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Feb 11, 2017FleetwoodTeenBookReviewProject rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Awesome book in my opinion, a very well told story with admirable characters, romance, humor and school life. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of David, a year nine that has difficultly in transitioning his life into the person he really wants to be and Leo, a year 10 transfer student that slowly changes David's life. Together they help each other with their problems and offer support when it is most needed. The main conflict is David trying to open up to his parents and schoolmates about who he really wants to be which is a girl. Leo struggles with his overbearing mother, tries to find his father who left him while trying to keep his fair share of secrets hidden from everyone else. I like how this book opens up more to the LGBT+ community and I really think it is a wonderful book that really shows the struggle not only with identity but with family, school and daily life. I find the characters of David and Leo to be very interesting in how they interpret their problems and their differing opinions and perspectives tend to come together quite well. Leo is more of a logical, strong and mathematical person while David is creative, artistic and overall more emotionally sensitive. This combination of people go well together and they really make up for each other's flaws without being too unrealistic as well. I do wish that there was more focus or understanding on Leo's family in particular his mom because despite being mean and cold most of the time I really feel like she has suffered a lot. However we don't get much into her backstory. I also would have preferred Leo's "secret" to not be revealed on the book description and leave it for the readers to find themselves. The plot was good, the story was well paced without giving away too much. It didn't feel too long and the relationship between the characters was interesting to see unfold. It was a bit stereotypical being in a high school setting of having mean popular girls, weekend parties, and some expected stereotypical teenagers. However the message of the book was good, seeing two characters trying to interpret what their identity is and what it is defined by. i would rate this book to be very recommended. - Review from Fleetwood Teen V.D.