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A review by spinesinaline
Under Shifting Stars by Alexandra Latos
3.0
Thanks to Raincoast and Netgalley for an ARC to review! Full review at https://spinesinaline.wordpress.com
This ended up being just an okay read for me but I really appreciated the themes the book covers. The author has said that she wrote this book to help teens feel comfortable with being “different” and I wholeheartedly support that purpose.
There’s neurodiverse representation and a lot of exploration into gender identity and sexuality that’s really perfect for teens similarly exploring who they are. And at the same time it covers how difficult school is for kids who don’t stick to the “status quo” while allowing the characters to find a way to express themselves and feel comfortable in who they are.
My main issue was that it felt too educational (particularly with the gender identity narrative) rather than a natural progression of someone exploring their identity. There was a lot of google searching and an overload of definitions that overpowered any description of how the character was actually thinking and feeling in this process; a lot of telling rather than showing. I understand that those definitions would be helpful to teens going through a similar process but it read almost like an educational manual.
I did like that the general format of the book with alternating 1st-person narration from the twins, though I tended to prefer Audrey’s narration as it felt much more natural. The only thing with the dual perspective is that because we’re able to know both of their thoughts, the explanatory nature of the book is overkill here.
I can’t speak to the accuracy of either the gender or neurodiversity representation but while I found Audrey more natural, she did come off very young (so much so I thought she was in elementary school when I started reading, not high school!). A Goodreads reviewer commented on the harm of this infantilization for a character with a potential mental disability (though undiagnosed) so I don’t know how neurodiverse readers would react to the character.
It was an interesting read and while it seems from my review that grief isn’t a big part of the story, it is handled really well and is the impetus behind a lot of growth in the characters throughout the book. I also really appreciated the nuance in the gender exploration, with discussions around gender fluidity, finding labels or identifying without, LGBTQ student groups in the schools, and several characters that are already comfortable and confident in their identity. There were just some misses for me in the narrative style and some possible issues with representation.
This ended up being just an okay read for me but I really appreciated the themes the book covers. The author has said that she wrote this book to help teens feel comfortable with being “different” and I wholeheartedly support that purpose.
There’s neurodiverse representation and a lot of exploration into gender identity and sexuality that’s really perfect for teens similarly exploring who they are. And at the same time it covers how difficult school is for kids who don’t stick to the “status quo” while allowing the characters to find a way to express themselves and feel comfortable in who they are.
My main issue was that it felt too educational (particularly with the gender identity narrative) rather than a natural progression of someone exploring their identity. There was a lot of google searching and an overload of definitions that overpowered any description of how the character was actually thinking and feeling in this process; a lot of telling rather than showing. I understand that those definitions would be helpful to teens going through a similar process but it read almost like an educational manual.
I did like that the general format of the book with alternating 1st-person narration from the twins, though I tended to prefer Audrey’s narration as it felt much more natural. The only thing with the dual perspective is that because we’re able to know both of their thoughts, the explanatory nature of the book is overkill here.
I can’t speak to the accuracy of either the gender or neurodiversity representation but while I found Audrey more natural, she did come off very young (so much so I thought she was in elementary school when I started reading, not high school!). A Goodreads reviewer commented on the harm of this infantilization for a character with a potential mental disability (though undiagnosed) so I don’t know how neurodiverse readers would react to the character.
It was an interesting read and while it seems from my review that grief isn’t a big part of the story, it is handled really well and is the impetus behind a lot of growth in the characters throughout the book. I also really appreciated the nuance in the gender exploration, with discussions around gender fluidity, finding labels or identifying without, LGBTQ student groups in the schools, and several characters that are already comfortable and confident in their identity. There were just some misses for me in the narrative style and some possible issues with representation.