Book Review: Freakboy

Titles: Freakboy
Author: Kristin Elizabeth Clark
Genre: contemporary
Rating: 5/5
Page Count: 448 (hardcover)
Publication Date: October 22nd, 2013

Plot (from goodreads):
From the outside, Brendan Chase seems to have it pretty easy. He’s a star wrestler, a video game aficionado, and a loving boyfriend to his seemingly perfect match, Vanessa. But on the inside, Brendan struggles to understand why his body feels so wrong—why he sometimes fantasizes having long hair, soft skin, and gentle curves. Is there even a name for guys like him? Guys who sometimes want to be girls? Or is Brendan just a freak?

In Freakboy's razor-sharp verse, Kristin Clark folds three narratives into one powerful story: Brendan trying to understand his sexual identity, Vanessa fighting to keep her and Brendan’s relationship alive, and Angel struggling to confront her demons.


Review:
This book is written in prose and about a transgender and a genderfluid (unconfirmed in so many words, but it's heavily implied they're genderfluid) characters. This book is - gorgeous written and heartbreaking, and just really well done. It also, saying that, wasn't devastating. It just felt realistic and honest and I'm so glad I read this book.

The only reason I was hesitant (besides not wanting to cry my eyes out), for a few seconds, was because the author isn't transgender herself. Not to say I think there's anything wrong with that, I just think people in that community can always write about that community better. However, reading up on why she wrote the book made me feel better about how I felt like it would go.

I discovered this book, surprisingly, by complete accident. I found it while absently going through bookoutlet (when I use to allow myself to do that). And it sounded interesting - the title, the cover, and so I decided why not? And I'm so glad I did.

This year I've talked about how I wanted to read more diverse and I found this book just before really getting into BookRiot and what they do, which made me really look at what I was reading. And I'm already planning on diving into other books about LGBTQ+ characters, so if you have any recommendations/suggestions, I'd seriously love to hear them.

And I definitely recommend this book - it's really incredible, the prose was really well done (saying that as someone who hasn't read a lot in prose), and just a fantastic story all around.