I thought this was just okay, unfortunately. Like other reviews have said, I liked the first half better, with what Tobia had to say on the acceptable “trans narrative”, the pain of being a transgender kid growing up in gradually suffocating gender roles, and how the church helped and hindered their expression. The latter half didn’t feel as strong narratively, often getting repetitive with its glitter-covered metaphors, an inflated ego embedded in several recounted stories, and the occasional talk show reference that did not age well. (Also, points docked for Harry Potter references. Only one of those I understood including, just because that was part of Duke’s environment and I’m pretty sure it still is?) And there’s also the strange way political correctness is added in the form of comments throughout, which while it *technically* didn’t have anything worded wrong and checked off all the “intersectionality boxes”…it felt contrived.

I’m kind of bummed I didn’t like this as much as I’d wanted to, because I was curious to see what Jacob Tobia’s narrative voice would be like, not just the voice acting I’d gotten kind of familiar with because I’d seen them as Double Trouble in the She-Ra 2018 reboot. (Who still remains one of my favorite characters, by the way! Wish I could still say I still like that show, but I have beef with how the writers handled Catradora. That’s not relevant lmao)

Can’t say I’d recommend this one, which makes it the first time I’d said that in a review for a memoir :/