ellieroth's review against another edition
3.0
Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento
¿No te han tocado libros que luego de leer un par de capítulos, estás seguro que odiaras a un personaje, porque sientes que no hay nada en este mundo que haga que te agrade dicho personaje, pero luego terminas sorprendiéndote tu mismo cuando dicho personaje te termina agradando? ¿No? Eso me pasó con What We Left Behind, esta libro tiene varias características que normalmente me hacen terminar con una sensación amarga, solo que la manera como se maneja la historia me llevó a querer que estos personajes superarán sus problemas y terminaran bien.
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¿No te han tocado libros que luego de leer un par de capítulos, estás seguro que odiaras a un personaje, porque sientes que no hay nada en este mundo que haga que te agrade dicho personaje, pero luego terminas sorprendiéndote tu mismo cuando dicho personaje te termina agradando? ¿No? Eso me pasó con What We Left Behind, esta libro tiene varias características que normalmente me hacen terminar con una sensación amarga, solo que la manera como se maneja la historia me llevó a querer que estos personajes superarán sus problemas y terminaran bien.
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mustbeinwantofawife's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
emjrasmussen's review against another edition
Occasionally, I finish a book and immediately adopt the opinion that everyone in the entire world needs to read this novel. Sometimes, this sensation is sparked by a well-crafted story, full of beautiful writing, complex characters, and an impeccable plot. Other times, I get this feeling from reading an important book, full of scenes, characters, and ideas that will make readers better people. But when a book is both very, very good and very, very important, I feel an even stronger desire to give a copy to everyone I know. What We Left Behind is that kind of book.
What I love about Robin Talley's sophomore novel is this: not only does it spotlight an underrepresented group—transgender and non-binary people—but it shows the messy, painful confusion that comes with gender. This story defies simplicity, from Toni's efforts to uncover a gender identity to other characters' inability to understand Toni's struggle. Talley portrays each character's emotional turmoil so vividly that readers will have no choice but to become absorbed in each person's life. The result is a personal yet universal story—the kind of tale that only belongs to a few characters but that can resonate with widespread readers.
Even better, because What We Left Behind tackles the complex issue of gender, the storyline leaves plenty of room for characters to be problematic without being portrayed as terrible people. Most characters, even the protagonists, think questionable thoughts and make dubious remarks, a truth that may sound critical but that I bestow as praise. Why do I say this? Because all too often, both in fiction and in real life, we tend to put people into boxes and pit two crowds against each other: good versus bad. But in reality, no one is perfect, everyone is problematic at times, and the best we can do is forgive and educate each other. So even though some characters make hurtful comments about Toni's identity confusion, even though Toni criticizes two roommates for being "too feminine" and says they cannot talk about feminism until they stop posting pictures of themselves in bikinis, many characters are portrayed as genuinely kind and simply confused. It is absolutely possible to make problematic comments and still be a good person—confusion and ignorance do not have to equal intolerance—but this truth is often overlooked in today's society, where we cannot disagree without spiraling into aggression. As a result, I loved seeing a fantastic fictional example of several uncertain people teaching each other rather than hating each other.
I know the basis of my adoration for this book—the characters' problematic tendencies—is also the basis for other people's dislike, and there are many superlatively important arguments being made about the characters' attitude toward certain issues. (Aside from Toni's skewed views on feminism, some reviewers criticize the characters for perpetuating the idea that "genderqueer" is merely a temporary label for those who have not decided on an official gender, not an identity of its own. For more details, I recommend reading this Goodreads reviewer's thoughts.) However, as I discussed above, I disagree with the idea that people or characters must be perfect to be worthwhile. While one could make a valid argument that this book should have done a better job of correcting misconceptions, I still think it is a valuable portrayal of a few people's personal experiences in all their flaws. Above all else, What We Left Behind is a book to be discussed, the characters' issues to be dissected and corrected. I hope that someday soon Talley's sophomore novel will be joined by a slew of other stories portraying other experiences with gender, but for now, I will continue to recommend this book. What We Left Behind increased my understanding of what it is like to question your gender identity, and considerable good would come from allowing others the same experience.
