Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith

15 reviews

michaelion's review against another edition

dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

My ex bought me this for our one month anniversary and I finally read it two years later hoping the book would be bad so I could give it away but it was so good! So cue so sweet. I shall be keeping it.

I was so sure that The Outsiders wasn't canon in this world and then she mentioned it! It's nitpicky but naming yourself after Ponyboy is much cooler than just naming yourself after an animal randomly. That boy got to senior year and didn't read The Outsiders?! It's so gay he would've loved it.

A great book for explaining what a trans person is to kids / teens. It has a perfect mixture of people familiar with the world and explaining to someone who knows nothing. Great writing. I laughed a plenty.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Deadnaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infidelity and Abandonment

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

challenging fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Excrement, Vomit, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

use of f slur

grace_koalateareads's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative tense 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

3.5

“We can’t change those people’s minds. We just love louder and harder than they can hate.”

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith was a difficult  yet important read. The story is split into Pony’s (a trans boy) and Georgia’s (a cis girl) point of view. Both are seniors at a Texas high school just outside of Dallas. For Pony it’s all about going “stealth” and just being a normal guy, for Georgia it’s about cheerleading and being the person people expect her to be. I loved both of them so much, they had great personalities and felt real and genuine. I loved the puns, the banter and the deep and meaningful conversations. 

“When the school treats trans students like they’re different, it gives the green light for the other kids to do the same, but kids are way meaner.”

The side characters were where my discomfort started, especially with Max, Pony’s “out and proud” best friend, who came across very “black and white” and wanting him to share things on social media that made him feel uncomfortable. I know the ending sort of cleared those things up, but it felt too rushed and too shiny (or gold, if you will) like it wasn’t real.  Being “out and proud” is great, it’s awesome, but not if it isn’t safe to do so. It also made me uncomfortable with the amount of trans and queer slurs, especially as they didn’t need to be written down to get the point across.

“Some days, I barely think about being trans. And other days, it’s an obstacle course.”

Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the book, just not as much as I was expecting. A lot of really heavy topics were covered, such as transphobia, misgendering and forced outting - these weren’t the reason for my lower rating, but more how they were handled/written especially when a character was the one causing said topics. I was definitely hooked and finished the book in just over a day. It’s one that I think a lot of people, who don’t understand what being trans means, should read, however, overall it just made me feel drained.

“I raise my glass in toast and say (but not too loudly, “Here’s to being trans in Texas.””

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug use, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Alcohol

wrinnola's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Dysphoria

Minor: Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, and Toxic friendship

luz_reads_books's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Violence

Minor: Vomit

nerdysread's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective sad slow-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

3.0

A really good book about a trans teen who wants to who wants to live a « normal » Life. But then he falls in love and he starts questioning himself and ignore has to tell the girl he loves if he’s trans. 

Also his friend wants him to come out. Not hide himself and live his true self. 

So Pony has to navigate a new life trying to be a new Him, without loosing himself. 

But seriously some things really felt problematic. Like Georgia feeling betrayed because Pony didn’t tell her he’s trans. Like??? It’s dangerous. Max pressuring Pony to come out. But for this I kinda of get both of their pov on the question. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Outing, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Minor: Vomit

anniereads221's review against another edition

challenging emotional medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Grief, and Outing

Misgendering HP references

therainbowshelf's review against another edition

emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This is your typical boy meets girl out of his league but she's tired of the social roles she plays anyway type stories, but make one of them trans. The characters are fun and their exploration of themselves is typical but rewarding. I was a little surprised that one character never has a learning moment about how trans people don't owe you a sex reveal, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief and Dysphoria

ohnoits_arcturus's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Outing, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Death and Self harm

Minor: Vomit

seawarrior's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-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

2.0

I really wasn't into this book... and at points I just wanted to quit reading. Pony and Georgia weren't interesting people to me, they both seemed shallow and self-absorbed, so I had a difficult time feeling invested in their motivations, much less their love story. Pony kinda skates along acting toxically masculine throughout the book and isn't given opportunity to truly grow out of that mindset or denounce it. I was honestly really appalled by how he was behaving and how remorseless he felt about it. I transitioned at the same age he did, at the same point in time that he did, and never felt pressured to act as he did, and have known plenty of other trans masculine people who would never dream of behaving so offensively just to pass. It's not a requirement, even around hyper-masculine guys, to go around being misogynistic and LGBTphobic just to be stealth, and I'm sick and tired of young trans boys being convinced otherwise. Pony slightly redeems himself at the end, but I really wasn't satisfied with his character progression, and I still left the story with a sour taste in my mouth. 

Ironically I enjoyed listening to Georgia's voice more, though she also behaves LGBTphobically for immature and downright ridiculous reasons. Her act of redemption is more solid and purposeful by the end. My favorite character in the story was probably Ted London, and I was disappointed that he mostly seemed used as a plot device. I didn't feel satisfied with his development either. 

My other main issue was how there was never really a balance that Pony and Max found between accepting that some people need to be stealth for their own physical and mental safety, and that they can still stick up for other LGBT+ people at the same time. By the end this story read almost like a cautionary tale regarding both their perspectives, but they never even opened a dialogue about it. 

I think the high points of this story are the messages that life continues after being outed, life continues after assault, life continues when binding becomes too dangerous to repeat, life continues when you have to wait for gender affirming medical interventions, life continues after being rejected or mocked for your gender and it continues even when you wish you weren't living it. Trans youth have so much more strength and grit than they usually give themselves credit for. And they're often surrounded by so much more love than they know. I was happy that these ideas were reflected in the book, but mostly at the very end, and only very briefly in comparison with the previous pages. I'm not sure I'd recommend this book to others. It's not totally terrible, but I had a lot of issues with the characters and with the narrative that went unresolved. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Alcohol, and Dysphoria