Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - Stay Gold

I actually quite liked this story a lot, right up until the last few chapters. I understand the purpose and the message, but it seemed out of step with the rest of the story to me. It surprised me just how much I loved both Georgia and Pony as characters, and I enjoyed seeing their relationship blossom.

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.

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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

4.5

I entered into reading this book prepared for it to be a decent read but not anything special. Fair to say it exceeded my expectations. The dual POV made me connect with, and understand the characters reasonings, even when I disagreed with their decisions.
In my opinion stay gold had the perfect balance of angst, love and wholesomeness.
The only thing I kind of disliked in this book is more about my personal preference and less about it actually being a bad thing. I did feel like this book, which is about a trans man, was mainly written for cishet people with little to none experience with LGBTQ+ people. At times the description of gender dysphoria, surgeries and other trans issues felt a bit too educational for my taste, but for someone who aren't educated on these topics before reading the book, this can be a positive thing.

LGBTQ+ rep: FtM main character, FtM side character (minor), other minor characters of varying sexualities and gender identities

Spoiler

I'm going to miss Pony a lot now that the book is over, and I truly wish there'd be a sequel where we could see him getting the money necessary for his top surgery and actually going through with it. I'd also love to see how Georgia slowly but surely becomes more comfortable being herself

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