A review by 1quillb
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.75

This only thing that prevents me from rating this 5 stars is the (annoyingly) heavy emphasis placed upon keeping Poppy’s identity a secret—I didn’t, and continue to not, understand why not telling everyone that she’s trans is an issue. But seeing as this is written by the mother of a trans kid, I guess I can understand why it focused so much on the effects of “hiding” her identity. I just don’t personally see how it could be a problem.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Medical content, and Outing

Moderate: Animal death, Body shaming, Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Blood, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Cursing, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Dysphoria