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random_being's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Transphobia, and Outing
Moderate: Bullying, Hate crime, and Homophobia
c_dmckinney's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
That said this book was absolutely beautiful and I wish everyone with queer young people in their lives would read it. Honestly I would recommend it to everyone, maybe especially people who don't have (or don't think they have any) genderqueer people in their lives.
I found the author's exploration of understanding one's gender and gender roles very considerate and sincere. It was raw and tender and not too neat. It was compassionate to a perspective that I have never previously seen explored well at all much less in middle grade fiction.
This was a very sweet young romance set in the backdrop of the trials and tribulations of middle school where identity and fitting in is perhaps the hardest in any young person's life.
Also this is somewhat unrelated but I can tell the author spends A LOT of time in various online communities. There's a lot of language that is definitely not used offline. I found it terribly endearing, but that is because I also use online lingo offline sometimes.
Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Transphobia, Outing, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Deadnaming, Death, Misogyny, Dementia, and Injury/Injury detail
citrus_seasalt's review against another edition
4.0
I wish so badly I got to have this book as a middle schooler!! Ash connected with me so deeply. Like them, I was openly genderfluid in middle school, it took me very long to feel comfortable with the label “trans” because I wasn’t sure if that was actually me if I still felt comfortable being feminine part-time(spoilers: I use “trans” and “nonbinary” labels in the present day!), we both went through our own crisis of experiencing gender differently depending on the day but not being a label such as bi or pan so…how on earth would we address ourselves, and also, both of us perceive sound in a funky way!! (Ash clearly has synesthesia, I have no clue if I do, but sometimes I’ll be hit with colors mid-song, or flavor mid-feeling). Although I was a bit turned off by how long it took for Ash to not fit their different switches and forms of expression into different gender roles, half of that was justified by the attitudes towards their gender they’ve been shown(not saying it was right, there’s just a narrative reason for it), and thankfully, that was resolved by the end.
I also really enjoyed the character development! Ash and Daniel both mature as the story progresses, which is evident in the evolution of how they understand themselves, and how they can move on from their past. (With Ash, it’s their trauma, with Daniel, it’s taking responsibility.) I especially loved how Daniel’s emotional vulnerability/intelligence was handled, he sends a good message towards the readers of this book: recognize your emotions and feel them without ridicule, but don’t only consider your own feelings when others are involved. In the plot department, there’s not much going on, but Chewbarka was a good character to bring them together, and was very endearing, too.
My only other gripes with this story are that I felt pretty dysphoric reading Daniel’s POV for most of the book, he (unintentionally) frequently misgenders Ash as they try to make themselves more girly for him and it’s painful to read. I was scared for his reaction for when Ash came out, and thought I had some of that fear justified but I’m glad that his disappointment and anger didn’t come from Ash being genderfluid(..mostly), but from them hiding an important part of themself from him. For a middle grade, ”Both Can Be True” has a lot of heavy subject matter, which isn’t a problem but might make it harder to digest for its target demographic.
Graphic: Bullying and Deadnaming
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Minor: Infidelity
james1star's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Moderate: Bullying and Transphobia
Minor: Animal death, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Dysphoria
careinthelibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Transphobia, Outing, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Car accident
greenlivingaudioworm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Transphobia, Grief, Outing, Abandonment, and Dysphoria
imstephtacular's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Homophobia, Sexism, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical content, Grief, Outing, Dysphoria, and Classism
emordnilap's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I had a few problems with this book, but I will start with the good things:
1. I liked the representation of neurodivergency
2. I liked how the agab of Ash and Sam were not shared with readers. This is how to write genderqueer characters.
3. Representation of internalized homophobia/transphobia(to a point, I will revisit this in the problem-era).
Here are the problems:
1.
2. Toxic masculinity without really consequences. Bad. From both of the main characters. I don't like how it was handled.
3. The internalized transphobia from Ash created external transphobia where they behaved in a way that harmed other characters.
4. OUTING OTHER PEOPLE IS NOT GOOD. BEING OUT IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST OPTION. They really skimmed over Griffey's home situation with religious-caused homophobia. The message to kids with this book is that being out is good and there's not really any problems etc. etc. BUT that is not always the case. Being out is not all rainbows and unicorns.
5. The two main characters were very similar in too many ways. You always want main characters to be similar, but these were too similar. Did not like it.
Ok that's it.
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Moderate: Animal death
leahjanespeare's review against another edition
4.5
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Transphobia
obscurepages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book is all kinds of beautiful and heartfelt. 🥺 From Ash's journey into accepting who they are, to discussions about gender and how people always unnecessarily gender things and even emotions, to asking for forgiveness, to seeing another point of view in someone else's shoes and understanding them, to themes of friendship and family, and more. Above all, this book is also a testament to how parents/adults have such a big impact on children, especially when it comes to their identity, their gender, their sexuality.
This is just so, so wonderful, and so damn relatable for me too (although, that is a story for another day, and a lot of self-reflection is needed 😂). Overall, this book is incredible, one that should be read by both kids and adults.
Thank you so much to Harper Collins/The Shelf Stuff for sending a copy my way! This, of course, did not affect my overall opinion of the book.
CW: bullying, deadnaming, transphobia, animal deaths/injury
Graphic: Bullying and Transphobia
Moderate: Animal death, Deadnaming, and Homophobia