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Review: Flyboy by Kasey LeBlanc

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Flyboy by Kasey LeBlanc

Flyboy
Kasey LeBlanc
Balzer + Bray
Published May 14, 2024

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About Flyboy

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda meets the speculative twists of The Night Circus in this standout debut YA novel, about a boy who visits the magic-filled circus of his dreams each night in order to escape his daily reality where his trans identity remains a secret.

After an incident at his school leaves closeted trans teenager Asher Sullivan needing stitches, his mother betrays him in the worst possible way—she sends him to Catholic school for his senior year. Now he has to contend with hideous plaid skirts, cranky nuns, and #bathroomJesus.

Nighttime brings an escape for Asher when he dreams of the Midnight Circus—the one place where he is seen for the boy he truly is. Too bad it exists only in his sleep. Or at least, that’s what he believes, until the day his annoyingly attractive trapeze rival, Apollo, walks out of his dreams and into his classroom. On the heels of this realization that the magical circus might be real, Asher also learns that his time there is limited.

In his desperation to hang onto the one place he feels at home, Asher sets both worlds on a collision course that could destroy all the relationships he cares about most. Now he must decide how far he’ll go to preserve the magical circus, even if it means facing his biggest challenge yet—coming out.

My Review

I love the concept of this story. Ash’s daytime life in Catholic school, the constant pain of being misgendered and living unseen juxtaposed against his life in the Midnight Circus, in which his body matches his identity and people truly see him, is brilliantly done. When he arrives at the circus at one point, Ash takes a full breath and notes that this is something he can’t do in his waking life. It’s a powerful moment.

His relationship with his mom is complex. He hasn’t come out to her at the story’s start, and he experiences so much frustration with her. It’s like he wants her to figure out that he’s a boy without telling her, even though he also knows he’s keeping her from knowing by not speaking up himself. That internal struggle felt so raw and so real.

The only thing in the story that I struggled with at all is the pacing. This is a big story, with two different worlds and casts, plus a romance subplot, plus a coming-out. There’s school drama, family drama, and friend drama, too. That’s a lot to fit into 364 pages.

There are a few big moments that I wish had had more space to breathe. For example, when we finally learn what happened that day in the bathroom, which left Ash needing stitches. That resolution was so important to the story, and it felt a little bit rushed to me.

On the whole, I think that’s a small thing. This is still an incredible debut novel that draws readers into understanding the pain of a closeted life and allows us to join in Asher’s triumph as he embraces his identity. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I’m truly excited to see what the author writes next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Some swearing and a handful of F-bombs.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Asher attends Catholic school and mass with his grandparents.

Violent Content
Homophobia and transphobia, including the use of a slur. Ash is misgendered by people who don’t know his identity, and he describes the hurt and dysphoria this causes. He witnesses a fight between three boys. He hears rumors that someone burned down a school. One scene shows a fire with people inside the building. References to a fatal car accident. Ash witnesses someone having what appears to be a stroke or heart attack. Ash punches a boy in the face.

Drug Content
Ash attends a party where teens drink alcohol. In one scene, Ash and two friends drink cheap wine and get very drunk.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: This Day Changes Everything by Edward Underhill

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This Day Changes Everything
Edward Underhill
Wednesday Books
Published February 13, 2024

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About This Day Changes Everything

Dash & Lily meets Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in Edward Underhill’s new whirlwind rom-com about two queer teens who spend one life-changing day together in New York City.

Abby Akerman believes in the Universe. After all, her Midwest high school marching band is about to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City—if that’s not proof that magical things can happen, what is? New York also happens to be the setting of her favorite romance novel, making it the perfect place for Abby to finally tell her best friend Kat that she’s in love with her (and, um, gay). She’s carefully annotated a copy of the book as a gift for Kat, and she’s counting on the Universe to provide an Epic Scene worthy of her own rom-com.

