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f2m:the boy within

Hazel Edwards,

Ryan S. Kennedy

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Apr 08, 2012 Ashley rated it it was ok

Shelves: queer-content, young-adults, trans-content

Oy, it took me such a long time to write a review for this book. It was a pretty painful read because it was so dull, and I didn't want to pick it up again to write my review. Still, I'm glad a transitioning story exists at my public library, and I think a lot of the trials Finn faces in the book are accurate.

A lot of stuff in the book isn't realistic, though, particularly the amount of time Finn takes to go through all of the steps of transitioning. In the beginning, he's like, "I'm a dude. I'm Oy, it took me such a long time to write a review for this book. It was a pretty painful read because it was so dull, and I didn't want to pick it up again to write my review. Still, I'm glad a transitioning story exists at my public library, and I think a lot of the trials Finn faces in the book are accurate.

A lot of stuff in the book isn't realistic, though, particularly the amount of time Finn takes to go through all of the steps of transitioning. In the beginning, he's like, "I'm a dude. I'm not going to get into why I am completely 100% sure about being a dude and taking hormones and getting surgery done, but even though I am zero engaged with any trans issues and know absolutely nothing about transitioning I think I'll undergo irreversible body changes by the end of next month." He goes through the process as quickly as a 7-year-old goes through a connect-the-dots page in an activity book, and transforms from closeted life as a girl to public life as a flat-chested, deep-voiced guy in a matter of months, an unattainable feat for trans people in the real world due to psychiatric requirements the book fails to mention. Also, how lucky that Finn has magically saved money he never knew about! Good thing his older brother also seems to have never known about his own share of magically saved money and is super invested in Finn getting a mastectomy. Easy peasy, trans folks! I don't know why you campaign so hard to get this stuff covered by your healthcare providers! :(

Also, while not all transitioning stories have to get into politics and personal reasons for transitioning, I was kind of scared for Finn because he didn't seem to have done any research or even taken his counseling seriously lest it get in the way of him achieving maleness. I thought that when he met a trans guy who wasn't into changing his body he would at least elaborate on why that option wasn't for him, but instead he just villified the other trans guy and wrote him off as a know-it-all! Also, even if you're not going to get into the gender politics of transitioning, it's still problematic when Finn's brother tells him he would feel more comfortable with Finn once he had chest surgery because then they could be bros instead of Finn being some girl he couldn’t talk to because boobs and stuff. WTF?

Read my more librarianish review at http://respectablecollection.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/f2m/. ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Apr 20, 2012 Beamish13 marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Jan 04, 2014 Ching-In marked it as to-read

Oct 14, 2017 Sara marked it as to-read

Feb 24, 2021 Nora rated it really liked it

Shelves: novel, ya, transgender-and-gnc, lgbtqia-plus, australia-and-nz-and-their-authors

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