bookishmillennial's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
General disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. Thus, no stars doesn’t indicate that the book wasn’t worthy of any starred system. It just means I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all, even if the lesson is that I’m a ho for the smut, recognizing a genre/book/author is not for me, or confronting my own mommy/daddy issues lol. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Happy reading! Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial
asdsdjhfslhflsdjhskfh I borrowed this from the library and after reading, I want my own copy! I adored this graphic novel/memoir from Maia Kobabe and I am so glad I read this.
Disclaimer: There are a few Harry Potter references in here, but this was published in May 2019 before JKR revealed herself as a TERF POS.
Topics covered:
asdsdjhfslhflsdjhskfh I borrowed this from the library and after reading, I want my own copy! I adored this graphic novel/memoir from Maia Kobabe and I am so glad I read this.
Disclaimer: There are a few Harry Potter references in here, but this was published in May 2019 before JKR revealed herself as a TERF POS.
Topics covered:
- asexuality / aromantics
- gender dysphoria
- finding queer representation in books and music
- finding queer community through the Queer Straight Alliance in high school
- getting eir period and the trauma of navigating this along with pap smears
- figuring out what sexual orientation label felt right
- discussing queerness with eir family, friends and classmates
- experimenting with masturbation and tracking this to figure out eir feelings on the physical act of sex in general
- the spiral of constantly questioning and/or hating eir body
- binding, clothes/shopping, haircuts/styles, bodily hair
- and so much more!
Besides this being highly informative for anyone who is unfamiliar with gender queerness, asexuality, aromantic, nonbinary, othergender, etc, it's at its core a beautifully generous and vulnerable account from Maia's journey as ey question and figure out all of this. I'm so grateful to em for sharing this with us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Dysphoria, Homophobia, and Medical trauma
smeyer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Medical content, Sexual content, Body shaming, Homophobia, Bullying, Biphobia, Blood, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, and Body horror
pidgepodge's review against another edition
emotional
informative
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Blood, Transphobia, and Homophobia
sdupont's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
Gender Queer is the first graphic novel I’ve ever read. I loved that this memoir was a graphic novel I think that it made the content even more approachable for readers. I read this book quickly in one sitting. I really felt for Maia as I read. Also, the illustrations in this book were fabulous. I would totally recommend this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria
Moderate: Transphobia and Biphobia
Minor: Medical content and Blood
grayreadsmanga's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria
Moderate: Biphobia, Transphobia, Blood, and Sexual content
Minor: Excrement and Outing
hmatt's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
4.0
I really like how the author breaks down the topics of sexuality, gender, and pronoun use by recounting eir own experiences and thoughts. And I love the comic style! Whether unintentional because of eir experiences or intentional, it's also notable that this comic steers clear of depicting major [trans/homo/bi/etc.]-phobic events, which could potentially trigger certain readers (It does depict and describe many, many minor events and traumatic dysphoric medical experiences - all of these from what I can remember are unintentional? For what that's worth?).
Big big kudos for conveying fandom/shipping/fanfiction/etc. in a positive, affirming, non-judgemental way.
I would have loved to see more explicit discussion around the author's asexuality, but maybe this could come in future works as a dedicated topic? It's mentioned here, but then there are other scenes that are very clearly ace experiences to someone educated on the topic that I think will get overlooked to an uninformed reader.
One of my favourite panels (and honestly an affirming moment, because this is a thought I constantly think) is "Would Harry Styles wear this shirt?" (p. 229).
Big big kudos for conveying fandom/shipping/fanfiction/etc. in a positive, affirming, non-judgemental way.
I would have loved to see more explicit discussion around the author's asexuality, but maybe this could come in future works as a dedicated topic? It's mentioned here, but then there are other scenes that are very clearly ace experiences to someone educated on the topic that I think will get overlooked to an uninformed reader.
One of my favourite panels (and honestly an affirming moment, because this is a thought I constantly think) is "Would Harry Styles wear this shirt?" (p. 229).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Medical content, and Sexual content
Moderate: Transphobia, Biphobia, and Acephobia/Arophobia
Minor: Blood
purplepenning's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.75
This was exceptional — exceptionally personal and kind and gently paced and honest. A great example of how a graphic memoir can tell a complex story (and aren't all of our truest stories complex) in a beautifully accessible way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Dysphoria, Excrement, Blood, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Biphobia, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Sexual content and Alcohol
orlagal's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Outing, Pregnancy, and Transphobia
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