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augie_grabenstein's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.0
No section breaks. Scene changes were often very abrupt.
For a book about a queer youth, there was A LOT of homophobia and transphobia in this book.
For a book about a queer youth, there was A LOT of homophobia and transphobia in this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Domestic abuse
clemrain's review
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Expressive art, underdeveloped and overwhelming story.
The first third of the book was painful to get through. The second third picked up. And the last third sped through everything.
It took me a month to finish this, and that included me pushing through the first hundred pages over three days, not reading it for a month and completing the rest of the book slowly over two hours.
There was just a lot going on in this story and it would’ve been much better if the story arc spanned volumes instead of just pages of one volume.
I did not enjoy the characters.
The first third of the book was painful to get through. The second third picked up. And the last third sped through everything.
It took me a month to finish this, and that included me pushing through the first hundred pages over three days, not reading it for a month and completing the rest of the book slowly over two hours.
There was just a lot going on in this story and it would’ve been much better if the story arc spanned volumes instead of just pages of one volume.
I did not enjoy the characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Bullying, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Grief
nat_montego's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia and Transphobia
Minor: Domestic abuse and Outing
rachelditty's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.25
I really enjoyed this! I didn't know anything about it before reading; I only knew it was queer. I was surprised when the first half wasn't centered around anything LGBT+, and more focused on something strange happening to Mads' family circumstances. But as things unfolded and Mads' worldviews were dissected, I started liking the story more and more. Religion especially was used in a way I'd never really seen before--the main character interacts with members of the church who are bigoted, but still attends mass because she feels it's a place where she is part of a community and things can really feel safe for her. I thought the story was really well done, and even the more disrespectful aspects of the characters' views were portrayed super well and wrapped up neatly. So glad I read this, it was awesome.
Quotes I liked:
"Was it worse to leave him like that or to tell him he was ust part of a sciece experiment? A baking soda volcano, thrown together last minute, without thought. Without care." (p. 237)
"I could have pushed harder, gotten mom to let me stay home. But maybe I wanted to be judged. Maybe I knew the scale of 1 to 10 didn't even come close to being able to rank what I had done." (p. 244)
"Or I can just be myself, and tell people, 'Hey, I'm Amanda! And I happen to be gay!' Maybe even reverse it. 'Hey, I'm gay! And I happen to be Amanda!'" (p. 262).
"Dad was right. Always choose flying over invisibility." (p. 271).
"We don't get to choose who we love. But sometimes we get lucky and fall for someone wonderful." (p. 280).
"Kinda crazy that I had ever thought I was alone." (p. 291).
Quotes I liked:
"Was it worse to leave him like that or to tell him he was ust part of a sciece experiment? A baking soda volcano, thrown together last minute, without thought. Without care." (p. 237)
"I could have pushed harder, gotten mom to let me stay home. But maybe I wanted to be judged. Maybe I knew the scale of 1 to 10 didn't even come close to being able to rank what I had done." (p. 244)
"Or I can just be myself, and tell people, 'Hey, I'm Amanda! And I happen to be gay!' Maybe even reverse it. 'Hey, I'm gay! And I happen to be Amanda!'" (p. 262).
"Dad was right. Always choose flying over invisibility." (p. 271).
"We don't get to choose who we love. But sometimes we get lucky and fall for someone wonderful." (p. 280).
"Kinda crazy that I had ever thought I was alone." (p. 291).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
marshiereads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
slow-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Outing, and Toxic friendship
eagerreader2022's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I liked this story by the end as it taught some important lessons about finding yourself and your family. Additionally, this had a different perspective on LGBTQ stories than what I've seen before, which felt more realistic to the world today.
I felt that it took a bit to get this story going, but part of that was purposeful as our MC doesn't entirely know what they want from life.
I do wish there had been some more color to the graphics as it was difficult for me to keep track of characters in just black and white, particularly in cases where their face is not straight on in the frame.
I felt that it took a bit to get this story going, but part of that was purposeful as our MC doesn't entirely know what they want from life.
I do wish there had been some more color to the graphics as it was difficult for me to keep track of characters in just black and white, particularly in cases where their face is not straight on in the frame.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia
hayleyslibrarycard's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Honestly, this dragged. And the rampant and blatant homophobia and transphobia made it a really hard read. I liked the premise of the story, and definitely think it’s an important one too tell (and it’s cool to see trans rep but the way they did it WASNT IT) but I think they just tied it too easily up in a bow at the end and didn’t make any of the characters think about their actions or unpack anything.
The art style was fun, well drawn, and so expressive which I really enjoyed. I’ve only just started reading graphic novels so i struggled a bit to see all the underlying things that were happening as my eyes are used to skimming words rather than looking deeply at each page but I definitely liked the way it showed unreliable narrators!
Idk, something about it left me feeling a bit icky about it which is why my rating is so low.
The art style was fun, well drawn, and so expressive which I really enjoyed. I’ve only just started reading graphic novels so i struggled a bit to see all the underlying things that were happening as my eyes are used to skimming words rather than looking deeply at each page but I definitely liked the way it showed unreliable narrators!
Idk, something about it left me feeling a bit icky about it which is why my rating is so low.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
paperstxrs's review against another edition
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Sexual content
klamsc's review
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia
Minor: Domestic abuse and Abandonment