It’s rare that I give a book five stars, but this book deserves every one. Sarah McBride has written a seminal text about human rights and the human experience. As a white, socioeconomically privileged person, Sarah does not speak for all trans people, but she is deeply aware of the privilege that has enabled her to get to where she is today, and repeatedly acknowledges that the experiences of trans people of color and other disadvantaged groups are markedly different than hers, using her voice and platform to educate as much as share her personal experience as a transgender woman.

I cried throughout the book, alternately from happiness, sadness, anger, and feeling deeply moved by the open, accepting, and loving reception Sarah got from some of the people she came out to. I am cisgender, but I am blessed and fortunate to have some amazing trans people in my life who have been very open about their experiences as trans people and the discrimination they face every day, but I learned a ton from this book. The trans people in my life were already far into their transitions when I met them, so I have never thought of them as anything but their true genders. After reading this book, I now know how to be a better cis person when someone who hasn’t transitioned yet chooses to come out to me.

This is going to be one of the most important books of 2018, and one of the most important books you will ever read, whether you are trans, cis, straight, or queer. I have so much respect for Sarah and the amazing way she is changing the world. May we all have the freedom, acceptance, and bravery to live our truth the way Sarah does every day. Read this book. It might just change your life. I know it changed mine.