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minimalistbibliophile's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying
matheo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Misogyny and Car accident
onion's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Grief
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Violence, and Stalking
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
ssgcedits's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Fantastic premise, agonisingly poor execution. Although there is some exploration of the intricacies of waking up as a different person since birth, the bulk of the book is wasted on a completely unnecessary romance and, by the time the protagonist gets close to understanding how and why that's been happening... the book ends--with more romantic considerations, of course. A complete disappointment. I'm glad I got it from the library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, and Bullying
valereads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I found this concept really interesting and I think David explored it as well as someone reasonably could in a book this length, given the concept itself was limiting.
I found some of the different lives explored really interesting and I wish we could've stuck with them longer but I think that's one aspect of the book that really works. I especially was interested in Leslie, the second life that A ends up in in the book. Kelsea's story was extremely powerful, as someone who has suffered from severe depression, this chapter moved me nearly to tears and how it was resolved really meant a lot to me.
Onto some sections I wasn't such a fan of. I'm trans masc, I want to be clear about when saying what I am about to, I did not like the chapter where A was in a trans guy's body. I think the language used to discuss and describe him was misgendering and could honestly have done without it. That was not my least favourite chapter though. It became clear to me that the author of this book has some underlying prejudices against overweight people. The way the fat character was treated by both the characters and the narrative left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I cannot recommend this book to anyone who is overweight or sensitive regarding weight issues because of it and I am extremely disappointed by that.
On a more positive note, I think some of the philosophy in the book was very interesting, the way David portrays mental illness really spoke to me and the idea of the body as something separate from the mind with it's own desires, in some cases constantly battling for control was something I loved about this book.
And straight back into the negatives, it's time to talk about Rhiannon. I'm not even sure what to say about her, the most memorable character trait she had was that she was mostly nice and kind of shallow, both in her characterisation and attitude to other people. I didn't buy her and A's romance but would probably be more bothered by that if this wasn't a YA with two 16 year old protagonists.
As I mentioned earlier, I definitely would not recommend this to anyone who is fat or has any kind of weight issues and I probably wouldn't recommend it to any of my binary trans friends either. If you find the concept interesting and aren't bothered by the issues I've mentioned then pick it up, just remember that the protagonists are 16, stupid and shallow is just how a lot of teens are.
Content warnings: fatphobia, misgendering, some ableism, consent issues, homophobia, drug use, addiction, alcohol, religion, domestic abuse, discussions of suicide, emotional abuse, physical abuse
I found some of the different lives explored really interesting and I wish we could've stuck with them longer but I think that's one aspect of the book that really works. I especially was interested in Leslie, the second life that A ends up in in the book. Kelsea's story was extremely powerful, as someone who has suffered from severe depression, this chapter moved me nearly to tears and how it was resolved really meant a lot to me.
Onto some sections I wasn't such a fan of. I'm trans masc, I want to be clear about when saying what I am about to, I did not like the chapter where A was in a trans guy's body. I think the language used to discuss and describe him was misgendering and could honestly have done without it. That was not my least favourite chapter though. It became clear to me that the author of this book has some underlying prejudices against overweight people. The way the fat character was treated by both the characters and the narrative left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I cannot recommend this book to anyone who is overweight or sensitive regarding weight issues because of it and I am extremely disappointed by that.
On a more positive note, I think some of the philosophy in the book was very interesting, the way David portrays mental illness really spoke to me and the idea of the body as something separate from the mind with it's own desires, in some cases constantly battling for control was something I loved about this book.
And straight back into the negatives, it's time to talk about Rhiannon. I'm not even sure what to say about her, the most memorable character trait she had was that she was mostly nice and kind of shallow, both in her characterisation and attitude to other people. I didn't buy her and A's romance but would probably be more bothered by that if this wasn't a YA with two 16 year old protagonists.
As I mentioned earlier, I definitely would not recommend this to anyone who is fat or has any kind of weight issues and I probably wouldn't recommend it to any of my binary trans friends either. If you find the concept interesting and aren't bothered by the issues I've mentioned then pick it up, just remember that the protagonists are 16, stupid and shallow is just how a lot of teens are.
Content warnings: fatphobia, misgendering, some ableism, consent issues, homophobia, drug use, addiction, alcohol, religion, domestic abuse, discussions of suicide, emotional abuse, physical abuse
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Transphobia
Moderate: Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Homophobia
Minor: Self harm