this trans YA novel was disappointing at best | trans book review

Hey I love your videos

Growing up is really discovering that the world sucks.i loved that book but on a 2nd thought it wasnt that good

Homie your JAWLINE 😤 it’s so square!!!

You should read The Art of Being Normal I think you'd hate it

Honestly, I recognize a looooot of tropes that were really popular, or if not popular, definitely surfaced more in books in the late '00s / early '10s. Was still thinking about maybe checking it out until you got to the trauma porn bit - that's the one thing in trans lit I absolutely cannot handle. Thank you for reviewing this!

Also i was gonna recommended Stay Gold even though I haven't read it yet because I know it's an ownvoices book with a trans guy but then I saw it on your currently reading shelf so I hope you enjoy it!

not really related to the video itself lmao but i really like the way your makeup skills are evolving!! and now besides always being excited for new videos im also always excited to see what new makeup look u've decided to wear in them lol it inspires me a lot i must say

i feel like if i was just figuring out/questioning if i was trans and read this book as the first thing about transness the heavy and constant transphobia would've scared the shit out of me and make me not 'want' to be trans

I'd love to hear an analysis of Annabel by Kathleen Winter. Not sure if you've mentioned it before or not. Read it a few years ago and all I can remember now is just being confused a lot. I still think of it from time to time, but can't for the life of me tell you why I keep remembering the book.

This is my favorite makeup look yet.

You should read “I wish you all the best.” It’s about a non binary person in highschool who gets kicked out of their parents house and goes to live with their older sister it’s the first good Representation I’ve seen as a non binary person through fictional characters the author is also non binary so that’s good

Update: I just saw your review for this book and I’m glad you enjoyed it

I do really like seeing people criticize books about trans people. Since we have so little representation I feel like people are kinda drawn to over praising kinda shitty books/films/tv shows for just INCLUDING a trans character

This is one of my favourite series of yours. I don’t know if it’s already on your list or not but ‘Something That May Shock and Discredit You’ by Daniel Mallory Ortberg (own voices) is the first piece of trans masc media that’s ever resonated with me this deeply. It’s mostly a collection of personal essays, talking about transitioning, through metaphor and religion and myth.

How about alok menon’s new book beyond the gender binary? I get that it’s not at all the same type of book, but I read it as a cis person and enjoyed it and found it informative :) I was wondering what someone in the community might think about the book💗

honestly i really enjoyed the book when i first read it in 2018, i was just starting to socially transition secretly and this book was one of the few books with a trans character that didnt have trans in the title, meaning i could buy it without looking sus to my family. as a binary trans guy i related to gabe and as a musician thought the music part was cool although i do not share tastes with him, all in all it was a story i could relate too so i liked it.

I really loved Mask of Shadows as a book in which a nonbinary protagonist gets to mostly just be awesome.

Personally I really don't like how focused trans stories are on transphobia like yeah ur pulling on the heart strings of cis people but I'd rather it was accessible to my community?? And while I see the logic of getting people to sympathise with us based on suffering, focus on the SYSTEM. Like yeah fictional transphobe #83 is a sucky person but u cant fix that, u can focus more on systematic flaws that u can PROTEST. I live in the uk, my nearest gender clinic has a SIX year wait list to first appointment (and then like 2 years to get diagnosed with dysphoria) and makes u jump through hoops to get near treatment bc it's so underfunded. Focus on protesting bathroom bills and not denying trans people jobs/housing ect. I dont want cis pity, I want cis anger bc that's so much more productive

I read this in i think 2016 when I was just starting to come out and it might even have been my first trans book but I honestly remember nothing about it. I just checked and I gave it 3 stars on gr so guess it wasn't the worst but also not the best. when you talked about the trauma porn in this book tho, I definitely had a sort of "oh. yeah." like don't remember but that sounds right. it's honestly the worst when books about trans characters written by cis people are so focused on transphobia. besides the reasons you mentioned, that's just not their struggle to tell tbh
also probably the worst book with trans themes that I've ever read was beast by brie spangler. it's not the mc that's trans but that character's transness is a main plot point and it's handled SO badly. I would never recommend reading it but you know... if you wanna hate a book. I do recommend the short story avi cantor has six months to live by sacha lamb! i don't actually remember much of it (recurring theme: my nonexistent memory) but I loved it when I read it and it's own voices. also a new release is felix ever after by kacen callender, own voices

Thank you Ashton. I’ve had this on my tbr for over a year now, after getting recommended to read it by another cis girl. She told me she’d asked her trans friend, and that he liked it, but I don’t even know if he’d actually read it. Needless to say I’m probably not going to read it after hearing about it from a trans person’s perspective. I’m also wondering if you could make a video about books with trans characters that you’ve read and would recommend, and which ones to avoid. Probably going to read “yes, you are trans enough”, but I don’t know what to read afterwards.

This was great

The art of being Normal was the first trans book I read back when I was closeted (like 6 years ago I think so I don't remember it that much) and I do remember loving it. It's not by a trans person but the author worked in the children's gender identity clinic in the UK!

May I recommend you Stone Butch Blues? Wouldn't be surprised that's in your TBR already, but THAT'S a good book by a trans author, I'm now trying to read Transgender Warriors.
Thanks for the review! This book was recommended to me yeaaarsss ago but I don't read YA that much so I was never even close to picking it up hehe

Have you ever heard of Adam by Ariel Schrag? I've never read it and don't want to but it sounds like the worst book. Idk whether it counts as a bad ~trans~ book...

