Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Art of Being Normal

I found some useful parts in this book but it does kind of reek of a non-trans author writing a story of transgender folk. Looking back on it without the rose-tinted glasses (and only being newly out and not knowing the transphobic tropes) there were some transphobic parts in this with how Leo and Kate spoke to each other and were treated. I feel wronged as I did enjoy the story till I thought back on it and all of these things that had gone over my head I noticed. I also read this book fully thinking Leo was 15 and Kate was 12-14 as uhh we don't do years in Scotland so now realising their actual ages, Kate being 15-16 and Leo being like 17 (the comment about going off the hormone blockers soon now make to sense to me), I think the characters are quite immature at times. I know Kate is supposed to 'get Leo to lower his walls' but geez if I knew this kid in person I would have told them to f off.
Kate is a girl who uses she/her pronouns, not longs to be one. I don't like how she is still called David by everyone who knows that she is transgender even more by Leo who is also transgender (which was an annoying plot twist)? Why is she only called her chosen name and she/her pronouns at the end? Why was Leo only calling Kate her chosen name and pronouns when she was wearing the dress? Why was it needed to have all the outings (both characters were outed against their wills) and the transphobia?
"How do you fit in, when you were born to stand out?" Can you shut up? I hate this saying, I just want to be accepted for who I am.
She claims in the forward she has worked with the GIDS (Gender Identity Development Service) for the NHS for two years acting as the team's admin and seen hundreds of cases so this shouldn't have been as bad as it was. I understand this may have helped some (it helped me a slight bit) but still. This is not good enough. I picked this up wanting to find a story that I could resonate with and find helpful in my own journey and instead, I feel icky. I ended up finding the 'Help & Support' section more useful even though it excludes to point out that one of the places it points out is exclusive to Sussex.

Content Warnings

cdplayerr's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful medium-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

One of my favorites, but im biased for obvious reasons 🏳️‍⚧️

Content Warnings

cassius_orion's review

Go to review page

emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

Author is cisgender, and some of the way she writes her trans characters feels inauthentic. She also deadnames and misgenders the main character, Kate (she/her), throughout the entire book.

Content Warnings

plutos_atmosphere's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I think this book did trans rep as well as it could've for 2015.
Read it in ~~4 hours because I refused to put it down.
It was really sweet at points, and also very sad too, but I loved every second of it. As a trans person, I felt what both Kate and Leo felt about themselves and their identities. It's comforting to be able to relate to people in the book you're reading, and that's another reason why I loved this book. I do think that the trans topics could've been handled just a bit better, but this came out in 2015 so I can't blame it much. Personally, I really loved the

Tripton-On-Sea montage and the Christmas Ball montage too as they were just very fluffy (with the compulsory angst ofc, but I love them nonetheless).

At the end, I felt like something was missing. I really wanted to see more of

Leo's and Kate's relationship fleshed out (because I think they should've gotten together) but I am fairly content with the ending I got, where Alicia and Leo became friends again, and where, of course Leo and Kate are friends too.

It's not just a story about trans people, it's a story about friendship, love, acceptance and self-discovery, and it's important for everyone to know these things.
I think it's a must-read. TRANS RIGHTS FOLKS!!! 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

Content Warnings

caroliiineb's review against another edition

Go to review page

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

3.25

Content Warnings

adelexrosemary's review

Go to review page

hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Content Warnings

twodoorcinemaclub's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

my fave book ever. cried thrice. leo denton i understand u immensely

Content Warnings

kibberbl's review against another edition

Go to review page

fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

I won’t give this book a thorough review, I have too many things to say about it. But if you want a thorough review, please read one written by a trans person.
I’ll just say that this book is written in a very not trans friendly, actually rather transphobic way, and it just goes to proof that cis authors shouldn’t write books about trans people without being VERY sure about what they’re doing. It’s so sad that some people will read this book and think that this is the actual experience of trans people, and think that this is the way you should treat and view trans people as well. Please educate yourselves, and don’t take a single cis person’s (or multiple) word about trans people for good. And if you want to try and read books with trans characters, i recommend reading those written by trans authors

Content Warnings

More...