babyleo's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Minor: Transphobia, Violence, Outing, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
laura_keoski'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Bullying, and Transphobia
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Sexual harassment, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Outing
Minor: Deadnaming
that_bookworm_guy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
First of all, I defo want to put here that I am a trans man. So this is my view as just 1 trans person.
First of all, the romance. I'm defo not great at reading romance, but I definitely didn't find it cute. This could just be me, I'm really aware that romance just isn't my thing. But it felt so focused. I hated, hated how Pony chased Georgia after she said she didn't want to date him. He was counting down the days it had been since they kissed and was purposely making situations hoping for a kiss. And then after a big love show, she turned him down because he is trans and she was worried about her image. I know this is meant to be a point of growth for the characters as she learns that it doesn't matter but yeah, I didn't like this.
Max, a trans friend, keeps putting pressure on Pony to be out and proud as a trans man when he keeps repeating that he wants to live stealth after what happened before. Then threatens that if he isn't out he will end the friendship. Emotional blackmail. Nope. As a trans person, I don't know a single trans person who would do this to another trans person. He does apologise later, but only after Pony comes out and gets attacked. Max is an incredibly shitty person and apologising is the very least, but yeah, I defo wouldn't trust or forgive someone for doing that. This is such a harmful situation, Pony should have 100% cut Max out of his life at the first sign of emotional manipulation. I really hope trans youths know that they don't ever have to come out like this. I live stealth in my life at work and I would 100% cut out a friend who expected me to share things online such as Facebook where it could risk outing me. Because respect is the least I ask for. Let alone from another trans person.
The book also got very dark very suddenly at the end. I understand it happens in life. That trans people get assaulted, and that trans people are at a higher risk of suicide. But I just don't think this was handled well at all. It was almost sudden with no warning.
If you're expecting a cute romance with some hard hitting bits, then it's worth looking into the TWs. Because this gets incredibly dark.
There is also theme throughout where Georgia is trying to find out Pony's deadname. It's revealed in the end, and although Georgia says that she didn't really need to know what it was and it doesn't matter, it would have been a much nicer thing if the name was never revealed to the reader. If it truly doesn't matter, then don't mention it. I understand the point that was trying to be made, but it would have made a bigger point to not make a huge point of it. The first 2 letters are revealed part way through the book and I feel like it almost leads the reader to want to figure out his deadname.
I've rated this 2.5/3* simply because there were some good points in this book and I was semi enjoying the train wreck of the romance thinking that it was just me not enjoying romance, but there are definitely some huge red flags with the romance.
Graphic: Transphobia, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Suicide, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Outing, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
gale_bruckner'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
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Suicidal thoughts
dealingwithdragons'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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Lesbophobia, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Outing, Violence, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Alcoholism
ryan_rajp's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Deadnaming, Outing, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Bullying, Transphobia, Homophobia, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Outing, Violence, Medical content, Abandonment, Hate crime, Infidelity, Body shaming, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Grief and Dysphoria
elliizzzabeth'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
4.0
Georgia was kind of annoying. I warmed up to her but she is a compulsive liar. But not in a believable way, she instead tells these crazy stories like 'a giraffe broke my car' or 'my dog had kittens'. It came off in the most annoying 'lol I'm so random!!' way it kinda made me hate her at the start. She also is very transphobic ar first which may be hard to read for some people but I thought it was a nice depiction of cluelessness from a straight girl.
Also Max was almost unbearable. He shames Pony for being stealth and then drops him when he won't do something that could out him. It was so insufferable, I wish he had learnt from his actions in a better way than just reacting to the ending.
Speaking of the ending:
Spoiler
I wish that it didn't have to come down to an outing and a hate crime. It just feels very cliche and plays into tropes of queer people having miserable lives. Also Pony standing on stage an outing himself felt more awkward than heroic. It would have been better if we had known about the girls' relationship and knew the stakes rather than it being a surprise.If you want a similar story that is more positive I would recommend the unpopular vote by Jasper Sanchez. I read that one before this and it was a bit of a let down compared to that one
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Outing
Moderate: Dysphoria, Deadnaming, and Injury/Injury detail
cheye13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
There were two thorns in my side through the whole book, though: 1. The whole friendzone™ vibe. Pony rejecting friendship with Georgia bc she wouldn't date him is still bullshit. It could definitely have been written/handled worse, but I didn't like reading it. 2. The debate around Pony not being out. The current mainstream conversations around "coming out" and "passing" have taken complex concepts and boiled them down to black and white that just doesn't work. Having another trans teen borderline harrass Pony for not being out felt wrong. Likely something that happens and should be talked about, but didn't sit well while reading this story.
Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, and Deadnaming
Moderate: Outing, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual harassment and Bullying
rayne_1906's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
However, there are parts of this book that just really don't sit right with me. For one, the message being conveyed seems to be 'if you aren't openly trans, you are not a good person'. While the opposite is touched upon, the overarching theme is that the main character is a better person once he starts becoming an 'activist'. Activism is obviously important, but I think its wrong to assume a trans person must actively be 'helping' the community to have worth. Trans people should be allowed to exist just as they want to. Being openly trans is obviously what some people want, but the expectation that this applies to all trans people just isn't accurate.
Overall, this book, on surface-level, wasn't objectively bad, but I think it contained messages and themes that weren't particularly good.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, and Hate crime
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, and Outing
Minor: Death, Homophobia, and Misogyny