4.5/5

I was really surprised by this one. I thought I'd like it but I've had such a hit and miss with middle grade lately that I wondered if this would be another flop but it turned out to be great!

This book deals heavily with grief and that really hit home for me. It was written in such a beautiful way that felt very natural and I ached for Bug! I really loved the relationship they had with their uncle and it all just felt really wholesome and loving.

It was really interesting to see a friendship that was so strained and you could hardly understand why they were friends at all. It was a complicated situation and I wanted to be annoyed at the way Bug was treated but the situation was very complicated and I couldn't fault either character.

The take on the supernatural elements was a lot more subdued than I expected but I really like the way it came through.

Bug's journey towards understanding their gender was a little underwhelming for me and I think it's a purely me thing. Often times when I read stories about trans or non-binary characters I look to relate to them as having lived my journey and a lot of the time that's the case. With Bug I didn't have a similar journey and for a second that made me thing their journey was written by a cis-person. Everyone is entitled to their own journey towards their identity and once I realised the author was trans I was able to really understand that Bug's journey is different from my own and that's completely acceptable. I think the most shocking thing was how quickly Bug accepted their gender and how quick all the changes were. I guess I would have liked a little more questioning or a slower discovery but that's on me.

This is a highly enjoyable middle grade book about a trans kid discovering themself through the help of their uncle's ghost. It's really special and I adored it.