What I love about Robin Talley's sophomore novel is this: not only does it spotlight an underrepresented group—transgender and non-binary people—but it shows the messy, painful confusion that comes with gender. This story defies simplicity, from Toni's efforts to uncover a gender identity to other characters' inability to understand Toni's struggle. Talley portrays each character's emotional turmoil so vividly that readers will have no choice but to become absorbed in each person's life. The result is a personal yet universal story—the kind of tale that only belongs to a few characters but that can resonate with widespread readers.
Even better, because What We Left Behind tackles the complex issue of gender, the storyline leaves plenty of room for characters to be problematic without being portrayed as terrible people. Most characters, even the protagonists, think questionable thoughts and make dubious remarks, a truth that may sound critical but that I bestow as praise. Why do I say this? Because all too often, both in fiction and in real life, we tend to put people into boxes and pit two crowds against each other: good versus bad. But in reality, no one is perfect, everyone is problematic at times, and the best we can do is forgive and educate each other. So even though some characters make hurtful comments about Toni's identity confusion, even though Toni criticizes two roommates for being "too feminine" and says they cannot talk about feminism until they stop posting pictures of themselves in bikinis, many characters are portrayed as genuinely kind and simply confused. It is absolutely possible to make problematic comments and still be a good person—confusion and ignorance do not have to equal intolerance—but this truth is often overlooked in today's society, where we cannot disagree without spiraling into aggression. As a result, I loved seeing a fantastic fictional example of several uncertain people teaching each other rather than hating each other.
I know the basis of my adoration for this book—the characters' problematic tendencies—is also the basis for other people's dislike, and there are many superlatively important arguments being made about the characters' attitude toward certain issues. (Aside from Toni's skewed views on feminism, some reviewers criticize the characters for perpetuating the idea that "genderqueer" is merely a temporary label for those who have not decided on an official gender, not an identity of its own. For more details, I recommend reading this Goodreads reviewer's thoughts.) However, as I discussed above, I disagree with the idea that people or characters must be perfect to be worthwhile. While one could make a valid argument that this book should have done a better job of correcting misconceptions, I still think it is a valuable portrayal of a few people's personal experiences in all their flaws. Above all else, What We Left Behind is a book to be discussed, the characters' issues to be dissected and corrected. I hope that someday soon Talley's sophomore novel will be joined by a slew of other stories portraying other experiences with gender, but for now, I will continue to recommend this book. What We Left Behind increased my understanding of what it is like to question your gender identity, and considerable good would come from allowing others the same experience.
pixelski's review against another edition
2.0
Firstly thanks to Harlequin Teen Australia for this review copy.
Review originally posted at Fiction in Fiction in Fiction
What We Left Behind started with a prologue of instalove. Alarm bells were going off in my head when I read this. I decided to give WWLB the benefit of the doubt as I progressed through the first chapter because this book deals with very important issues. Transgender/genderqueer books are rare and few, and pretty much non-existent in YA. I’m not at all knowledgeable about this community of people who don’t identify with the sex they were born with. As such I thought by reading WWLB I would have a better understanding of genderqueer people and what they have to face.
What I got instead were two teenage girls going off to college and both wallowing in self-pity. We have Toni who identifies with being genderqueer (somewhat, I’ll get onto this later) and her (his?) high school sweetheart Gretchen who’s all sorts of supportive and an amazing girlfriend. They’re hailed as the perfect couple but there’s trouble in paradise when they go to college in different states and find their own friends. Toni finds the genderqueer community at Harvard and fits right in, while Gretchen just sort of trudges through her college life at NYU.
In reality this isn’t about Toni and Gretchen. It’s really about Toni and the effect her/his selfishness has on those around them. Honestly Toni got worse and worse for me throughout the book. I wanted to shake this girl/guy so hard. They’re struggling to figure out where they fit in on the gender scale and says they’re non-binary (identifying as neither male or female) which is fine by me. But she/he decides to lecture everybody else on this. Toni goes on and on about how they hate gender pronouns (I just went through this whole paragraph editing because I wrote ‘she’) and I swear to god every time I read from their perspective I felt like I was getting a textbook lecture. Yes you’re struggling with your identity Toni, yes everybody is different, but no you are NOT the centre of the world. Toni has this amazing support network of other transgender and genderqueer students as soon as she/he enters Harvard but feels they too need to be lectured. That nobody should be using gender pronouns. This pissed me off because some of those people clearly wanted to identify as a particular gender and Toni was denying them that which they had struggled so much to reach. It was like Toni’s opinion of not fitting in a particular gender applied to everybody but nobody else understood her/him. As a result Toni pushes away anybody who isn’t part of his/her community and assumes such outsiders couldn’t ever possibly understand what he/she is going through. No consideration for other people’s feelings whatsoever. Nope. This selfishness. Went. On. For. The. Whole. Damn. Book.
