First Ever ICYMI Book Review: Luna by Julie Anne Peters

Luna was released in 2004, so in terms of an "in case you missed it" read, you would have really had to miss it, BUT I still want to give it a couple minutes of my blogging time because I think it's an incredibly worthwhile book. In addition to being a pretty enjoyable read, it is also the kind of book that can serve as an invaluable tool. Now, it wouldn't be my first go to book for starting the conversation about issues of transgender if for no other reason than the protagonist is not trans. the story is about Regan more than Luna (Regan being Luna's sister) and Regan's struggle to come to grips with her sister's identity. For me, that's an important perspective and it's a great story, but when discussing the struggles that trans people face, I'd certainly rather hears it from the perspective of the person living that struggle.

This book is a hard read. For me, the hardest part of reading this text was trying to have empathy for Regan; at times, her selfishness was so over the top that it made her pretty hard to take. I also think that young adults could relate to this story and Regan's struggles a little better than I can because at 33 I'm far enough removed from high school that even though I can logically remember how important things like boys and popularity felt in high school, they just seem so frivolous to me when comparing them to Luna's struggle. And that was my big problem, folks: there was no need to compare the two struggles. Luna's struggle is hers; Regan's struggle is hers. They are both valid and real . . . but that doesn't stop me from being far more compassionate about what Luna is going through while transitioning than Regan's constant worry about what Luna's identity will do to her popularity at school.

The upside of Regan's voice: it was authentic. I can't deny that. People are inherently selfish and it's completely believable that she would be more concerned with her own life than her sister's life. Absolutely. As she should be. Regan was really well-developed even if she was a pain in the butt: she was angry and resentful that people crossed boundaries that she never set. She was self-conscious. She was afraid. She just felt incredibly real and raw; on the flip side, Luna, the titular character, was not as well-developed and often felt overly obtuse or empty. I wasn't really happy about the way Luna was depicted because it constantly felt like she was unaware of anyone else's feelings.

Moving past characters, though, this book was really good. Seriously. Easy read, deeply entertaining, hard to put down. It wasn't so much what you would classically consider a page turner; there wasn't a lot of suspense or anything. It was just really hard not to be invested in what was going on for these people.  There was also a nicely balanced blend of humor, drama, and romance.

Overall: 4/5 stars, would read.

Book Review: Not Her Daughter

First, thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for the ARC of this book that I was given in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Instead of my normal one-sentence summary, I'm going to pose my summary as a question: what is our responsibility when we see a child being damaged?

Spoilers throughout.

I had kind of a hard time with this book. Ultimately, this book poses a question about the moral responsibility you have when you see a child who is being raised in a harmful way and Sarah is supposed to serve as a grown example of the toll that emotional and physical abuse can take. While I liked that the book asked us to consider a moral quandary as we read, I can't get over how creepy the whole premise is. Sarah sees Emma at the airport and witnesses her mother being mean to her. At this point, Amy is just mean, but not necessarily abusive. Then, months later, Sarah sees Emma again at her daycare. At her daycare where she is healthy and alive and playing. What is her next step? Because of her "connection" to a random child she first saw months prior, Sarah spends two days stalking a five year old girl to decide if she should kidnap her. That is intensely creepy and even though Sarah is obviously meant to be a huge salvation for Emma, all it did for me was make me wonder if she is mentally stable enough to raise this child in a lifestyle that's much better.

All of that ignores the next piece of intrigue: where does Sarah hide away with Emma? Oh, you know, she just drives eleven hours away and breaks into her ex-boyfriend's cabin to hide away with a five year old. Nothing off putting there.

 You know what else was really hard for me, though? Amy. Like I'm just going to lay my own gripe on the table: why does she basically have to be reduced to a fat woman who is somehow jealous of her five year old's beauty? I mean, I get that there's more to it than that and I actually thought Amy was pretty well developed (until the end) but I feel like that was such an easy answer. I don't know. Something cheap about it. I did love the past life regression stuff, though: very fresh and not something that's discussed much. Selfishly, I would have liked to see more of that, especially as it's summarized later, but I understand it wouldn't have really served the plot.

On the other hand, the book was fast paced and very enjoyable. You would think that a road trip with a Kindergartner would be pretty dull, but I think Rea Frey actually does a really great job with pacing and introducing just enough secondary characters to keep the plot fresh, so she definitely has some writing chops.

Solidly good book. 4/5