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beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
For the first time in my history of assigning star ratings to the books I read, I have made the decision not to do so for Finding Nevo.
I made this difficult decision not because I disliked the book or that it is badly written - far from it, in fact. The reason I have chosen not to rate Finding Nevo is that it is a highly personal work, and Nevo Zisin themself goes into great detail about their experiences, thoughts and feelings as they recount the story of their life. It would be as if Nevo and I had been having a conversation in real life, and after they had finished pouring out their soul to me, I would respond "sorry, it didn't really grab me. Two stars." I would never do that in real life, and I won't do it in this review.
There were issues I had with the book and Zisin's writing style. The topics they broach can be confronting - what does it mean to be a woman? To be a man? What if you don't feel like you fit in either box? Sometimes the descriptions got a little too graphic for my taste. But Finding Nevo did make me think about and question my own attitudes and preconceived ideas about gender and misogyny.
Nevo Zisin writes with great honesty, and I commend them for their bravery in doing so, given the world is still a very difficult place to be if you are trans or non-binary.
I made this difficult decision not because I disliked the book or that it is badly written - far from it, in fact. The reason I have chosen not to rate Finding Nevo is that it is a highly personal work, and Nevo Zisin themself goes into great detail about their experiences, thoughts and feelings as they recount the story of their life. It would be as if Nevo and I had been having a conversation in real life, and after they had finished pouring out their soul to me, I would respond "sorry, it didn't really grab me. Two stars." I would never do that in real life, and I won't do it in this review.
There were issues I had with the book and Zisin's writing style. The topics they broach can be confronting - what does it mean to be a woman? To be a man? What if you don't feel like you fit in either box? Sometimes the descriptions got a little too graphic for my taste. But Finding Nevo did make me think about and question my own attitudes and preconceived ideas about gender and misogyny.
Nevo Zisin writes with great honesty, and I commend them for their bravery in doing so, given the world is still a very difficult place to be if you are trans or non-binary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Bullying, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Transphobia
Moderate: Blood, Biphobia, Fatphobia, Medical content, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Outing
Nevo Zisin discusses their deadname at length - acknowledging the fact that deadnaming is a source of distress/trauma for many trans folk - and justifies their decision to do so as follows: "...I love my birth name. Revealing that name to people is a recognition of closeness. So by choosing to include my birth name at this point in my book, I am allowing you to see a very guarded part of me."
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