The book ‘Luna’ maybeyouvealreadytalkedaboutitidontknow was about a trans girl and I have some mixed opinions about it, so i think it’d be cool to hear your thoughts on it

I read A trans book where the author miss gendered the protagonist on the cover and it’s not like the character was like I’m trans it was more like I am not a boy, what am I ? Witch was frustrated bye. edit ( the author made it clear that they where trans but chickened out of ever saying that they where trans also the author was cis)

I think if cis people are gonna write trans people they need to write about something other than transphobia and being trans.

I hate it when books use trauma for plot points, recently I read a book called how to repair a mechanical heart and I saw it did something similar (tho the trauma seemed to me more dealing with religion and it was a gay character not a trans character) it's not great, and it doesn't make the book any more meaningful or nice in any way, it just makes me want to put it down and forget it exists, and it's even worse when it's an author who isn't part of that specific group of people so it may feel very cliche and usually you can tell it was written by someone with a surface level understanding of that certain trauma

you should read Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart. I haven't read it in about 6 years, but I recall really liking it and it received good reviews! It's duel narrarive about a transgirl named Lily and a boy with bipolar disorder named Dunkin. They end up learning a lot about each other and what it measn to cope with being yourself and how others view you. It's sad at times, but overall a great story!! The transphobic dad even learns to accept Lily :') very cute

I just found your channel, I LOVE YOUR VIDEO SM

A nonbinary book I really liked was I Wish You All The Best in the synopsis it does give like a trauma warning and it's mostly about coming to terms with who you are but it also has a love thing in it and it just hits close to home for me and it's written by a nonbinary person.

trans vampire hell yeah.

transpire

My favorite Trans Book is Dreadnaught (April Daniels). Danny has two main stories. Dealing with her transness and the effects of her magical transition, and then learning to be a hero. It's so good

I read this when I was like... 14? I'm 16 now. I was pretty early in my social transition and acceptance of myself and this was good to read because I hadn't read many books featuring trans character. It did scare me a bit though. I'm working on getting rid of my fears about being trans and my dislike/self hatred based in transphobia but it's a slow journey. I think I'm close this year.

I think you should really, really, read Spy Stuff by Matthew J. Metzger. it's about an mlm trans guy, it doesn't focus too heavily on transphobia, and it's ownvoices

Would love to see your opinion on: if I was your girl by Meredith Russo and The art of being normal by Lisa Williamson.
I read them as a young trans guy and really liked them but idk how they'll hold up

Hi, Ashton. I'm a cis guy myself and in the process of writing a book with a transgender person in it. I totally agree with you while hearing the comments, although I also get an idea where the misrepresentation might be coming from. You see, I find it hard to find a trans woman sharing her joys, fears and ideas. Most trans people share their experience regarding the technical side of the transition. Apart from dysphoria, they seldom talk about the mental and emotional states they go through. It's simply hard to research! I like your videos, but in order to be proactive, could you share some of your ideas, conceptions, feelings - not related to the physical transition, which is not about the body, please? That would help me write my character better. Thank you for reading this and keep posting whatever you feel like, anyway, you're great at that! 💜

reading this book around 2014 or 2015 and trying to understand my gender, this book meant a lot to me. looking back at now though, it's pretty bad, especially the whole plot being driven by transphobia and realizing how weird gabe was about some things. it's nowhere near the worst trans/general lgbt book i've read but i'm glad you went over it here so i never feel compelled to read it again.

i was NOT prepared for you to say "coochie snorcher" HOLY FUCK

I think his obsession is a fine character trait, indeed! First, it's entertaining to watch and second it makes the character more realistic since everyone is a terrible person in one way or another.

i know this probably isn’t very relevant to you as an american but variations by juliet jaques is a fantastic read for uk transes:)

my gender? elvis entity

"I KNOW I'm a boy" is a good, honest representation that we need, but I got news for you. We all aren't so lucky. If you knew, great. You hit the ground running. Me on the other hand? I didn't know until I was 50! And it wasn't until the need to face all this came to a volcanic eruption that ended with me telling my wife of over twenty years. I looked back at all the little things over the course of my life, and went "Ohhhhhkay! That makes sense now." And how I did mental gymnastics to shove those thoughts aside so I didn't have to reconcile with them. For decades I have been dead inside, NEVER feeling comfortable in my own clothes, place, skin. I was slowly dying and I didn't know why. The cracks started to appear as I took a hard look at myself over the course of about a year and a half. And before anyone says that is too short of a time to know, I KNEW! It wasn't a choice to sit and tell my wife and jeopardize a twenty-year marriage. I NEEDED to be a woman. (the younger generations may have said it differently) But I knew how I was living up to that point and what I NEEDED to be from that point after. It wasn't a choice to then tell our fifteen-year-old daughter and twelve-year-old son.

All of whom are wonderfully supportive, btw.

So, yeah. I know who I am NOW. I have never felt better and more comfortable. I'm me. I'm Dartti. FINALLY. But it didn't start out that way, not by a LONG SHOT. If you just know, awesome. We need to hear more of this. But please don't invalidate those of us that didn't at first. We, as trans folk, are not a monolith.

If I misinterpreted your point, then I apologize.
Nothing but love.

i read this book years ago when i was still closeted, and i honestly rly liked it. but that's probably just bc i was desperate for representation and didn't know any better lol

That gosh darn coochie snorcher

i def agree