4.5
emotional funny informative

I really enjoyed this memoir of growing up trans and closeted in the small English town of St Helens in the early 2000s. The author inserts his adult self in as a character who banters with his teen self, and occasionally interviews his parents on their memories or reactions to his coming out story. I found this a very effective way of weaving together the insight Hancox has now with the actions his younger self took based on much more limited information about gender identity, sexuality, and transitioning. It's also quite funny! Hancox and his friends were rambunctious, crashing around a town too small to hold them. For the American reader, expect a certain amount of unfamiliar British slang, but most can be picked out from context. This comic is rated 14+ on the back and includes scenes of obsession with weight and exercise, an eating disorder, some underage drinking, and some mild nudity. All of it felt important and integral to the story, and I appreciated Hancox's candor and the ultimately gentle and humorous tone with which he land out these adolescent troubles. If you liked Gender Queer or Kisses for Jet you will probably like this one as well!