A review by kell_xavi
Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans

emotional funny mysterious

3.0

Strong debut novel. Engaging, smart, snappy, with strong characters and well-written relationships. A few moments in the gender exploration were explanatory in a clunky way, but I related to much of the queer beginning too. It was nice to see it easily incorporated and accepted in the narrative. I liked the soft romance, the caring friendship waiting to get stronger, the siblings and parents and supportive friends. I didn’t connect to the writing of the mom, whose comments seemed insensitive to me—I wasn’t sure what the desired effect was. There are a lot of funny and entertaining moments throughout though, a good mystery that supplies uncomplicated hints along the way, and—if not in the emotions and mental processes around panic and social anxiety—a sense of anxiety as a presence; and courage gaining on it.
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