Poor Gretchen tries to understand what Toni is going through. Gretch is actually the most supportive girlfriend ever. She’s always thinking about what she’s saying so as not to offend Toni, she stops using gender pronouns too. I really liked Gretchen as a person overall. She’s very selfless but at the same time a bit of a doormat. It annoyed me the way she let other people walk over her (especially Toni). However, she does grow as a person and I liked her character development towards the end of the book.
I generally liked the supporting characters, especially Toni’s friends. I liked Derek’s enthusiasm and being able to see Eli’s transition – his struggles and the family aspect. I thought that, of Toni’s friends, Nance was the most realistic. Nance wasn’t afraid to tell Toni that she thought Toni was acting all high and mighty. On Gretchen’s side we got very little. She had one friend and one roommate and I would’ve liked more of this. What I didn’t like about the secondary characters was that anybody who was straight/cis was portrayed as ignorant and/or hateful, even the nicer characters (or they barely appeared in the book). Like what, we’re not all like that. Some of us want to understand (hence why I read this book).
Romance wise I just did not get the feels. I was just annoyed at Toni because Gretchen kept giving and Toni kept taking and not giving back. That is not how relationships work. I have nothing more to say about this because the romance just didn’t work for me.
Plot wise, the story is just the progression through the school year following Toni as they try to find their identity with bits of Gretchen interspersed. I thought there could have been a whole lot more world-building with regards to college life and the difference between Harvard and NYU.
And let’s also add in that as genderqueer/transgender representation goes, this book was centred on a college community within Harvard. All these students are privileged either way. So what, you might think, doesn’t mean they don’t have the same problems as others. But being privileged changes many things. Toni’s friends and himself/herself included were loaded. They could all afford to buy the things they needed/wanted and pay for doctors/treatment. Toni took their family’s money for granted and would just spend and spend their parent’s credit card. Toni had no job, couldn’t technically support himself/herself (most people I know had their own income in college, myself included) and I thought that while they were struggling with gender identity, being affluent meant they were ignorant to a whole lot of other issues. I mean this isn’t even that important/doesn’t really relate to the book but it was another thing that ticked me off.
I felt that What We Left Behind could have been a really good book because the premise is fantastic, addressing a topic that’s not widely talked about in YA. Sadly it just fell short and I couldn’t enjoy it at all.
Review originally posted at Fiction in Fiction in Fiction
What We Left Behind started with a prologue of instalove. Alarm bells were going off in my head when I read this. I decided to give WWLB the benefit of the doubt as I progressed through the first chapter because this book deals with very important issues. Transgender/genderqueer books are rare and few, and pretty much non-existent in YA. I’m not at all knowledgeable about this community of people who don’t identify with the sex they were born with. As such I thought by reading WWLB I would have a better understanding of genderqueer people and what they have to face.
What I got instead were two teenage girls going off to college and both wallowing in self-pity. We have Toni who identifies with being genderqueer (somewhat, I’ll get onto this later) and her (his?) high school sweetheart Gretchen who’s all sorts of supportive and an amazing girlfriend. They’re hailed as the perfect couple but there’s trouble in paradise when they go to college in different states and find their own friends. Toni finds the genderqueer community at Harvard and fits right in, while Gretchen just sort of trudges through her college life at NYU.
