UGH! This sequel was such a hair-ripping, eye-rolling, time-checking disappointment! The first book was a little simple, but charming, insightful, respectful. I liked the metaphor for the trans/gender fluid/non-binary journey of self-discovery and longing for acceptance. Same with the theme echoes in addressing immigration and multi-ethnicity. I was ready for the characters, conflicts, and themes established in book 1 to grow in book 2.
...
NOPE!
Did you like the secondary characters from the first book? Tough, they won't be present in the sequel. Did you like the /main/ characters? TOUGH, they will all be reduced to Manu's cheerleaders. Did you like the different personalities and how each character brought different perspectives on how to solve problems? TOUGH because now there's RUNNIIIIING, WHEEEEE!!!! Hoping for some deep, morally grey, new characters to flesh out the world and introduce secondary conflicts?! Toooooough, because you will be forced to sit through an endless parade of LGBTQA, PoC, and feminist cliches, introduced solely to state their name and sob story, and then NEVER REAPPEAR!

I am so angry I read this fever dream of a book! The Wonderlandian setting makes no sense, and removes most of the stakes our heroes might face. Cornered in an alley? No problem, step on a mushroom, you'll fall into a dungeon. Dungeon too scary? No problem, there's a puddle on the floor, it will teleport you to an underwater harbor where you can board a submarine. Cross the ocean - just kidding, at its darkest depths the ocean is outer space! What's on the other side of outer space? An apartment complex covered in vampiric vines, where the tenants make friendship bracelets out of leeches! Not sure if you should join the cult of tenants? No problem, the planet is psychic, she'll let you know telepathically whether you're making the right call or not!... Read that back to yourself... Are you as throw-my-hands-up confused as I am? There is barely a way to summarize the plot of this book, because our "heroes" agree out loud "We should avoid the cops", then immediately jump in front of the cops and shout "Na na na na boo boo", and then run for their lives through a 6 year old's crayon drawing!!!

Let me circle back to that LGBTQA cliche parade, though. This book does what BAD queer fiction does:
- Introduces characters by their labels, and uses them for nothing else. Characters are characters! They need to grow or effect the plot in some way. Otherwise, they're not really characters, they're an LGBTQA glossary.
- Ally shaming. Yes, some people who empathize with your cause are going to have come from a place of privilege, and might inadvertently insult you when they mean to help. Don't shame, educate. When you're short on help or hope, don't sneer at people who care about you!
- Everyone treats the main character like their little wubby, and they exist to compliment and validate her, even when she has been a lying, selfish, manipulative, evasive, dangerous, brat! (Seriously, the last 100 pages of this book are Manu on trial, and a stream of characters witnesses who come up to say how marvelous she is... You've known her for 2 months!!! That's it!!! You don't know her!!!!)
- The author overreaches. Yes, there is something thematic about "everybody feels trapped in their own skin". BUT, in drawing this comparison, too many authors are tempted to include an example for each struggle with a token character and a few throwaway lines about how the system is rigged against them. The book just becomes a list.
- Glorifies anarchy. Yes, wouldn't it be sweet if we could simply topple the patriarchy and live happily ever after. But unfortunately, people either fear or abuse change. "Chaos is a ladder." If you don't have any solutions to offer, SOMEBODY is going to take charge in the chaos, and that somebody is usually a dictator preying on people's fears.

A sloppy collection of post-it notes, doodles, and angry tweets about The Man, masquerading as a book.