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apogee_11's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Violence
indeedithappens's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Trafficking and Alcohol
bexrecca's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, and Xenophobia
lilybear3's review against another edition
5.0
It's important to note that every adoptee experience is unique and each person has a different perspective. Some are good, some are bad, some are neutral. All adoptees' stories are valid and hold significance. At the root of it, adoption is trauma. Period. This is something that was hard for me to learn and that my experience doesn't invalidate others' and vice versa.
Sarah's story is impactful and does not shy away from documenting the racism they experienced in their childhood nor the ableism of the 2000s (both of these are still prevalent, may look different today). I related a lot; growing up in a small white town, not being exposed to other cultures, not knowing when I was micro-aggressed or what those were (lack of exposure to stereotypes), etc. When I didn't see myself in Sarah, I saw myself in Liz, Sarah's sister. Growing up, I was a lot like Liz in that adoption was a part of my identity, but I didn't think about it as much. I'm fortunate to have no major racist incidents and I got along with many of my peers. It wasn't until my early-ish mid-twenties I started coming out of the adoptee fog. I'm also grateful to relate to having extremely supportive and loving parents.
I mean this is in the best way possible; I can't wait to talk about it in therapy. I learned some stuff about myself with the help of Sarah's story. This book was healing for me and I hope it is for others.
The art is incredible. Simply amazing at illustrating these emotions they just hit the reader hard. Sarah is truly talented.
Backmatter included a note from the author, a list of adoptee and mental health resources, and family photos.
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Mental illness, Transphobia, and Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Dysphoria
devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Lesbophobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria
toonyballoony's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Mental illness, and Medical content
As a real tale of growing up as a minority in the 90s, the casual racism, ableism, and queer phobia is much more explicit in its outdated insults and slurs. Their inclusion feels important to justify the impact on the author’s internal journey, but brace yourself accordingly.livlamentloathe's review against another edition
4.0
Ironically, I was mocked for liking anime in middle school too. I hid this interest so deeply that I didn’t talk about it publicly again until I graduated college and the world (including my own private world) became more accepting. I’m even jealous of today’s teens growing up in an age where anime and manga are massively popular. When I was bullied for my interests, I shut them down and hid them away. Sarah’s ability to cosplay boldly was brave as heck.
This was a great read from a perspective I’m not familiar with. I encourage anyone who’s ever felt different or “Othered” by society to read this!
Graphic: Bullying, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Cancer, Homophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, and Abandonment
Minor: Body horror, Mental illness, and Sexual harassment
lettuce_read's review
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Cancer, Mental illness, and Dysphoria
Minor: Transphobia
betweentheshelves's review
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Mental illness
dogearedqueer's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Toxic friendship