, with tact and authenticity, the complexities of navigating a potentially hostile world even as a child, the bravery of confronting loved ones with information they may not welcome, and the challenges of understanding people we may not want to understand and of confronting our own hypocrisy.
iam's review against another edition
3.0
3.5-ish stars
This is a fast read and for the most part was 4 stars for me.
I loved the whole summer camp atmosphere - I went to summer camps almost yearly as a teenager, and this brought back a lot of memories, including silly crushes.
The main characters of this book are all 14, and in my opinion rather convincingly so. 12 days seems like too little time to fall in love, but I know from personal experience that crushes don't need long to develop, especially when basically spending time around each other 24/7, like at summer camp.
Casey, the protagonist, is a bi trans boy who for the first time is going to a summer camp that is not specifically for trans youth. The counselors know about him, but the rest of the kids don't, and as far as Casey is concerned, they won't find out. But it's not quite that easy.
I enjoyed the many side characters and that I didn't always knew where the story was going.
There's Ella, Casey's best friend, who is aro and ace, which I loved to see in a younger character.
There's Ryan, the bully who's family owns the camp and this can't get kicked out despite how horrible he's behaving, homophobic and transphobic comments included (I did not enjoy him as a character, but he is kinda important, though not as present as I feared.)
There's Gavin, who Casey crushes on from day one, and who seems to show interest in Casey as well - but he's also friends with Ryan.
There's Alex, who's quiet and a loner and seems to both hate it and appreciate it when Casey attempts becoming friends.
There's Lars, the pretty camp counselor who doesn't care what the kids say when he wears dresses and there's Wade, the counselor responsible for the cabin Casey sleeps in.
Despite Ryan's bullying, this is not a sad or heavy book, and while I appreciate that the bullying was never at the front of Casey's mind it was at the front of my mind and I was scared for Casey several times.
More specific content warnings for the bullying include
What made me drop the rating down from 4 was mostly what happened towards the end.
This is a fast read and for the most part was 4 stars for me.
I loved the whole summer camp atmosphere - I went to summer camps almost yearly as a teenager, and this brought back a lot of memories, including silly crushes.
The main characters of this book are all 14, and in my opinion rather convincingly so. 12 days seems like too little time to fall in love, but I know from personal experience that crushes don't need long to develop, especially when basically spending time around each other 24/7, like at summer camp.
Casey, the protagonist, is a bi trans boy who for the first time is going to a summer camp that is not specifically for trans youth. The counselors know about him, but the rest of the kids don't, and as far as Casey is concerned, they won't find out. But it's not quite that easy.
I enjoyed the many side characters and that I didn't always knew where the story was going.
There's Ella, Casey's best friend, who is aro and ace, which I loved to see in a younger character.
There's Ryan, the bully who's family owns the camp and this can't get kicked out despite how horrible he's behaving, homophobic and transphobic comments included (I did not enjoy him as a character, but he is kinda important, though not as present as I feared.)
There's Gavin, who Casey crushes on from day one, and who seems to show interest in Casey as well - but he's also friends with Ryan.
There's Alex, who's quiet and a loner and seems to both hate it and appreciate it when Casey attempts becoming friends.
There's Lars, the pretty camp counselor who doesn't care what the kids say when he wears dresses and there's Wade, the counselor responsible for the cabin Casey sleeps in.
Despite Ryan's bullying, this is not a sad or heavy book, and while I appreciate that the bullying was never at the front of Casey's mind it was at the front of my mind and I was scared for Casey several times.
More specific content warnings for the bullying include
Spoiler
homophobic, aphobic and transphobic comments, blackmail by threatening to out someone to potentially abusive parents, misgendering, group planning and threating to hurt/beat up someone, pretending to be friends to hurt someone later/lure them in a trap, panic attacks, almost drowning, off-page harassment, pushing and off-page violence.What made me drop the rating down from 4 was mostly what happened towards the end.
Spoiler
Casey has given up on his crush for playing a role in a plot to hurt Casey (that luckily never came to pass), and when it turns out that the crush's involvement might not have been entirely voluntarily Casey's friends insist that Casey has to apologize and give his cursh another chance, which leads to Casey isolating himself. The force with which his friends bugged him to forgive the crush felt really wrong and out of place for me - Casey owns his crush absolutely nothing after what happened, and it was weird that it was CASEY'S FRIENDS who would argue so much in favour of someone who isn't their friend, especially over someone who is.tora76's review against another edition
3.0
Cute, but a little heavy-handed and sometimes it felt like lecturing was taking priority over storytelling. (Seriously, sometimes I felt like I was reading a tumblr post about The Dangers of Binding.)
dramaturgist's review against another edition
5.0
I got sent this book via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review, all my opinions are my own and thank you so much to the publishers for sending me this book!
