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Not Otherwise Specified

Hannah Moskowitz (Goodreads Author)

3.80 · Rating details · 1,615 ratings · 350 reviews

Etta is tired of dealing with all of the labels and categories that seem so important to everyone else in her small Nebraska hometown.

Everywhere she turns, someone feels she's too fringe for the fringe. Not gay enough for the Dykes, her ex-clique, thanks to a recent relationship with a boy; not tiny and white enough for ballet, her first passion; and not sick enough to loo ...more

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ebook, 304 pages

Published March 3rd 2015 by Simon Pulse

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· 1,615 ratings · 350 reviews

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Jan 21, 2017 Emma Giordano rated it it was amazing

I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. For years, I have been saying I want a book about a girl in eating disorder recovery who is in the process of regaining her relationship with food and has gained weight back as a result, while ALSO still struggling & having trouble not wishing for the past behaviors to return.

Welp, I found it. And it was everything I wanted it to be.

I'm so thankful that this book exists. I can't tell you how wonderful it is for me to say "This book relates to how I currently feel," I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS BOOK. For years, I have been saying I want a book about a girl in eating disorder recovery who is in the process of regaining her relationship with food and has gained weight back as a result, while ALSO still struggling & having trouble not wishing for the past behaviors to return.

Welp, I found it. And it was everything I wanted it to be.

I'm so thankful that this book exists. I can't tell you how wonderful it is for me to say "This book relates to how I currently feel," instead of "This book relates to how I felt 5 years ago."

In my opinion, this book has fantastic representation for eating disorders. Not only does it show an eating disorder that isn't always recognized in fiction (Otherwise Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder), but it was a very realistic portrayal of some of the experiences one might have in recovery. Virtually any scene that involved Etta's feelings about her body or her ED really spoke to me. I also think it's great because it did not feel as triggering (to me) as many other books about eating disorders, even ones that involve recovery. It's great that a lot of ED books are able to capture the rawness of what it's like to suffer from these illnesses, but it can be very harmful by putting you back in this mindset. I think "Not Otherwise Specified" handles eating disorders in a realistic yet positive, healthy & way; I would highly highly recommend it for this reason.

I can't really speak for the other pieces of diversity in this book, but I will say it was super awesome to see a bisexual black main character instead of a straight while girl like most eating disorder stories. Any bouts of biphobia included in this book are immediately shut down and in my opinion, it showcases an LGBT teen who is confident & accepting of herself, and I think it is important that we highlight stories like this more often. Etta is a really unique, strong character and it was a pleasure getting to experience her story.

Ultimately, this book was fab. It is definitely one of my new auto-recommends for people looking for diverse books with realistic, yet distinctive characters, hard-hitting stories, and extremely pleasant writing. I'm so glad I decided to give it a chance! ...more

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May 07, 2013 Hannah added it · (Review from the author)

Shelves: i-wrote-this-book

You know all those snarky narrators? Etta is the opposite. She's pretty much Robyn.

Appropriately, the playlist:

Cry When You Get Older -- Robyn
Ships in the Night -- Mat Kearney
We Dance to the Beat -- Robyn
Beverly Hills -- Weezer
I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous -- Frank Turner
Read My Mind (Like Rebel Diamonds mix) -- The Killers
Mean -- Taylor Swift
Dancing On My Own--Robyn
At The Ballet -- A Chorus Line, new cast recording
At The Ballet -- A Chorus Line, original broadway recording
White Horse -- ...more

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Mar 21, 2017 Isa rated it did not like it

Shelves: abandoned

HOLY fuck. i mean, props for a black bisexual protagonist, that's iconic. but the lesbophobia in this book was so.....what the fuck. you mean to tell me every lesbian in the school is in a clique called the "Dykes" who would basically subject their former friend to psychological torture for dating a man?

are you fucking kidding me? fuck you. ...more

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Jan 21, 2015 Bekka rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Bekka by: Paige (Illegal in 3 Countries)

Shelves: 2015-favorites, lgbt

OH MY GOD.

