Reviewed on Jul 13, 2021

Not for me 😔

The cover and the synopsis gave me huge expectations that sadly couldn't be met.

I was so excited to read a book with trans representation but it wasn't what I expected. The cover and the synopsis gave me huge expectations that sadly couldn't be met.

All the characters are pretty shitty to each other. Some of them are supposed to be childhood friends but they don't hesitate to throw each other under the bus. Naomi was supposed to be Jeremy's best friend but he never thought about her feelings. Jeremy and Lukas dated for three years but Jeremy ended the relationship without an explanation on probably the hardest day in Lukas' life. Many of the things they do would be a big red flag if any of my friends treated me like that.

Jeremy doesn't make you root for him, makes it imposible to empathise with him. He is self-absorbed and selfish and the author tries to justify it with his transition. I get that the author is trying to show us that not every LGBTQ+ character has to be good. I know that being a cis woman I can't comprehend what he would be going through, and I can understand him being afraid of how his loved ones were going to react (and being hurt when her mother and boyfriend told him that he would always be their daughter/girl), but one thing is to push them away and another is to treat them like garbage, as if he didn't even care about them.

In regards to Jeremy and Lukas' relationship, I was kind of rooting for them at the beginning. I was curious about why they had broken up and how did it end so badly. And although they seem to get over their issues and come out stronger, I think it's quite toxic that 1) Lukas would make a presentation full of pictures of Jeremy pre-transition and 2) Jeremy would threaten to tell the whole school about his autism. I really can't say much about the autistic representation in this book seeing as I don't know enough about it.

Finally, after finding these characters so annoying throughout the whole book, the ending didn't made much sense to me. After all the awful things they've done to one another, suddenly all the characters get over their issues and work together to fix the mess they created?

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I've been an avid reader since I first learned how to read. Reading gives me the freedom to visit wonderful and breathtaking worlds and meet amazing characters from different backgrounds who help widen my perspective of the world we live in.