Can't Take That Away

Can't Take That Away follows Carey Parker, a genderqueer high schooler with a love for singing. Despite their talent, they're losing their confidence as a homophobic classmate and teacher aim to keep them out of the school musical.
I really enjoyed following Carey's journey with their identity as they learned to stand up for themself. I also loved the cast of supportive side characters (and hated the homophobic ones). I thought Salvatore did well at dealing with a lot of difficult topics while still keeping the book fairly lighthearted.

I think my main issue with the book was just that I'm probably not the target audience, so it didn't quite hit for me. Realistic fiction with pop culture references to date it isn't usually my favorite show more genre, and the singing references also put me off a little. I also found myself annoyed with the lack of communication between the characters, especially since their issues were usually resolved as soon as they finally spoke about them. While I think it's pretty realistic, the communication issues just bothered me throughout the book. Finally, I thought the final resolution with the homophobic teacher could've been resolved better, it (and many other occurrences in the book) just seemed too lucky to be true. Overall, I think this book could be great for someone looking for an affirming book with queer representation, it just wasn't the book for me. show less

teen fiction (LGBTQAI interest, social justice/protesting school rules - genderqueer androsexual protagonist who dreams of being a diva and struggles with depression/suicidal ideation, gender dysphoria, and getting people to recognize and respect who they/he/she is every single day)

SO good! This is exactly the story that so many kids/people need to read (queer or questioning or not); I appreciate how complicated and messy Carey's relationships get, and the layering of multiple issues over one another. Looking forward to more from this talented #ownvoices author.

Can’t Take That Away is the debut book by author Steven Salvatore. They are not only an author but teach and facilitate creative writing workshops. Salvatore is a great writer. I loved the style and flow of this book.

First of all, please read any content warnings that are available for this novel. There is a lot going on in this book and a lot of it will be difficult for some people to read. When I first read about this novel, it was pitched as a “feel-good, inspirational” book, but I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate. I’ll explain more about that later in my review.

This book centers on Carey Parker. They are a gender queen student who dreams of becoming a true diva like their idol: Mariah Carey. Carey is encouraged by show more family and friends to try out for the school musical even though they haven’t been singing as much. A lot has happened in Carey’s life and one of the choices they made was to give up singing. Salvatore did a wonderful job of capturing the strange counterbalance of singing bringing the main character unending joy but also making them very vulnerable at the same time.

Carey’s audition goes well, and they are cast in the lead role which is traditionally sung by a female. This brings some people joy…and others become very concerned about an “agenda” being pushed.

Once Carey’s role in the musical becomes contentious things begin to get even more complicated in the story. There is a bully, a queerphobic teacher, mentions of suicide ideation, hate crimes and physical assault. For me, there was a great deal of trauma in this book; possibly a little too much. Please don’t take that the wrong way. Queer trauma is real and certainly needs to be addressed. I just feel as though there is so much trauma in this book that it won’t be a good fit for a lot of readers. Again, I would encourage people to read content warnings and make their decision based on those.

Ultimately, Carey has a great deal of support and members of their chosen family begin to work together to make their school a better environment for everyone. There is some great information about how to plan a protest and what it actually entails. I usually find that this type of situation is glossed over in books, so I was very pleased that Salvatore went into such detail about the hard work that goes into making change!

While all of the musical drama is going on, Carey is also struggling with a relationship. They have begun seeing Cris but it’s not all smooth sailing. Cris and Carey are young and they both make mistakes. There’s a rawness and vulnerability to both of these characters that felt very authentic.

One of the things I loved about this book was the way that Salvatore has written about Carey being genderqueer. Throughout the novel, Carey sees a counsellor and those sessions reveal a lot about how being genderqueer has affected Carey. They talk openly during their sessions and it allows the reader to really get a sense of what is going on in their head. Carey also wears bracelets they are given by a teacher that are colour coded to help people understand what pronouns they would prefer on a given day. Finally, the author also has titled each chapter with Carey’s pronouns. All of these combined techniques are a truly unique and marvelous way of communicating the way Carey expresses their gender over time. I really enjoyed it and found it to be so fluid (pardon the pun!)

The supporting cast of characters is diverse, and a lot of the dialogue is funny. For me the trauma outweighed the funny though and I found this to be a heavy read. That’s not a criticism, it just was.

I probably wouldn’t recommend this book for young teens, because I feel as though there are so many issues/challenges that it could be a bit overwhelming. That being said, stories that center on genderqueer characters are needed, valid and important. This is a well-written book with great characters that covers some extremely important issues. show less

I thought parts of the message were very important but this plot was all over the place. I appreciated that Carey was kind of a hot mess because they were a teenager and every teenager is a hot mess. I appreciated they had a fairly solid support system when everything else started unraveling.

I am infuriated that the teacher wasn't removed for being horrible, just lucked out that their papers weren't in order.

bi stereotypes that got frustrating to read through along with physical harm against the same character, lots of 'miscommunication as literary device' when the characters otherwise showed good communication. A lot of well executed diversity and nice to see a genderqueer lead. Voice is pretty consistent and handles grief processing well

Like a ballad by a pop diva: the highest highs, the lowest lows, everything turned up to 11. You're either in the mood for it or you aren't.

I spent half the book waiting for Joey to come out as transmasc. Oh well, there's always college!

Great storyline and well thought out characters...BUT, the single WORST audiobook I have ever listened to! Poorly edited and frustrating.