This was such a good book?? So soft and fluffy with just the right amount of angst - I practically breezed through it in one sitting. If I'm being honest, I was a bit wary going in because it seemed a little ~childish~. But this - this is what I needed. I'm so used to reading LGBTQ+ books from the POV of 16 or 17 year olds, and it was refreshing to see the viewpoint of a 14 year old! I honestly cried while reading this; even though I'm not trans, or bi, I could relate a lot with Casey. The parts about being young and scared for the future as a queer teen really struck with me.
I loved that this book didn't bury any type of identity! There are so many LGBTQ+ novels that focus solely on romance, and make it out that if you don't feel attraction, you're weird. But that's obviously wrong? And the author portrayed that in Casey's best friend, Ella - she's aroace, and completely proud of her identity.
All the characters were extremely well rounded. Even the assholes were written really well - I wanted to punch in Ryan's nose so hard, but he and his friends were portrayed pretty realistically. As much as I hate to admit it, people like that do exist irl, and I've had the bad fortune to meet a few :/ Especially in middle schoolers; no one hates as fiercely as eighth graders.
The writing style was pretty easy to read! It didn't fuss around with unnecessary metaphors, everything was to the point - but there were still some really beautiful lines. I finished the book entirely on a two hour flight and I loved it <3
I liked the plot, too! Simple, realistic, but also refreshing - it followed a trans boy going to normal camp for the first time. Naturally, he was nervous; and we get to see all his experiences. From the good, the bad, and the dirty. The pacing was also pretty good; it was set in a span of two weeks and never felt too slow or too fast.
tl;dr: READ THIS BOOK WHEN IT COMES OUT IN APRIL. It's for the trans teens of our generation, for every queer kid that feels left out, for every fourteen year old struggling with life. Absolutely adorable and needed.
A review will be up on my blog by a day or two. :)
This was such a good book?? So soft and fluffy with just the right amount of angst - I practically breezed through it in one sitting. If I'm being honest, I was a bit wary going in because it seemed a little ~childish~. But this - this is what I needed. I'm so used to reading LGBTQ+ books from the POV of 16 or 17 year olds, and it was refreshing to see the viewpoint of a 14 year old! I honestly cried while reading this; even though I'm not trans, or bi, I could relate a lot with Casey. The parts about being young and scared for the future as a queer teen really struck with me.
I loved that this book didn't bury any type of identity! There are so many LGBTQ+ novels that focus solely on romance, and make it out that if you don't feel attraction, you're weird. But that's obviously wrong? And the author portrayed that in Casey's best friend, Ella - she's aroace, and completely proud of her identity.
All the characters were extremely well rounded. Even the assholes were written really well - I wanted to punch in Ryan's nose so hard, but he and his friends were portrayed pretty realistically. As much as I hate to admit it, people like that do exist irl, and I've had the bad fortune to meet a few :/ Especially in middle schoolers; no one hates as fiercely as eighth graders.
The writing style was pretty easy to read! It didn't fuss around with unnecessary metaphors, everything was to the point - but there were still some really beautiful lines. I finished the book entirely on a two hour flight and I loved it <3
I liked the plot, too! Simple, realistic, but also refreshing - it followed a trans boy going to normal camp for the first time. Naturally, he was nervous; and we get to see all his experiences. From the good, the bad, and the dirty. The pacing was also pretty good; it was set in a span of two weeks and never felt too slow or too fast.
tl;dr: READ THIS BOOK WHEN IT COMES OUT IN APRIL. It's for the trans teens of our generation, for every queer kid that feels left out, for every fourteen year old struggling with life. Absolutely adorable and needed.
A review will be up on my blog by a day or two. :)
bonecarvdweaver's review against another edition
4.0
This was an ARC sent to me from NetGalley in return favor of an honest review. Now prepare because this review is going to get emotional.
Here we have a young adult story about our main character named Casey, a trangender young teen planning a trip to a camp for two whole weeks with his best friend Ella. Casey came out to his parents and has dreams of getting older so that he can get surgery. Casey is our main character at age fourteen and has for the most part had a good community in his life in Virginia where he goes to a school that seems to be more accepting of queer people.
Casey tells himself he won't think about romance when he goes on this trip and fears the day on this trip that maybe things will go awry. What if there aren't any queer kids? What if he gets bullied or attacked, or outed? These are things that he know he has to struggle with in his life. But Casey is a strong, independent man, and he isn't going to let others dictate his life for him.