Leo Brewer, on the other hand, just wants to get through this trip without falling apart. He doesn’t believe the Universe is magical at all, mostly because he’s about to be outed to his very Southern extended family on national TV as the trans boy he really is. He’s not excited for the parade, and he’s even less excited for an entire day of sightseeing with his band.

But the Universe has other ideas. When fate throws Abby and Leo together on the wrong subway train, they soon find themselves lost in the middle of Manhattan. Even worse, Leo accidentally causes Abby to lose her Epic Gift for Kat. So to salvage the day, they come up with a new mission: find a souvenir from every location mentioned in the book for Abby to give Kat instead. But as Leo and Abby traverse the city, from the streets of Chinatown to the halls of Grand Central Station and the top of the Empire State Building, their initial expectations for the trip—and of each other—begin to shift. Maybe, if they let it, this could be the day that changes everything, for both of them.

My Review

I enjoyed Edward Underhill’s debut novel, but this one is my favorite of the two. It has so many fun references to New York City, marching band nerdiness, and a celebration of books and fanfiction. I had a lot of fun reading this one.

The story alternates between Abby and Leo’s points of view, so we get to watch them get to know one another and learn to read one another as they experience a wild “lost in New York” kind of adventure. Abby’s relationship with Leo starts out as a bond between people who got on the wrong train, but it becomes so much more. I thought the pacing of the relationship was really nicely done.

Abby loves a romance novel set in New York and wants to celebrate her love for the book on her trip to the city. She thinks about the scenes in the book set in different places and wants to capture the magic of reading the book and falling in love, but things keep unfolding in ways that are at odds with her plans. I liked the way she and Leo navigated the unexpected moments.

Both Leo and Abby are from marching band groups that visit New York City to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I’ve never read a book with that kind of plot before, and I felt like this one did really capture both the essence of marching band rehearsal and what I imagine the parade is like.

I think the only thing odd about this book is the timing of the release date. It came out in February. Because of the story centering around the Thanksgiving Parade, I would have thought it would come out in the fall or closer to the holidays.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book so much. It’s got lots of sweet moments and fun antics. If you love visiting New York City, this is definitely one to put in your reading list!

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Main characters are white. One close friend is Black. Another is Asian American. One main character is a trans boy. The other has questions about her sexual identity.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
When something goes right or wrong, Abby comments that the Universe is sending her a message either supporting or redirecting her.

Violent Content
A few people misgender Leo. A school policy won’t allow him to be roommates with the other boys. Leo’s parents don’t want him to tell his extended family about his identity and instead expect him to tolerate being misgendered and deadnamed at family events.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THIS DAY CHANGES EVERYTHING in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa

Book Review and Content, Historical, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Most Ardently: A Pride and Prejudice Remix (Remixed Classics #9)
Gabe Cole Novoa
Feiwel & Friends
Published January 16, 2024

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About Most Ardently

A trans boy searches for a future―and a romance―in which he can live and love openly as himself in this heartrending young-adult reimagining of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, part of the Remixed Classics series.

London, 1812 . Oliver Bennet feels trapped—not just by the endless corsets, petticoats, and skirts he’s forced to wear on a daily basis, but also by society’s expectations. The world, and the vast majority of his family and friends, think Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth. He is therefore expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, entertain suitors regardless of his interest in them, and ultimately become someone’s wife.

But Oliver can’t bear the thought of such a fate. He finds solace in the few times he can sneak out of his family’s home and explore the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. It’s during one such excursion when Oliver becomes acquainted with Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to “Elizabeth” at a recent social function. But in the comfort of being out of the public eye, Oliver comes to find that Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart, not to mention attractive.

As Oliver spends more time as his true self, often with Darcy, part of him dares to hope that his dream of love and life as a man can be possible. But suitors are growing bolder―and even threatening―and his mother is growing more desperate to see him settled into an engagement. Oliver will have to choose: settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he’s not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love, and a life that can be truly his own.