Please tell me there will be a sequel.

--

This book. This book is pretty much the closest thing I’ve found to the perfect contemporary. It is the contemporary of my dreams. The contemporary we all deserve. I’ve been waiting so long to find a bisexual protagonist, it’s unbelievable. I mean, there have been a few (Love in the Time of Global Warming comes to mind immediately) but none have really addressed what it’s like to be bisexual in a contemporary society full of people on both ends o OH MY GOD.

Please tell me there will be a sequel.

--

This book. This book is pretty much the closest thing I’ve found to the perfect contemporary. It is the contemporary of my dreams. The contemporary we all deserve. I’ve been waiting so long to find a bisexual protagonist, it’s unbelievable. I mean, there have been a few (Love in the Time of Global Warming comes to mind immediately) but none have really addressed what it’s like to be bisexual in a contemporary society full of people on both ends of the sexuality spectrum telling you that you don’t know yourself well enough to make that decision for yourself, or that your sexuality doesn’t actually exist, or you’re greedy, you’re a slut, etc, etc, etc. Not Otherwise Specified shoves its middle finger right in the air and gives a big fuck you to the sexual orientation binary. I mean, this book does a lot of other things too, and it does them almost perfectly, but goddamn I have been waiting for this book and it’s finally here.

Etta, the protagonist, is amazing. She’s been cast out by her friend group who call themselves The Dykes. The Dykes, as you can imagine, are a group of lesbians who attend Etta’s school, and honestly the only real thing they have in common in an attraction to other girls. But as you can imagine, it’s not easy being not-straight (and in Etta’s case, also black) in the middle of whiter and white, straighter than straight Nebraska, so Etta has latched onto them. But they abandon her when she dates a boy. It’s not like she lied to them; she has always been clear about her bisexuality, but The Dykes see this as a political move and use this opportunity to shun her and to bully her. Etta takes this all in stride – she’s got confidence issues just like all of us, but she’s still so fucking strong and she KNOWS this isn’t right. I love, love, absolutely love how Etta stands up for herself and how she internally processes all of this hatred toward bisexual people. The shit I’ve been working through for years is already apparent to Etta. And you have no idea how happy it makes me. It is so excited to see the word “bisexual” and to have a character call out another character when they refuse to acknowledge it. Like, this shit speaks directly to my soul; this book is screaming out loud all the things that I care about so passionately.

And Etta’s voice – you guys. I have never read a book where the character felt so authentic. She is a real person – she talks and acts like an actual teenager, she speaks just like all of us, do. Her brain is full of run on sentences and sarcasm and complete derailments from what’s going on right in the now. She goes off on tangents, she sorts through her feelings, she has this great internal stream of consciousness that is 100% real and 100% Etta. You’re going to know within the first two pages whether or not this book is for you when it comes to the writing style. It was hard for me to follow at first but once I got into Etta’s rhythm, I was all there.

I mean, seriously, this book has it all. There are a thousand and one theater references, there is racial diversity and sexual diversity like you wouldn’t believe (but actually you would because hello – this book is actually set in the real world.) The eating disorder angle is handled so honestly; between that and the bisexuality, I found myself basically just nodding my head vigorously every third sentence. There are sexy times! There are frank references to past sexy times! There is family, there is overcoming what you’ve always been told to believe, there is unconditional love, THERE ARE PARALLELS.

