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lottie1803's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
3.75
dcstiel's review against another edition
4.0
i actually read a romance book abt a straight couple what is this madness
artemisavalon's review against another edition
4.0
[TW: homophobia & transphobia]
Such a good and important queer book!
It shows all the highs and lows of living as a queer person.
We might think that our generation or any generation have progressed so much but the harsh reality is that if you are a queer and/or POC life is just so much harder for you. And I think you can interpret this book in such a way that it fits you and your background.
** listened to this on audiobook **
Such a good and important queer book!
It shows all the highs and lows of living as a queer person.
We might think that our generation or any generation have progressed so much but the harsh reality is that if you are a queer and/or POC life is just so much harder for you. And I think you can interpret this book in such a way that it fits you and your background.
** listened to this on audiobook **
cemulmun's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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? It's complicated
3.75
I may sure to consider the genre of a book and the other books in that genre when making reviews. If we're talking a general review considering everything, it would probably be a generous 3. But... it's a romance (kinda comedy) YA. It's not meant to be too deep, and predictability is expected. I also gave it extra points for being one of the sadly few fiction books with a straight trans man. I how to change that.
26.5 points
26.5 points
amanda_lee's review against another edition
3.0
I'm mixed on this. The storyline itself is very similar to Meredith Russo's If I Was Your Girl, which I enjoyed. It's more focused on the romance rather than coming out or any tragedy and it's an adorable teen romance. But some parts just made me so mad.
It started out stiff and I wasn't sure i'd enjoy Pony but it got better as it progressed and I ended up liking him and his POV.
I loved loved Rocky and how supportive she is. Her and Pony have a great sibling relationship.
Georgia and Pony have such a cute blossoming friendship and romance. It's got all the first love teen romance feels, until it abruptly doesn't and Georgia's transphobia shows. She learns but never apologizes.
My biggest problem with the book is the overall message that you have to be out to the world to be truly happy and true to yourself. Not coming out to every stranger you meet does NOT make you a liar. Not immediately coming out to new friends does NOT make you a liar. Pony's best "friend" is constantly nagging him to be out to the school. I can't stand Max for that reason.
Being out and proud is fantastic and important. Being vocal is important. But you are not less important if you aren't in one of those groups. No one should HAVE to tell anyone anything they don't want to or when they aren't ready.
Being private is ok. Picking and choosing who you tell is ok. Wanting to get through high school without being the trans kid is ok.
There's transphobia and lesphobia that's not addressed or called out. It made me mad, especially the public outing of two girls.
Overall, the romance was adorable and gave me the feels but the problematic message ruined it for me.
It started out stiff and I wasn't sure i'd enjoy Pony but it got better as it progressed and I ended up liking him and his POV.
I loved loved Rocky and how supportive she is. Her and Pony have a great sibling relationship.
Georgia and Pony have such a cute blossoming friendship and romance. It's got all the first love teen romance feels, until it abruptly doesn't and Georgia's transphobia shows. She learns but never apologizes.
My biggest problem with the book is the overall message that you have to be out to the world to be truly happy and true to yourself. Not coming out to every stranger you meet does NOT make you a liar. Not immediately coming out to new friends does NOT make you a liar. Pony's best "friend" is constantly nagging him to be out to the school. I can't stand Max for that reason.
Being out and proud is fantastic and important. Being vocal is important. But you are not less important if you aren't in one of those groups. No one should HAVE to tell anyone anything they don't want to or when they aren't ready.
Being private is ok. Picking and choosing who you tell is ok. Wanting to get through high school without being the trans kid is ok.
There's transphobia and lesphobia that's not addressed or called out. It made me mad, especially the public outing of two girls.
Overall, the romance was adorable and gave me the feels but the problematic message ruined it for me.
gemmahydex's review against another edition
4.0
This book was just like a warm hug. I love Pony with my whole heart and think of him as a real person, who I would do anything for. I think there were some issues with this book but I won’t talk about them here. Instead I’ll talk about the things it did right: trans rep, realistic love, heartbreaking story (I cried). It was just beautiful.
zbrarian's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. To hear the voice of a teenage trans man and what he experiences in school and with his parents was incredible. And to hear the voice of a teen girl who falls in love with a trans man was good too. As an adult, I learned more and was able to understand more about what it means to be trans. I listened to the book and liked hearing the dual POV. It was very difficult to listen to the section where Pony was attacked and to listen to his father's negative words against his son. I would recommend this title to HS librarians.
Merged review:
I really enjoyed this book. To hear the voice of a teenage trans man and what he experiences in school and with his parents was incredible. And to hear the voice of a teen girl who falls in love with a trans man was good too. As an adult, I learned more and was able to understand more about what it means to be trans. I listened to the book and liked hearing the dual POV. It was very difficult to listen to the section where Pony was attacked and to listen to his father's negative words against his son. I would recommend this title to HS librarians.
Merged review:
I really enjoyed this book. To hear the voice of a teenage trans man and what he experiences in school and with his parents was incredible. And to hear the voice of a teen girl who falls in love with a trans man was good too. As an adult, I learned more and was able to understand more about what it means to be trans. I listened to the book and liked hearing the dual POV. It was very difficult to listen to the section where Pony was attacked and to listen to his father's negative words against his son. I would recommend this title to HS librarians.
imyourtrouble's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 ⭐️
I wanted to love this so much. I love Pony and Georgia and I think the messages that this book speaks on are so important.
The writing really let this one down for me though. It was a little too loose and very heavy on slang.
I wanted to love this so much. I love Pony and Georgia and I think the messages that this book speaks on are so important.
The writing really let this one down for me though. It was a little too loose and very heavy on slang.
archercm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
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
2.0
murdersquirrrel's review against another edition
2.0
In general this was an okay book, the writing was not as bad as it could have been. The main issues with this book are the massive amount of trigger warnings it needs, and the marketing and cover/summary making it sound like a cute romance. It's described as a "coming-of-age teen love story about a transgender boy", and sure that's true to an extent but there is so much transphobia here from so many sources that's painful to read, including the extremely graphic assault scene near the end that has no warning. The book is entirely marketed as a cute romance and that can be really harmful if you have triggers and just go into this looking for an optimistic trans story. Also, the moral of this book seems to be that going stealth is bad for yourself and the community and it will never work out no matter what, this theme is driven home so much by everyone "supportive" in Pony's life and it's really weird to read when Max is going on about how he won't be friends with Pony anymore if he continues failing the trans community by being stealth.