My Review

This is the fourth book in the Remixed Classics series by MacMillan that I’ve read, and even before picking it up, I thought this might be the most challenging one for me. Not because of the transgender character but because inserting a transgender character into a reimagining of Pride and Prejudice is a huge change to the story. I’m going to split up the review into two sections because I want to explore the book as a Regency romance with a transgender main character and separately look at how it reimagines the Austen’s classic novel.

As a Regency Romance

I like Most Ardently on its own merit. Considering what life could have been like for someone like Oliver living during the time that Pride and Prejudice was set is really worth doing, especially now. I thought the author did a great job of exploring Oliver’s choices, how he felt about those options and the risks he was willing to take to create a life he could live as freely as possible.

The back of the book includes an author’s note which explains some information about what it may have been like for transgender people living in Regency England and explains some of the historical references in the book. For example, in Most Ardently, Oliver visits a Molly house, a club for queer people. The author’s note explains a little bit of the history of those establishments.

A lot of the story centers around Oliver’s identity, specifically around the fact that most people don’t know he’s a boy and how difficult this is for him. His mother and others constantly remind him about society’s expectations for him as long as he’s perceived as a woman. The ongoing pressure to become someone’s wife grows increasingly difficult for him to bear.

His determination to be seen for who he is and his courage in speaking his truth to the people around him on his timeline can’t help but be inspiring. The author makes space for messy conversations and shows tenderness and growth in so many of the characters.

As a Remix of Pride and Prejudice

Some of the characters in the book felt very true to the spirit of the original characters. I could see Mr. Bennet reacting much the way he does in the text when he learns Oliver’s identity. It wasn’t hard to imagine that Mrs. Bennet would have behaved the same way, too.

Other characters’ roles are minimized or removed from the story to simplify some elements. A few times, I felt like the references to the original story and the new theme about gender identity seemed in conflict with one another. The messages didn’t disagree, but occasionally plot elements from the original story were introduced and then dropped and never revisited or distracted from the more central story.

One of the big changes in this remix of Pride and Prejudice is Oliver’s reaction to Wickham, whom he has creepy vibes about from the very first moment he enters the story. I found myself missing the evolution of the main character’s feelings about Darcy and Wickham. The romantic component in this remix is a lot more simplified than the original.

The writing in Most Ardently is, of course, a lot more accessible than Austen’s original language. For the most part, I didn’t mind this, but there were a few times that the characters revealed things to one another that seemed very out of character or against the social norms of the day. The few times that happened were a little bit jarring. The more modern style of writing will probably make the book more satisfying to contemporary YA readers.

Conclusion

On the whole, I enjoyed the book as a Regency romance centered around a transgender character. I appreciated the inspiration from Pride and Prejudice, though it’s super different than the original. I think readers who enjoyed My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron should check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Oliver is a transgender boy.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One instance of profanity.

Romance/Sexual Content
Two women are in a secret romance. Two boys kiss. More than one man proposes marriage to someone.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Oliver’s family and some people in public refer to him as “Elizabeth.” He is required to dress as a woman when at home with his family or appearing with them in public. Most of the people in his life don’t know his true identity and misgender him or refer to him by the wrong name. It always startles or hurts Oliver.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.

Review: Ugliest by Kelly Vincent

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Ugliest (The Art of Being Ugly #3)
Kelly Vincent
Publisher
Published

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About Ugliest

Life, academics, and activism. Facing hate and bigotry, can this agender teen make a difference in LGBTQ+ rights?

Oklahoma City. Nic Summers is equal parts excited and nervous. Determined to excel, the seventeen-year-old strives to find time to survive physics, build confidence, and enter a competitive art mentorship. But the principled teen’s stress skyrockets when a protest video results in them and a trans friend being forced by the school to move to the female dorms.

Burning with a strong sense of justice, the normally shy teenager summons the courage to speak out against damaging state legislation. But when the vision goes viral, they’re shocked when the authorities hand down an ultimatum: stop or be expelled. Can Nic dig deep and prevail against institutional bullies ready to erase their identity?

Sharing the plight of those too often silenced, author Kelly Vincent opens the door to understanding and empathy. Through the eyes of a big-hearted main character, Vincent leads the way toward accepting and appreciating each other’s differences.

