Monday, June 22, 2015

REVIEW: None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio



None of the Above
A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she was born intersex... and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.

What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant?

When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She's a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she's madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she's decided that she's ready to take things to the next level with him.

But Kristin's first time isn't the perfect moment she's planned—something is very wrong. A visit to the doctor reveals the truth: Kristin is intersex, which means that though she outwardly looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes, not to mention boy "parts."


Dealing with her body is difficult enough, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin's entire identity is thrown into question. As her world unravels, can she come to terms with her new self?





MY THOUGHTS
Krissy is a normal girl. She's popular at school, has a great boyfriend, and she's an athlete with  full scholarship coming her way. But  a visit to the doctor changes her life forever when they tell her that's she's intersex, meaning that she's outwardly a girl, but has boy parts on the inside. Krissy tries to deal with this new information, keeping it underwraps, but the news gets out to the school anyway. Now, her entire life in unraveling and she has to deal with bullying everyday. All the while, she has to convince everyone, including herself, that she's still a girl.

I picked up this book mostly because I have never heard of the term intersex, I didn't even know that this was a thing that existed. I was curious and wanted to understand this more. I think this is one of the reasons why this book needs to be important. I had no idea this existed, and I know other reviewers also didn't. This book does not only a great job at explaining what it means to be intersex, but gives a realistic look at what it's like.

This book is also very sad and made me incredibly angry. The main focus is on Krissy and dealing with being intersex, but there's also a focus on bullying. High School kids can be so horrible! The bullying that Krissy had to go through was cruel and no one should have to go through that. That's the sad and realistic thing, though. Many kids have gone through similar types of bullying and I wish that it wasn't like that!

What really does define this book is how realistic it is. I keep using that word in my review, over and over, because this book is so very real! The characters, the plot, the entire book was done so it does not feel fictional, it felt like we were watching Krissy's story. I would also like to mention how this book is very emotional, but it's not all anger and tears. There are bright spots in the book and the entire time we're watching Krissy deal with this, we see Krissy grow and deal with this change in her life. Even though it's a bumpy road.

IN CONCLUSION
Overall, this was such a realistic read and I was invested in Krissy's story. I do want more people to read this book. It will give more insight on what it means to be intersex and even talk about other harsh topics that I really think people should be more aware of. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to what else I.W. Gregorio writes.
I hereby give this book
4 Wheels
Meaning: It was amazing!

2 comments :

  1. This is incredible! I loved your review of this book. I have it on my list and I actually heard about it a couple of weeks ago. I never heard of intersex before and I'm dying to broaden my mind and get to know about it! :)

    I'm glad you liked it♥

    - Jumana @ Books by Jay

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  2. I'm glad to see you liked this one. I really enjoyed it too and it was definitely a story worth telling.
    Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian

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