Reviewed by Leigha on
If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you’ll notice this is not my typical reading fare – it’s my book club pick this month. Literary fiction tends to be too saccharine for my tastes, and this book is no exception. It takes an intimate look at gender dysphoria through the lens of one family. On one hand, the discussion about gender – what makes a boy a boy and a girl a girl – is interesting. So much of gender is constructed by society. Engaging with that commentary is bold and rarely done well. This book does a decent job showing various elements of the issue, including stepping back to broaden the lens beyond Western society. This book would be enjoyable for those of you looking for a close look at gender.
On the other hand, I found the characters to not feel very realistic. I had the hardest time connecting to the parents, Rosie and Pen. While I appreciated their thoughtful consideration of gender dysphoria, I found the rest of their characterization to be problematic. It felt like they ignored the rest of their four children. I get Claude/Poppy had special circumstances, but it’s not healthy to devote all your time and attention to just one kid. And how in the hell did a seven person family have the funds to move to Seattle? I don’t care that Rosie is a doctor. Seattle is expensive. Additionally, the audiobook narrator never fully hooked me. The narrator wasn’t bad, per se, just didn’t bring the characters to life.
tl;dr While an interesting look at gender identity, I found the characters to be unbelievable and the story to be too saccharine.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 28 October, 2018: Finished reading
- 28 October, 2018: Reviewed