My Review

Since I hadn’t read the first two books in this series, I was a little nervous about diving into the final book. Without knowing exactly what I missed, I think Vincent does an excellent job filling readers in on whatever relevant backstory without slowing down the narrative. I never felt like the story referred to things from earlier books in a way that was confusing, so that was great!

The writing style in the book is a little different than I’m used to. There’s a lot of dialogue, which I do enjoy, but the narrative reads a bit like diary entries in terms of the writing style. It centers on Nic reporting things that have happened and then moving into talking to their friends about what’s happened.

One of the things I struggled with in the book is how the characters express their (understandable) rage and frustration. Their feelings make total sense, and I’m sure they’re realistic. Sometimes, it just felt like the characters vented their hate over and over, and reading it was more draining than I expected.

I think my favorite part of the story happens when the characters take action toward the end of the book. There’s a scene that shows a rally and it has a lot of energy to it. I felt like I could picture it really well. Nic’s relationship with their mom and their younger sister were also really nicely done. I enjoyed seeing those.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Nic is nonbinary. Their best friend Mack is transmasculine and asexual. Another friend, Jenna, is a lesbian, and Jacob is bisexual. Mack is white and Latino. Jacob is Black.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used somewhat frequently. A few F-bombs appear in the text.

Romance/Sexual Content
References to a past dating relationship and kiss.

Spiritual Content
Nic is leery of people who self-identify as Christians because they often coincide with people who bully or terrorize them. They acknowledge the need to work on making snap judgments but still want to protect themselves and be safe. One Christian character turns out to be an ally.

Violent Content
Some brief homophobic and/or transphobic statements or references to those statements.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth
Andrew Joseph White
Peachtree Teen
Published September 5, 2023

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About The Spirit Bares Its Teeth

Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.

London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife. According to Mother, he’ll be married by the end of the year. It doesn’t matter that he’s needed a decade of tutors to hide his autism; that he practices surgery on slaughtered pigs; that he is a boy, not the girl the world insists on seeing.

After a failed attempt to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is diagnosed with Veil sickness—a mysterious disease sending violet-eyed women into madness—and shipped away to Braxton’s Sanitorium and Finishing School. The facility is cold, the instructors merciless, and the students either bloom into eligible wives or disappear. So when the ghosts of missing students start begging Silas for help, he decides to reach into Braxton’s innards and expose its rotten guts to the world—as long as the school doesn’t break him first.

My Review

This book makes me realize how often I eat while I’m reading. I do not recommend doing that while reading this book– which is probably an obvious idea. It’s a horror novel, after all.

One of the main reasons this book hit my TBR list is that I was so blown away by the author’s debut, HELL FOLLOWED WITH US, which is a post-apocalyptic horror novel. If you ever wondered how post-apocalyptic stories and reimagined history could overlap, this pair of books would make a good study.

If I had to describe this book in under ten words, I would say, GIRL, INTERRUPTED but make it queer horror/historical fantasy. Just like his debut, Andrew Joseph White delivers stark prose and anguished characters. The relationships between some of the characters provide bright spots and soothing moments between the intensity of the other scenes.

I really appreciated the romance thread and the hopefulness that a few of the characters find as they form relationships with one another. It does get into some pretty intense body horror and gruesome medical descriptions, so this won’t be a novel for everyone. I also appreciate that the author includes a content warning at the front of the book.

All in all, horror will never be my favorite genre, but I am absolutely in awe of writers like Andrew Joseph White who deliver fast-paced, deep stories with incredible characters and unforgettable moments. If you’re looking for a dark, twisty horror novel with a hopeful undertone, grab this one immediately.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Silas is transgender and has autism. Another character is transgender. Brief mentions of women who have romantic feelings for each other.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used a bit frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
In one scene, a man grabs Silas and forces a kiss on him. Kissing between a boy and girl. Some characters shame others for being sexually active or for doing something perceived as flirting or being alone with a man.