In reality this isn’t about Toni and Gretchen. It’s really about Toni and the effect her/his selfishness has on those around them. Honestly Toni got worse and worse for me throughout the book. I wanted to shake this girl/guy so hard. They’re struggling to figure out where they fit in on the gender scale and says they’re non-binary (identifying as neither male or female) which is fine by me. But she/he decides to lecture everybody else on this. Toni goes on and on about how they hate gender pronouns (I just went through this whole paragraph editing because I wrote ‘she’) and I swear to god every time I read from their perspective I felt like I was getting a textbook lecture. Yes you’re struggling with your identity Toni, yes everybody is different, but no you are NOT the centre of the world. Toni has this amazing support network of other transgender and genderqueer students as soon as she/he enters Harvard but feels they too need to be lectured. That nobody should be using gender pronouns. This pissed me off because some of those people clearly wanted to identify as a particular gender and Toni was denying them that which they had struggled so much to reach. It was like Toni’s opinion of not fitting in a particular gender applied to everybody but nobody else understood her/him. As a result Toni pushes away anybody who isn’t part of his/her community and assumes such outsiders couldn’t ever possibly understand what he/she is going through. No consideration for other people’s feelings whatsoever. Nope. This selfishness. Went. On. For. The. Whole. Damn. Book.
Poor Gretchen tries to understand what Toni is going through. Gretch is actually the most supportive girlfriend ever. She’s always thinking about what she’s saying so as not to offend Toni, she stops using gender pronouns too. I really liked Gretchen as a person overall. She’s very selfless but at the same time a bit of a doormat. It annoyed me the way she let other people walk over her (especially Toni). However, she does grow as a person and I liked her character development towards the end of the book.
I generally liked the supporting characters, especially Toni’s friends. I liked Derek’s enthusiasm and being able to see Eli’s transition – his struggles and the family aspect. I thought that, of Toni’s friends, Nance was the most realistic. Nance wasn’t afraid to tell Toni that she thought Toni was acting all high and mighty. On Gretchen’s side we got very little. She had one friend and one roommate and I would’ve liked more of this. What I didn’t like about the secondary characters was that anybody who was straight/cis was portrayed as ignorant and/or hateful, even the nicer characters (or they barely appeared in the book). Like what, we’re not all like that. Some of us want to understand (hence why I read this book).
Romance wise I just did not get the feels. I was just annoyed at Toni because Gretchen kept giving and Toni kept taking and not giving back. That is not how relationships work. I have nothing more to say about this because the romance just didn’t work for me.
Plot wise, the story is just the progression through the school year following Toni as they try to find their identity with bits of Gretchen interspersed. I thought there could have been a whole lot more world-building with regards to college life and the difference between Harvard and NYU.
And let’s also add in that as genderqueer/transgender representation goes, this book was centred on a college community within Harvard. All these students are privileged either way. So what, you might think, doesn’t mean they don’t have the same problems as others. But being privileged changes many things. Toni’s friends and himself/herself included were loaded. They could all afford to buy the things they needed/wanted and pay for doctors/treatment. Toni took their family’s money for granted and would just spend and spend their parent’s credit card. Toni had no job, couldn’t technically support himself/herself (most people I know had their own income in college, myself included) and I thought that while they were struggling with gender identity, being affluent meant they were ignorant to a whole lot of other issues. I mean this isn’t even that important/doesn’t really relate to the book but it was another thing that ticked me off.
I felt that What We Left Behind could have been a really good book because the premise is fantastic, addressing a topic that’s not widely talked about in YA. Sadly it just fell short and I couldn’t enjoy it at all.
thunderbolt_kid's review against another edition
This book should be everything I would want: queer women exploring identities and relationships. Instead it acted as a reminder that even queer women can have terrible relationships. Needed a palate cleanser after finishing this and was lucky to have one on hand.
cabeswaeter's review against another edition
1.0
Honestly I don't have the energy to review this properly, but it was poorly written and did so so so much wrong
chrissireads's review against another edition
3.0
I absolutely devoured Robin Talley’s debut novel, the amazing Lies We Tell Ourselves. I really wanted to love this book. One, it’s written by the wonderful Robin Talley and two, it’s very much about gender identity and finding yourself which I think should be represented in Young Adult literature. However, I feel like this book came across as a bit too textbook. It didn’t feel overly well developed as a story, the characters were a little bit too judge-y towards heterosexuals and the emphasis on the use of pronouns started to get on my nerves.
