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eloise_bradbooks 's review for:
Spy Stuff
by Matthew J. Metzger
First off, I'm not trans. It's important for me to say that because it is important for people who are looking for good representation to read reviews by people who ARE, because no one will give you a better opinion than them.
Also, my views on this are quite personal and don't seem to be the way most readers have felt, so feel free to ignore me.
If you're interested in certain words being used to make jokes "for fun" even though they could offed someone - and how the book was totally okay with that (I'm not), then please read on.
I liked the setting (England, yay!) and of course reading an own-voices story about a trans guy is something we should get more of. I found it interesting to get views on transgenderism in England and how transitioning is dealt with. I loved seeing that consent and boundaries in relationships was a major aspect of this story. We're getting real conversations about dysphoria and kissing and sexual intimacy not only for the trans character but for any person in any type of relationship. Very well done.
Oddly, the only thing that bothered me had to do with being uncomfortable with some things that were said and done, regarding possible triggers.
The group of friends we follow during this book are, ultimately, a great bunch. They do love and respect each other. However, they're all verbally insulting each other. They give each other names and say things that are meant to be insulting - for fun.
There's a whole speech about how you are allowed to give someone a name that might be offensive, if that person is okay with it and doesn't find it offensive because of so and so reason.
So that's what the guys do. All throughout. Jokes about being a girl for example, to "reduce" the guys. A few jokes are made related to Anton being trans.
And Anton says it's okay. He's okay with that, so nothing else needs to be said.
HOWEVER. I still personally felt like this wasn't right. I don't like people calling other people names, whether it's "for fun" or not. I don't like it, I don't agree with it, it reminds me of times I was given names as an insult for other people to laugh at. And no, I wasn't in the situation where I could give my consent for these jokes but if I had been, I wouldn't have given it. Words that could be insulting to some people, or even dysphoria triggering, shouldn't be used-until-we're-told-not-to-say-them.
Maybe those words didn't hurt Anton. I noted that the book says "Not like it would have, in the past". Clearly Anton is at a point where he doesn't feel offended anymore by silly little words other guys say that joke about girl-stuff when you're a guy. But clearly that means that there was a time when he was hurt and triggered. That is when a conversation should have been started about the fact that SOME PEOPLE WOULD BE OFFENDED/HURT/TRIGGERED by this. And if it's okay for Anton to hear it, it's not going to be okay for some other people to hear it.
So calm it down. Don't scream those words aloud in a jokey way. Because that is how some people, who aren't as comfortable as Anton is, are going to get hurt.
Sadly this bothered me to a point where I didn't like the love interested. And.... you're not gonna love a book if you don't like the main character's reason to be happy.
Even if the rest of the book deserves praise, in the end I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
Ultimately, it's one small thing that I, a cis girl, thinks. The writer is trans and finds this fine. Other reviewers who are also trans have found this fine.
I'm sure it will depend on how comfortable you are and how easily triggered you could be. In my opinion, I'd say go in with knowledge that there are possibly triggering comments being made throughout.
Also, my views on this are quite personal and don't seem to be the way most readers have felt, so feel free to ignore me.
If you're interested in certain words being used to make jokes "for fun" even though they could offed someone - and how the book was totally okay with that (I'm not), then please read on.
I liked the setting (England, yay!) and of course reading an own-voices story about a trans guy is something we should get more of. I found it interesting to get views on transgenderism in England and how transitioning is dealt with. I loved seeing that consent and boundaries in relationships was a major aspect of this story. We're getting real conversations about dysphoria and kissing and sexual intimacy not only for the trans character but for any person in any type of relationship. Very well done.
Oddly, the only thing that bothered me had to do with being uncomfortable with some things that were said and done, regarding possible triggers.
The group of friends we follow during this book are, ultimately, a great bunch. They do love and respect each other. However, they're all verbally insulting each other. They give each other names and say things that are meant to be insulting - for fun.
There's a whole speech about how you are allowed to give someone a name that might be offensive, if that person is okay with it and doesn't find it offensive because of so and so reason.
So that's what the guys do. All throughout. Jokes about being a girl for example, to "reduce" the guys. A few jokes are made related to Anton being trans.
And Anton says it's okay. He's okay with that, so nothing else needs to be said.
HOWEVER. I still personally felt like this wasn't right. I don't like people calling other people names, whether it's "for fun" or not. I don't like it, I don't agree with it, it reminds me of times I was given names as an insult for other people to laugh at. And no, I wasn't in the situation where I could give my consent for these jokes but if I had been, I wouldn't have given it. Words that could be insulting to some people, or even dysphoria triggering, shouldn't be used-until-we're-told-not-to-say-them.
Maybe those words didn't hurt Anton. I noted that the book says "Not like it would have, in the past". Clearly Anton is at a point where he doesn't feel offended anymore by silly little words other guys say that joke about girl-stuff when you're a guy. But clearly that means that there was a time when he was hurt and triggered. That is when a conversation should have been started about the fact that SOME PEOPLE WOULD BE OFFENDED/HURT/TRIGGERED by this. And if it's okay for Anton to hear it, it's not going to be okay for some other people to hear it.
So calm it down. Don't scream those words aloud in a jokey way. Because that is how some people, who aren't as comfortable as Anton is, are going to get hurt.
Sadly this bothered me to a point where I didn't like the love interested. And.... you're not gonna love a book if you don't like the main character's reason to be happy.
Even if the rest of the book deserves praise, in the end I couldn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.
Ultimately, it's one small thing that I, a cis girl, thinks. The writer is trans and finds this fine. Other reviewers who are also trans have found this fine.
I'm sure it will depend on how comfortable you are and how easily triggered you could be. In my opinion, I'd say go in with knowledge that there are possibly triggering comments being made throughout.