Information

• Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
• Format: paperback ARC
• Source: giveaway
• Pages: 352
• Genre: contemporary
• Amazon
• Goodreads
• Rating: 5/5 stars

Publisher Summary:

The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?

Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. The thing is . . . Riley isn’t exactly out yet. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in uber-conservative Orange County, the pressure—media and otherwise—is building up in Riley’s so-called “normal” life.

On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it’s REALLY like to be a gender-fluid teenager. But just as Riley’s starting to settle in at school—even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast—the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley’s real identity, threatening exposure. Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created—a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in—or stand up, come out, and risk everything.

My Thoughts:

Amazing.

Pros:

• diverse
• I could actually feel Riley’s feelings and anxiety
• I actually became Riley in some scenes
• amazing
• window book
• deals with
  • suicide
  • gender
  • sexuality
  • coming out
  • anxiety
  • body dysmorphia

Cons:

• doesn’t cover the topic of pronouns