Now I will outright admit that I don’t know a lot about those that identify as genderqueer so I can’t speak too much about the topic, or compare it to other books which may be similar, but I don’t believe this book is an overly accurate representation of the identity. I think the problem mainly lies with Toni. Toni is a frustrating character. There is so much information packed into the story and it doesn’t feel natural. It feels like reading non-fiction (which I have no problem with, I just wanted more of a story- not an info-dump!)
I did really enjoy reading from Gretchen’s perspective, who I thought was an adorable character. I don’t think Toni deserved her! That may be harsh of me, I know Toni was struggling with so many issues, but Gretchen was trying to be there for her as much as she could when she was feeling almost as confused about Toni’s identity then Toni was!
I do appreciate that questions about identity, pronouns, predjudice and language are important to be represented in literature. I’m all for that and I think it’s SO important. However, I don’t think the delivery was as solid as it could have been. I did enjoy reading the conversations, but it got so repetitive, especially the talk of pronouns.
I liked the premise of the this book and I really appreciate what Robin is doing with What We Left Behind. This book is certainly going to get people talking and that is what we want. I think it’s important to discuss identity and finding yourself, I just wish it had come across better.
Now I will outright admit that I don’t know a lot about those that identify as genderqueer so I can’t speak too much about the topic, or compare it to other books which may be similar, but I don’t believe this book is an overly accurate representation of the identity. I think the problem mainly lies with Toni. Toni is a frustrating character. There is so much information packed into the story and it doesn’t feel natural. It feels like reading non-fiction (which I have no problem with, I just wanted more of a story- not an info-dump!)
I did really enjoy reading from Gretchen’s perspective, who I thought was an adorable character. I don’t think Toni deserved her! That may be harsh of me, I know Toni was struggling with so many issues, but Gretchen was trying to be there for her as much as she could when she was feeling almost as confused about Toni’s identity then Toni was!
I do appreciate that questions about identity, pronouns, predjudice and language are important to be represented in literature. I’m all for that and I think it’s SO important. However, I don’t think the delivery was as solid as it could have been. I did enjoy reading the conversations, but it got so repetitive, especially the talk of pronouns.
I liked the premise of the this book and I really appreciate what Robin is doing with What We Left Behind. This book is certainly going to get people talking and that is what we want. I think it’s important to discuss identity and finding yourself, I just wish it had come across better.
pauline's review against another edition
2.0
2017 review
Après avoir découvert le premier roman YA de Robin Talley j'avais très envie de découvrir ses autres œuvres du même genre, dont WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND. Ici l'auteure aborde la découverte de soi et la vie de couple à distance, tout en explorant encore une fois la communauté LGBTQIA; on suit Tony et Gretchen, qui s'aiment depuis deux ans déjà, mais partent dans deux universités différentes, dans des villes différentes. Étant toujours à la recherche de roman reflétant la diversité de notre monde, j'étais ravi de commencer WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND, mais j'ai été malheureusement déçue en de nombreux point.
Pour commencer, bien que j'aime beaucoup les histoires romantiques, la rencontre de Tony et Gretchen m'a vraiment perturbé. Tony et Gretchen se voient pour la première fois et c'est le coup de foudre instantané qui part pour 2 ans de relations de couple. Aucune discussion vraiment sérieuse n'a lieu entre les deux et hop voilà un nouveau couple au lycée. En plus de ce point, j'ai trouvé que l'intrigue était très vide. Certes on a Tony qui recherche son identité ainsi que la question de la durabilité du couple, mais à part ça c'est très creux.
Ensuite, au début lorsque Tony s'identifie comme genderqueer, Tony n'utilise pas de pronom. Aucun. D'après Tony, la langue anglaise (et langue en générale) accorde trop d'importance au genre; dans un sens je comprends les intentions du personnage, et c'est d'ailleurs un aspect très intéressant évoqué dans le livre. Là où ça coince, c'est que Tony n'utilise de pronom pour personne, ni même pour ses amis ou autres, ce qui d'après moi pose un gros problème de respect envers ses amis qui ont pour certains à se battre pour être appelés par le pronom avec lequel ils sont à l'aise (Andy notamment fait une remarque très pertinente à ce sujet). Encore une fois, lorsque Tony décide d'utiliser they/them ou ze/hir en tant que pronoms, aucun respect au pronoms de ses amis n'est fait.
