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A review by ihateprozac
Finding Nevo by Nevo Zisin
5.0
It’s kind of serendipitous how Finding Nevo found its way into my life.
I was at my local Dymocks in Melbourne trying to find a new read, when this happened to catch my eye. I’ve been making a conscious effort to read more diversely this year, with some additional prompting provided by #diversitybingo2017, and I’d been on the lookout for an own voices book by a non-binary author. Not only did this fulfill what I was looking for, but I realised the author was part of the queer community in Melbourne - aka my own backyard!
So yeah, needless to say, Finding Nevo found its way into my shopping basket that day.
Finding Nevo is an autobiography written by a non-binary queer Jewish Melburnian named Nevo and put simply, this is such.an.important.read. Nevo shares their journey to date centering around the various sexual and gender identities they’ve held over the last twenty years, coming out multiple times as gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, and queer. They share their pain, anxiety, and dysphoria, as well as the love, joy, and sense of fulfillment associated with each moment in time. Simultaneously, Nevo shares their experience finding their feet within the Jewish community as a youth leader, and how their identity and culture reconciled or did not reconcile at times.
This is an important read, and an incredibly difficult one. The pain, depression, and anxiety Nevo felt is palpable at times. Nevo explores misogyny and toxic masculinity in a way that doesn’t read like a textbook, as they share their unique perspective of society having attempted them to conform into both male and female “boxes” at one point or another. And this is all intertwined with a compelling discourse on Judaism, the Jewish community, and how being Jewish as well as sexually and gender diverse does not have to be mutually exclusive.
It’s difficult for me to critique an autobiography, and particularly one that tells such an important story, but my only criticism is a minor grammatical one: I wish this had page breaks. I think Finding Nevo could have benefited from page breaks/chapters to demarcate different time periods and for dramatic effect; particularly in the earlier chapters which tended to read a little stream-of-consciousness at times.
Overall: This is an important read for anybody who thinks they might be sex or gender diverse, or simply wants to learn more about how to support a friend or loved one who is. It’s all too rare that we get to see the perspectives of non-binary and Jewish people in fiction and non-fiction - particularly tales sold by major commercial bookstores - and I’m so thankful that Nevo’s story is getting out there! I’ve already lent this book to a fellow friend in the Melbourne queer community, and look forward to shouting about it to people for months to come.
I was at my local Dymocks in Melbourne trying to find a new read, when this happened to catch my eye. I’ve been making a conscious effort to read more diversely this year, with some additional prompting provided by #diversitybingo2017, and I’d been on the lookout for an own voices book by a non-binary author. Not only did this fulfill what I was looking for, but I realised the author was part of the queer community in Melbourne - aka my own backyard!
So yeah, needless to say, Finding Nevo found its way into my shopping basket that day.
Finding Nevo is an autobiography written by a non-binary queer Jewish Melburnian named Nevo and put simply, this is such.an.important.read. Nevo shares their journey to date centering around the various sexual and gender identities they’ve held over the last twenty years, coming out multiple times as gay, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, and queer. They share their pain, anxiety, and dysphoria, as well as the love, joy, and sense of fulfillment associated with each moment in time. Simultaneously, Nevo shares their experience finding their feet within the Jewish community as a youth leader, and how their identity and culture reconciled or did not reconcile at times.
This is an important read, and an incredibly difficult one. The pain, depression, and anxiety Nevo felt is palpable at times. Nevo explores misogyny and toxic masculinity in a way that doesn’t read like a textbook, as they share their unique perspective of society having attempted them to conform into both male and female “boxes” at one point or another. And this is all intertwined with a compelling discourse on Judaism, the Jewish community, and how being Jewish as well as sexually and gender diverse does not have to be mutually exclusive.
It’s difficult for me to critique an autobiography, and particularly one that tells such an important story, but my only criticism is a minor grammatical one: I wish this had page breaks. I think Finding Nevo could have benefited from page breaks/chapters to demarcate different time periods and for dramatic effect; particularly in the earlier chapters which tended to read a little stream-of-consciousness at times.
Overall: This is an important read for anybody who thinks they might be sex or gender diverse, or simply wants to learn more about how to support a friend or loved one who is. It’s all too rare that we get to see the perspectives of non-binary and Jewish people in fiction and non-fiction - particularly tales sold by major commercial bookstores - and I’m so thankful that Nevo’s story is getting out there! I’ve already lent this book to a fellow friend in the Melbourne queer community, and look forward to shouting about it to people for months to come.