A review by laudateluna
Fake It by Lily Seabrooke

funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No
fake it by lily seabrooke is exactly what it wants to be, optimistic romance indulgence. i have a hard time describing genre fiction in a way that does not sound reductive or negative. because i adore genre fiction, at least in genres i like, in others they scare me away. fake it makes a review hard because it's confidently genre fiction, and i won't get you to care about this book if you hadn't already considered it and here i am desperately organizing thoughts about it's themes without misrepresenting it.

i adored my time with it, because it gave me something utterly unique in sapphic romance. a trans story that is oozing in positivity. seabrooke might have said she does not consider this a trans story, but i disagree wholeheartedly. fake it does everything exactly like a good trans story often does. the risk taking, radical change, emotional toll and most importantly not feeling good enough. all this does not make it unique oh no; seabrooke said fuck it, i'll make it so optimistic, emotional intelligent and loving story i can, because trans love is exactly this magical!
that is what makes fake it such a lovely time for a lil tranny like me. i'm no expert on trans fiction, but i try as much of it as i can. i love the brutally honest prose trans authors have in often hard to read novels like stone butch blues or nevada. lily seabrooke took all the truth those carry and made it in a genre that was greatly missing it.