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akswhy'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: Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Drug use, Racism, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
hannah_lilli's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Homophobia, Violence, and Grief
evanthebooknerd'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
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit and Car accident
kai_ash's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Review:
It took me a few chapters to warm to this book. I did not like the main characters at first, particularly Jeremy. But page by page, things shifted, until I felt like I finally got where he was coming from. Understanding him better meant I became far more invested in his journey. Same with Lukas. It's not that I disliked Lukas from the first, but he seemed a bit one-dimensional. That also changed as the story progressed and we saw other shades of him.
I particularly liked the way this book dealt with anger. I feel like not enough queer books tackle the emotion of fury enough.
Note that the story is set in the US and the (very strange) traditions surrounding "homecoming" make up a big part of the plot. There are cheerleaders, homecoming kings and queens, and American Football (i.e., gridiron) players.
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism and Violence
rayaufebay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
fanboyriot's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Biphobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Lesbophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
piperclover'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
3.5
I desperately wish that we had seen more of Jeremy and Lukas as an actual couple so that we could understand their chemistry and the depth of their feelings because right now I understand that they want to get back together but I don't feel like I've seen enough to root for them as a couple. If this had 2 or 3 chapters exploring the beginning of their relationship after they get back together, I would've rated it higher.
As for the representation, I thought it was great. Theres a ton of discussion and portrayal of how society and men tell boys to act and how that's detrimental. Jeremy's anger at his difficult transition festers until it boils over and he lashes out, effectively ruining all his relationships for a while. We see his inner turmoil and fear for his safety. We see Lukas struggle to feel wanted in his family and how his diagnosis impacts his self esteem and confidence people will still see him as a man.
Theres also such good commentary about how Jeremy's mother is a hardcore liberal feminist but she feels disconnected from Jeremy as her son rather than as her daughter. Its a really great representation of how the mother is a good person and does fight for equality but she's spent so long fighting for women's rights, she's at a loss for how to fight for trans rights. She's not perfect but she does love Jeremy.
Similarly, one of the classmates Debbie is a terf, so she doesn't think Jeremy's experiences matter bc he's trans. She discounts his experience living as a girl for 16 years because she thinks Jeremy is a traitor for "switching sides" Another classmate Connor says that Jeremy will never be a real man or a real gay because he lived as a girl for so long so he can't just swoop in and start acting like he is part of the gay male community. I was so thrilled to see both of these characters say these things because they're such prominent ideas within the LGBTQ+ community but not discussed enough.
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Sexual assault
eisfederchen'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
4.0
Graphic: Transphobia
Moderate: Ableism, Violence, and Sexual harassment
bibliomania_express's review
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
This book is also about the shitty things people will do to each other, and the importance of learning and making amends. There's a wide span of friendship issues, family issues, and high school administration issues. I liked that the major subplot of fighting to amend the Code of Conduct to include verbal bullying and harrassment was given a lot of page time. I also love how the whole Homecoming Court vote shook out.
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, and Transphobia
Moderate: Deadnaming, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Violence, Grief, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Infidelity, Car accident, and Sexual harassment
bashsbooks's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
A gripe I usually have with queer fiction - especially queer YA fiction - is that the queer characters are not allowed to be messy disasters. There is a very limited amount of disaster allowed for queer characters before they have to be consumed by guilt and apologies.
That is not a problem here! These guys - the two main characters, Jeremy and Lukas - are selfish and angry and hurting and think that ruling a high school via Homecoming Court can fix that. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that it obviously can't. There are some truly painful moments in here, but I loved that. I loved that they did awful things that I totally would've also done if I'd been in their scared and miserable positions when I was seventeen. This is not making excuses for them, though - they are completely in the wrong most of the time- just, it makes their character growth wayyy more satisfying than usual.
This author clearly has a very nuanced understanding of queerness, and he approached how transitioning goes from a number of angles, including an important one that I don't usually see - that trans people themselves need to grow into their genders and resist toxic behaviors for the sake of validity.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the autistic representation in Lukas, which I wasn't aware of before I started reading this. I appreciate that a trans gay guy and an autistic got to be assholes and not use their identities as an excuse, but that those identities were integral to how they process the world. That's a fine line to balance, and I think Ellor did a great job.
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Car accident, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism and Classism
-F-slur used a few times