J'ai été très heureuse et surprise par la diversité du roman, il y a plusieurs afro-américain ainsi qu'un coréen et un vietnamien dans l'entourage direct de Tony, ça ne paraît pas beaucoup mais c'est plus que la plupart des romans. En revanche j'ai eu un gros problème en ce qui concerne les personnages cis blanc et hétéro, pour commencer ils n'y en a presque pas, ce qui est compréhensible vu le thème du roman, mais les seuls présents sont juste infectes! Prenons Felicia et Joanna, les colocs de Tony, dès le départ Tony décide de ne pas s'y intéresser, disant carrément dans ses propos que sa présence dans leur chambre apporte de la diversité et de l'originalité. Dans ce genre de propos, j'avais l'impression que Tony voyait le genre, la sexualité et l'ethnicité comme des accessoires de modes démarquant les gens entre eux, ce qui n'est absolument pas le cas. Le livre donne d'après moi l'impression que la communauté LBGT+ voue une haine aux hétéro, ce qui est totalement faux; Grectchen dit par exemple qu'être hétéro est trop conventionnel et qu'elle ne voudrait pas qu'on pense qu'elle l'était.
Pour en revenir à Felicia et Joanna, elles sont même critiqués jusque dans leur manière de s'habiller, Tony dit en effet qu'elles "ne peuvent pas parler de féminisme alors qu'elles prennent des photos d'elles en bikini". En aucun cas le port du bikini ou tout autre comportement similaire est anti-féministe, c'est donc un propos qui m'a révoltée. Enfin, le mellieur ami de Gretchen, Caroll, m'a dégoutée. Il a des propos totalement transphobe et abject, et Gretchen ne le corrige presque jamais malgré qu'elle n'adhère pas à ses propos ce qui m'a insupporté.
Pour finir, je n'ai pas aimé le fait que les labels de genderqueer et gender variant soient utilisés comme des sortes de phases jusqu'à être trans. Ce ne sont pas des phases, certes certaines personnes peuvent changer le "label" auquel ils s'identifient plusieurs fois, mais ce sont des identités au même niveau que cis et trans. J'ai lu une interview de Robin Talley disant qu'elle avait fait des recherches et discuté avec les membres d'une communauté ainsi que ses amis pour rendre son roman authentique et vrai, mais je pense que ce travail n'a pas été assez approfondi. Ici j'ai principalement cité les points négatifs, mais le roman reste très intéressant et bien écrit. J’apprécie le fait que l'auteure ai souhaité aborder ce sujet qui n'est pas assez traité et j'espère que beaucoup d'autres livres traiteront de cela.
Après avoir découvert le premier roman YA de Robin Talley j'avais très envie de découvrir ses autres œuvres du même genre, dont WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND. Ici l'auteure aborde la découverte de soi et la vie de couple à distance, tout en explorant encore une fois la communauté LGBTQIA; on suit Tony et Gretchen, qui s'aiment depuis deux ans déjà, mais partent dans deux universités différentes, dans des villes différentes. Étant toujours à la recherche de roman reflétant la diversité de notre monde, j'étais ravi de commencer WHAT WE LEFT BEHIND, mais j'ai été malheureusement déçue en de nombreux point.
Pour commencer, bien que j'aime beaucoup les histoires romantiques, la rencontre de Tony et Gretchen m'a vraiment perturbé. Tony et Gretchen se voient pour la première fois et c'est le coup de foudre instantané qui part pour 2 ans de relations de couple. Aucune discussion vraiment sérieuse n'a lieu entre les deux et hop voilà un nouveau couple au lycée. En plus de ce point, j'ai trouvé que l'intrigue était très vide. Certes on a Tony qui recherche son identité ainsi que la question de la durabilité du couple, mais à part ça c'est très creux.
