There are some really cool things happening playing with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd person in this book that I could write a whole essay about. St. James really creates some messy, flawed, interesting women and it’s nice to see it end with trans joy. Both in 2016 (when the novel is set) and now, it’s nice to see that kind of love and joy depicted. Two things really caught me off guard in a good way, in a way I don’t get surprised very often. The first is

the use of Abigail’s deadname in Caleb’s essay after we’ve spent 200+ pages with every instance of a deadname physically blurred out. It knocks the wind out of you the same way it does for Abigail because St. James spends so much time building a world where we don’t get to see or know deadnames.

The other is the reveal that

Brooke is also trans. Her story surprised me and I went back to the beginning of the book to see all the lil foreshadowing moments.

There were several moments, particularly in Abigail’s chapters, where the narration felt a little too cheeky and direct address-y for my liking. But overall this was a strong debut and I really can’t wait to see what else St. James releases in the future!