A review by missriki
The Other Me by Suzanne van Rooyen

3.0

Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott thinks she’s an alien. All signs in her carefully executed experiments lead to this conclusion since she clearly doesn’t fit in with the other preppy South African private school kids she attends classes with. She feels claustrophobic in her own skin, constantly questioning herself. When Treasa meets amazing Gabriel dr Preez, she thinks he is perfect. Treasa grows increasingly concerned when what she thinks is love for Gabriel turns into a deep longing to just be him. Suddenly she is less sure that she’s an alien and more sure that she’s been born into the wrong gender’s body. Together Treasa and Gabriel battle dark secrets and find a way to live authentically.

This was a really interesting look at gender dysphoria. Treasa has the physical appearance and body of a female, but is emotionally and spiritually male. Her confusion and pain is evident throughout, as she fights to find a reason for why she feels so different in her own skin.

I felt like the book started off really slow and took awhile to really get into the flow, which was really too bad, because once it does, it gets really good. It is written in dual POV, switching between Treasa and Gabriel, and I loved that the author really gave us a good look at both teen’s stories.

The last half of the book moves at a much quicker pace than the first and when it finally gets down to the nitty gritty of the story, I was intrigued. Unfortunately it wandered quite a bit along the way and then ended a little abruptly for me. I had just really gotten into the characters when all of a sudden it was over. I wanted to see much more of Treasa’s emotions and thought processes once she accepts the fact that she is actually male.

This book is a captivating look at acceptance and looking past outward appearances, with wonderful themes of redemption and forgiveness. The Other Me tackles the tough topic of gender dysphoria with grace and compassion, giving readers a look into what it really feels like to live in a body that feels foreign to you.