I received this copy through the Bookish First giveaway. This was a great debut novel by Fitzsimons. The book is about a transgender gay boy who transfers to a new more progressive school because of problems he had at his previous one and falls for his soccer teammate.
I think the book shines a great light on the struggle of LGBTQ individuals, esp. the struggle of teens going through this. As a gay man I know how hard it can be to come out and worry about being accepted. I can not begin to understand the struggle, fight, and fear of acceptance trans people have to deal with. I believe Fitzsimons did a good job trying to represent it through Spencer's feelings and actions and as he says he's a lucky one to have a supporting family. Many do not have that and like Justice who has an ultra religious family fear being outed.
I really enjoyed this book. The only real annoyance (for me) was that the book was centered around soccer and the author wrote the soccer game scenes as if the reader is very familiar with soccer. I do not know a lot about soccer besides the general facts. So when the games were being described if you do not understand the all the terms and jargon and game playing elements I felt lost. But that is a minor thing that was just annoying and didn't take away much from the story.
So a great LGBTQ debut novel I recommend.
I think the book shines a great light on the struggle of LGBTQ individuals, esp. the struggle of teens going through this. As a gay man I know how hard it can be to come out and worry about being accepted. I can not begin to understand the struggle, fight, and fear of acceptance trans people have to deal with. I believe Fitzsimons did a good job trying to represent it through Spencer's feelings and actions and as he says he's a lucky one to have a supporting family. Many do not have that and like Justice who has an ultra religious family fear being outed.
I really enjoyed this book. The only real annoyance (for me) was that the book was centered around soccer and the author wrote the soccer game scenes as if the reader is very familiar with soccer. I do not know a lot about soccer besides the general facts. So when the games were being described if you do not understand the all the terms and jargon and game playing elements I felt lost. But that is a minor thing that was just annoying and didn't take away much from the story.
So a great LGBTQ debut novel I recommend.