Author: Winter Page
Year of Publication: 2014
Summary: Raimi Carter is finally a girl, just like she always knew she was meant to be. At a new school where nobody knows she’s had gender reassignment surgery, she hopes to finally live the normal life she’s longed for, happy in her own skin.
Life is great until she discovers a dangerous bully is blackmailing head cheerleader, Clare Strickland, threatening to reveal her secret: she’s gay. As Raimi fights to free Clare from his clutches, the two girls move beyond friendship. But secrets from their pasts and their own fears of coming out tear them apart—maybe forever. Baring their souls to each other could cost them everything. For two girls trapped and desperately in love, only strength, courage, and trust in each other will help them break free and claim their future
Review: **Copy kindly provided by Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.**
Ah, where do I start with this one. The synopsis promised an interesting read - Raimi Carter has just started high school after two years of being home-schooled, and then finally gender reassignment surgery.
Listen, there aren't enough books in the world dealing with LGBTQ+ issues, especially Young Adult ones. Most books in the YA section of a bookstore are about cis/het individuals, who are more often than not, white. I've learnt to take what I can get regarding LGBTQ+ fiction - problematic relationships, bad writing, horrible characters, stereotypes galore... but gosh, I don't think I have ever read something this bad that wasn't written by a twelve year old on a fanfiction site.
I really, really wanted to enjoy this book, and I did... for the first two paragraphs, and then it all went downhill from there. Raimi is clearly the epitome of a Mary Sue - literally perfect at everything and oh-so-beautiful. She also looks down upon her peers and judges them, even though she herself would not want to be judged. The characters are little more than caricatures of stereotypes, which was evident from the moment Raimi's Spanish and Calculus teachers were introduced, and it did not get any better as we met the supporting cast.
The book didn't seem all that realistic, either, as Raimi has already had surgeries and hormones that usually are expensive and also generally illegal for minors. I get that this book was written by somebody still in high school, so I'm trying not to be too harsh. Page can spin a story, but I just think they need more practice and life experience, as evidenced by the events of the story and the horrible ending - which was way too sudden, and also, did I mention, horrible?
I think with a few re-writes and a good editor, this book could be really good and Page shouldn't be discouraged by the bad reviews. Rome was not built in a day and neither were best sellers. My advice to Page would be to keep going - there is potential for a great story here.
Rating: 2/5 stars
★★✰✰✰
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