Tobly McSmith

It's wonderful to have more transgender representation in books and especially by ownvoice authors. That being said, the main character in this book was quite an unlikeable young man. His fake personas grew annoying and the desperation to increase his following was pretty superficial. I also didn't enjoy the writing as there was simply too much 'this happened and then that happened and then I did this'. It is, however, an important story which is why I kept reading. One where a young man is not accepted by his parents as a boy and plans for conversion therapy are been hatched behind his back. I did not feel drawn into the story until about the 90% mark where there were about 20 minutes of emotional and moving writing. Overall, this was a miss for me and the content warnings need to be checked out.

CW: transmisia, homomisia, dead naming, threats of conversion therapy, parents withdraw from teens life, suicidal thoughts/ideation, in one of the stage productions a transgender character commits suicide after receiving some conversion therapy, Mis-gendering, Coming out, Gender dysphoria… (more)

3.5 Stars

CW: Suicidal thoughts and ideation, anti-lgbtqia content, verbal abuse - lots of awful slurs, physical assault, drinking, terminal illness, death of a loved one, deadnaming and misgendering, pressure to come out.

This contains spoilers.

I would suggest reading an ownvoice review to make sure this isn’t too triggering.

I am not sure why this book has been suggested to fans of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before because that implies it is a light fluffy romance. This isn’t a light fluffy romance. This is a story about the struggles of a transgender teen to get others to accept and love him. His journey takes him to some dark places which include horrific verbal and physical abuse. His father is unable to accept that Sarah never truly existed and that Pony has always been his son. There are some significant, and arguably necessary, info-dumps in the beginning parts of the book educating Readers on what it is like to being transgender. Once they are out of the way the story moves along more smoothly and at a good pace. I wasn’t a big fan of the superficial, grudge holding and self-centered Georgia. I especially didn't like her quick journey to enlightenment and acceptance as it seemed slightly forced. Don’t get me wrong, I was really happy to see Pony get the love and acceptance he deserved, however it was all very idealistic. But why not give it a perfect ending right? Why not show what true inclusion looks like in an ideal world where everyone is treated equally and valued for the content of their character? So bring on the fairytale endings and let's make them become a reality.

He waka eke noa - We are all in this together (Māori proverb).

I sincerely wish anyone finding their way to their true selves a safe and loving journey.… (more)