Spiritual Content
Characters with violet eyes have the ability to see into the spirit realm and communicate with the spirits of people who have died. When men do this, it’s a sign of power, but women with this ability are told they’re sick and must be “treated.” (Read: tortured until their captors are satisfied they are submissive enough.)

Violent Content
Very specific descriptions of medical procedures, such as a hysterectomy. Some instances of torture. For example, one woman is forced to walk with glass in her shoes every day. A girl throws another girl down the stairs. At one point, a girl attacks another girl, choking and hitting her. A girl bites another girl. A man presents a woman to an audience after having removed her eyes, tongue, and teeth. The woman has apparently self-inflicted wounds on her wrists that look as if she bit herself.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE SPIRIT BARES ITS TEETH in exchange for my honest review.

Review: No One Left But You by Tash McAdam

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No One Left But You
Tash McAdam
Soho Teen
November 7, 2023

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About No One Left But You

A trans teen is swept up in a whirlwind friendship with lethal consequences in this taut YA thriller, for fans of Sadie, K. Ancrum and HBO’s Euphoria.

BEFORE

Newly out trans guy Max is having a hard time in school. Things have been tough since his summer romance, Danny, turned into his bully. This year, his plan is to keep his head down and graduate. All that changes when new It-girl Gloss moves to town. No one understands why perfect, polished Gloss is so interested in an introverted skater kid, but Max blooms in the hothouse of her attention. Caught between romance and obsession, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her on his side.

AFTER

Haircuts, makeovers, drugs, parties. It’s all fun and games until someone gets killed at a rager gone terribly wrong. Max refuses to believe that Gloss did it. But if not Gloss, who? Desperate to figure out truth in the wake of tragedy, Max veers dangerously close to being implicated—and his own memories of that awful night are fuzzy.

Both sharp-edged thriller and moving coming-of-age, this gorgeously wrought novel is perfect for readers who want stories with trans characters front-and-center.

My Review

I’m going to go ahead and admit that I laughed at some things in this book that I don’t think were meant to be funny. For example, at one point, the main character is making a point that he’s noticing some recovery from previous depression. He says something like, “I’m finally asking myself normal questions, like ‘do I want to do mushrooms in the woods with a girl I might like.” And I don’t want to minimize the shift in his mental state or the joy of noticing a new distance from depressed thoughts.

But also, I couldn’t help laughing at how differently I defined “normal questions” in my own high school experience. It struck me funny.

Interesting comparisons aside, though, Max’s emotional journey through the book really packs a punch. The story travels from him peeling apart his feelings about an ex he’s not over to exploring new feelings for a girl who might be too cool for him to reeling from grief over a sudden loss. Every emotion felt real and raw, drawing me deep into Max’s story.

The cover copy hints that Max grapples with hazy memories of the time of the murder, but the story doesn’t really focus on that much. It’s much more about Max trying desperately to understand why this person died and what the relationship meant to him. Those threads are so well-spun that I rocketed through the book from start to finish.

I think readers who enjoy Caleb Roehrig’s mystery books will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Max is a transgender boy. A minor character is Black. Another character is gay but closeted.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two boys. In one scene, two boys go into a tent to have sex. We know they undress and that one asks the other permission to have sex, and the scene fades to black. In another scene, a group of teens decides to skinny dip at the beach. Some people choose to keep their shirts on.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Kids at school (often boys) bully Max after he comes out as transgender. They misgender him on purpose and shoulder-check him as he walks by. A boy shoves Max against a wall and kisses him hard enough to bruise and split his lip.

References to Max’s mom using his deadname. She misgenders him repeatedly in the couple of scenes where she appears.

Someone dies of a cut throat. One scene shows them dying.

Drug Content
Max smokes pot and drinks alcohol with his friends in multiple scenes. In one scene, he and a girl drink mushroom tea. In another, a girl pushes a pill from her mouth into his.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything but help support this blog. I received a free copy of NO ONE LEFT BUT YOU in exchange for my honest review.