At first I knew there would be some cheesy romance, I mean- Look at the cover and title! But what I didn't expect was to be educated well beyong my expectations, and to fall in love with so many characters in such a short time. These nine chapters killed me! Took my children, and left me for dead.
This was beautifully written and the plot had layers and layers of impact on me. Whenever I thought romance would be an issue, I was pushed back into the view of our main character working through his struggles and to figure out what person he is and what person he doesn't want to be.
I loved that our character had flaws and that he acknowledged these flaws as well as the fact that he tried to work on them, that he used proper skills to work through problems like a decent human being, and I'd like to think that it is because I truly does have great parents.
We had a best friend named Ella who was the best king of sidekick, that kick-ass woman who was independent, and not just because she was aro ace! ( Stunning. The representation is ON-POINT. Killer ). I loved the themes of LGBTQ+ in this book and I think that this is an important book to many kids, teens and adults out there looking for closure and a little something to help them.
The one thing I do want to address is the bullying, which I believe wasn't handled as well as I would like. It was a typical teen book where the bully was reprimanded for physical violence, rather than the tolls of physical, emotional AND psychological abuse placed on teens at the time. I think that there was a far more adult way for the ADULTS to handle that kind of situation, instead of being stand-by characters. The sense that even in writing that adults are passive is a let-down, but I suppose it is a cliche and would probably take the story in a direction most wouldn't take the time to appreciate, but I digress.
Regardless, I loved this book. And I usually have low expectations going into stories like this. But it was well done and I loved every second of it. I loved every second of Alex, Ella, Gavin, of Casey and the counselors and GOOD GOSH did I want to know more about Lars! I was totally hoping there would be some kind of sub-plot about him! Totally disappointed but that's okay!
This book deserves every star up to 5 and I have no doubts about loving this book. Please pick it up, buy it when it releases, and share it with everyone you know. This is a story everyone needs to read.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to make this review.
Here we have a young adult story about our main character named Casey, a trangender young teen planning a trip to a camp for two whole weeks with his best friend Ella. Casey came out to his parents and has dreams of getting older so that he can get surgery. Casey is our main character at age fourteen and has for the most part had a good community in his life in Virginia where he goes to a school that seems to be more accepting of queer people.
Casey tells himself he won't think about romance when he goes on this trip and fears the day on this trip that maybe things will go awry. What if there aren't any queer kids? What if he gets bullied or attacked, or outed? These are things that he know he has to struggle with in his life. But Casey is a strong, independent man, and he isn't going to let others dictate his life for him.
At first I knew there would be some cheesy romance, I mean- Look at the cover and title! But what I didn't expect was to be educated well beyong my expectations, and to fall in love with so many characters in such a short time. These nine chapters killed me! Took my children, and left me for dead.
This was beautifully written and the plot had layers and layers of impact on me. Whenever I thought romance would be an issue, I was pushed back into the view of our main character working through his struggles and to figure out what person he is and what person he doesn't want to be.
I loved that our character had flaws and that he acknowledged these flaws as well as the fact that he tried to work on them, that he used proper skills to work through problems like a decent human being, and I'd like to think that it is because I truly does have great parents.
We had a best friend named Ella who was the best king of sidekick, that kick-ass woman who was independent, and not just because she was aro ace! ( Stunning. The representation is ON-POINT. Killer ). I loved the themes of LGBTQ+ in this book and I think that this is an important book to many kids, teens and adults out there looking for closure and a little something to help them.
The one thing I do want to address is the bullying, which I believe wasn't handled as well as I would like. It was a typical teen book where the bully was reprimanded for physical violence, rather than the tolls of physical, emotional AND psychological abuse placed on teens at the time. I think that there was a far more adult way for the ADULTS to handle that kind of situation, instead of being stand-by characters. The sense that even in writing that adults are passive is a let-down, but I suppose it is a cliche and would probably take the story in a direction most wouldn't take the time to appreciate, but I digress.
Regardless, I loved this book. And I usually have low expectations going into stories like this. But it was well done and I loved every second of it. I loved every second of Alex, Ella, Gavin, of Casey and the counselors and GOOD GOSH did I want to know more about Lars! I was totally hoping there would be some kind of sub-plot about him! Totally disappointed but that's okay!
This book deserves every star up to 5 and I have no doubts about loving this book. Please pick it up, buy it when it releases, and share it with everyone you know. This is a story everyone needs to read.
Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to make this review.