Ensuite, au début lorsque Tony s'identifie comme genderqueer, Tony n'utilise pas de pronom. Aucun. D'après Tony, la langue anglaise (et langue en générale) accorde trop d'importance au genre; dans un sens je comprends les intentions du personnage, et c'est d'ailleurs un aspect très intéressant évoqué dans le livre. Là où ça coince, c'est que Tony n'utilise de pronom pour personne, ni même pour ses amis ou autres, ce qui d'après moi pose un gros problème de respect envers ses amis qui ont pour certains à se battre pour être appelés par le pronom avec lequel ils sont à l'aise (Andy notamment fait une remarque très pertinente à ce sujet). Encore une fois, lorsque Tony décide d'utiliser they/them ou ze/hir en tant que pronoms, aucun respect au pronoms de ses amis n'est fait.
J'ai été très heureuse et surprise par la diversité du roman, il y a plusieurs afro-américain ainsi qu'un coréen et un vietnamien dans l'entourage direct de Tony, ça ne paraît pas beaucoup mais c'est plus que la plupart des romans. En revanche j'ai eu un gros problème en ce qui concerne les personnages cis blanc et hétéro, pour commencer ils n'y en a presque pas, ce qui est compréhensible vu le thème du roman, mais les seuls présents sont juste infectes! Prenons Felicia et Joanna, les colocs de Tony, dès le départ Tony décide de ne pas s'y intéresser, disant carrément dans ses propos que sa présence dans leur chambre apporte de la diversité et de l'originalité. Dans ce genre de propos, j'avais l'impression que Tony voyait le genre, la sexualité et l'ethnicité comme des accessoires de modes démarquant les gens entre eux, ce qui n'est absolument pas le cas. Le livre donne d'après moi l'impression que la communauté LBGT+ voue une haine aux hétéro, ce qui est totalement faux; Grectchen dit par exemple qu'être hétéro est trop conventionnel et qu'elle ne voudrait pas qu'on pense qu'elle l'était.
Pour en revenir à Felicia et Joanna, elles sont même critiqués jusque dans leur manière de s'habiller, Tony dit en effet qu'elles "ne peuvent pas parler de féminisme alors qu'elles prennent des photos d'elles en bikini". En aucun cas le port du bikini ou tout autre comportement similaire est anti-féministe, c'est donc un propos qui m'a révoltée. Enfin, le mellieur ami de Gretchen, Caroll, m'a dégoutée. Il a des propos totalement transphobe et abject, et Gretchen ne le corrige presque jamais malgré qu'elle n'adhère pas à ses propos ce qui m'a insupporté.
Pour finir, je n'ai pas aimé le fait que les labels de genderqueer et gender variant soient utilisés comme des sortes de phases jusqu'à être trans. Ce ne sont pas des phases, certes certaines personnes peuvent changer le "label" auquel ils s'identifient plusieurs fois, mais ce sont des identités au même niveau que cis et trans. J'ai lu une interview de Robin Talley disant qu'elle avait fait des recherches et discuté avec les membres d'une communauté ainsi que ses amis pour rendre son roman authentique et vrai, mais je pense que ce travail n'a pas été assez approfondi. Ici j'ai principalement cité les points négatifs, mais le roman reste très intéressant et bien écrit. J’apprécie le fait que l'auteure ai souhaité aborder ce sujet qui n'est pas assez traité et j'espère que beaucoup d'autres livres traiteront de cela.
elise04's review against another edition
2.0
I appreciate what this book was trying to do, but it just didn’t do it.
caroleheidi's review against another edition
3.0
After loving Robin Talley's Lies We Tell Ourselves, I was really excited to read this book and I think that is why I found it so disappointing. It wasn't a bad book but it was merely average at best. There wasn't much of a plot at all beyond the two main characters Gretchen and Toni leaving High School and going to College - nothing else of note happens in the entire book - it is all about the characters themselves and their development. Which would have been fine if the characters had depth to them, but sadly most of them did not. Gretchen was okay but Toni was unlikable and had nothing about her other than her overwhelming confusion about her gender and sexuality. At first she was interesting but after a while she just felt whiney rather than anything else and I disliked the way Genderqueer was made to sound like an interim term for people deciding whether or not they are transgender - in my personal experience it is not that at all. I could go on about things that bugged me but I have already gone over my 100 word limit, so I won't. What We Left Behind had plenty of potential to be an interesting and informative book but it fell short of the mark somewhere and left me feeling like I'd read a book on cardboard cut-out characters of varying gender and sexual orientations with no depth to the story or the people.