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lenny3 's review for:

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
4.0

**potential spoilers below**

I really loved the relationship that was developed between Amanda and her Dad.. I thought showing her Dad make mistakes and come across as 'less than ideally supportive' at times, but then show why, or the reasoning behind it (his fear and worry for his child and wanting the best life possible for her) was resonating.
I don't know how I felt about the point of conflict (vague to avoid spoilers) and what they says about the ability to trust even just one person, and I have never been a fan of 'outing' being a source of climax/conflict in a book just due to how damaging that could potential be to someone who is struggling with the idea of 'coming out'. In saying that though, this review is being written by a cis-gender female who is currently in a heterosexual relationship, whom obviously has zero authority on this matter. This book is obviously own-voices and the author includes a fantastic statement about how this story is not the story for every trans person, which I think is so vital to remember when reading own-voices literature.

I did really love this book though, the emphasis on relationships, the adorable romance, friendships and the insights provided by flashbacks, etc. I really recommend this to anyone!