If I Was Your Girl

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I really liked him – I really like all of the characters – even though they didn’t always do the right thing or act the right way in the moment, they, especially Grant, knew when to say sorry, so the communication between all of these characters was really strong, and something I appreciated on a whole other level. I think at a lot of points, there was more "telling" than showing" (this is excluding the flashbacks, obviously). Some characters i didn’t connect with, some plots i found a little bit out of the blue and unnecessary. I imagined her in our house all alone, Carrie Underwood playing on loop while the ceiling fans whispered overhead. After reading it, he tells her that he loves her so much that nothing could change his feelings about her.

We definitely don't need another trans horror story, but I wish one of the first mainstream YA trans books by a trans author didn't play it so safe. Pushing aside her concerns she has Grant over to her dad’s house while he’s gone but of course he comes home early and catches them. Grant gets hit on and Amanda finds out that Grant’s friends participate in some “locker room talk” about her and whether or not Grant is going to get laid.

I know when we kissed I felt warm all over, like when you sit too close to a campfire, and I know no girl’s made me feel that way before. She wants to share something so important about herself with these people who are so important to her, but she's so terrified about how they will react. I really liked the way the book dealt with Amanda and Grant’s relationship and I thought the note the author ended on mostly felt realistic. We know that this family is not going to be so welcoming to a trans girl if they were to find out about her past. Reading it I realized that I’ve read an appallingly low number of these books myself and should really start seeking out more LGBTQIA etc characters to read about.

Amanda is such an incredible character, and I loved everything about her; her strength, her bravery, her acceptance and love of herself. Any images belonging to the author should be regarded in the same way as the previously mentioned written content and should not be used without permission. Kaetrin started reading romance as a teen and then took a long break, detouring into fantasy and thrillers. In her portrayal of Amanda’s move, Meredith Russo highlights how tense and guarded Amanda must be nearly 24 hours a day. You can feel the emotion in the readers voice like she's actively living it and the story… just fits.Amanda offers to go for a walk to talk things out and they go to the park and play catch just like her dad always wanted from her when she was younger and he wanted her to be the typical son. Her parents decide that she should move away from Atlanta to Lambertville, a place where no one will know her history. She knows from before just how cruel and violent people can be when they know the truth, and doesn't want to not only lose the new people in her life, but lose the life she currently has; with passing so easily, no-one has any clue about Amanda's past, so as long as no-one knows, she can simply be.

If I Was Your Girl is written mostly in the present day, but there are a number of scenes from back when Amanda was Andrew, showing us what her life was like before, the abuse she had to suffer, the hopelessness she felt, the certainty that no-one, including her parents, would want her if they knew the truth.

Even as Amanda slowly warms to the possibility of having a romantic relationship despite her initial resolution just to keep her head down, she is also forming female friendships. I feel like just the right amount of time was given for their feelings to develop and I loved how we actually got to see them go on dates and learn more about each other. I couldn’t help seeing my reflection in the window: a gangly teenage girl with long, brown hair in a cotton shirt and shorts rumpled from travel. I’m sorry, I just have to mention this one thing and it’s a bad joke but I couldn’t get it out of my mind this whole book. Walking home alone, she is attacked by another football player, Parker, who mocks her and then sexually assaults her.