I had two teeny tiny issues with this book that obviously did nothing to lessen my enjoyment. One: the use of heterophobe. Look. There’s no such thing as heterophobia, okay? Stop trying to make it a thing. Etta’s ex best friend was acting like a leaking asshole because Etta dated a boy and Etta said she was being a heterophobe. Nope. What she was doing was perpetuating Biphobia. She could have use “biphobe” or even “misogynist.” “Asshole” works nicely here, too. Also: Etta’s current friends-with-benefits compares Etta’s race with her friend’s sexuality, saying that the cis, white male (who is gay) is living a worse experience than Etta because at least Etta’s family is black so she has someone who understands her. This seriously rubbed me the wrong way. Etta attempts to call him out on this – after all, James is still a white male and Etta can never do anything that makes her not black. I mean, this conversation is a lengthy one, and obviously I can’t speak for black people, specifically black women and the misogyny they face, but I felt this part of the book would have been better if it hadn’t been included at all.

Listen, we can talk all day about #WeNeedDiverseBooks, but none of that truly matters until we put our money where our mouth is. I know I’m trying to get better at diversifying my reading. If you are, too, (and even if you’re not – in which case, you need it even more than I thought) you need this book. This is laugh-out-loud, this is righteous anger, this is excitement and wanting to wrap your protagonist up in a giant hug. Not Otherwise Specified is such an important book – a book that would have saved teenage Bekka a lot of heartache. ...more

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Apr 01, 2015 Kat Kennedy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, kat-s-book-reviews, to-ya-or-not-to-ya

Not Otherwise Specified is the story of Ella, a girl struggling with all the labels in her life. Bi, eating disorder, dancing, black, etc.

Not Otherwise Specified was a breathless read. In that, no really, I felt breathless a lot of the time. The Narration was like an unending stream of consciousness funnelling you right into Ella's every uncensored thought.

You'll find all the hallmarks of a great Moskowitz novel here. Thorough characterisation, relationship heavy, stunning writing, heartbreak.

Bu ...more

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May 04, 2014 Dahlia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2015-releases, eating-disorders, qpoc, quiltbag-ya, racial-diversity-in-ya-na, i-own-in-hardcopy, simonandschuster, fave-mcs, legit-lols, favoritey-faves

Oh man, the VOICE. In books where the voice is this strong, whether you enjoy the character whose head you're in or not is everything, and I loved hanging out with Etta. I loved her humor and her strength and her honesty and her pride and her journey. I loved that she tried to succeed and was willing to fail. There's no area of her life in which she's unilaterally one thing; even when it comes to something like letting other people dictate who she is, she both does and doesn't. She's so fabulous ...more

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Apr 01, 2017 Cristina Patón rated it did not like it

I can't say I'm not used to lesbians being villified in fiction. I just want to warn any young lesbians to stay away from this book, as it has really upsetting, lesbophobic content.
The author should be more careful as to what kind of message she is sending writing this kind of stuff. There's nothing progressive about pitting lesbians and bisexual women against each other. ...more

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Apr 16, 2015 Tyler J Gray rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone, those looking to read diverse books

Shelves: 2010s, own, young-adult, lgbtqia, bisexual, contemporary, mental-health, favorites, standalone, own-physical

Re-read in June of 2019

I was scared to re-read this. What if it didn't hold up? I had just gotten into reading after years of basically not reading when I read it the first time and it was the first time I ever saw a bisexual character. I was nearly 27...and I've known i'm bi since I was 13. So of course it ment so much to me. 3 1/2 years later, I finally did it. I re-read it.

And I should not have been scared. This book is awesome! It still made me cry. I added MORE tabs (which is quite a feat!) ...more

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Apr 01, 2017 Celestine rated it did not like it

sure, i like having a bisexual poc protagonist, but all of that becomes meaningless once you have a book where the lesbian characters are written in such a hateful way. the author must have an issue with lesbians. i dont know how else to interpret this.

so. dont read this unless you love seeing bisexual and lesbian women fighting and hating each other. not recommended.

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Mar 20, 2017 Lilian Halcombe rated it did not like it

The author appears to hate lesbians with a real passion.

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Feb 25, 2015 Chiara rated it really liked it

Shelves: lgbtqia, e-arcs, young-adult, lgbtqia-bisexual

A copy of this novel was provided by Simon & Schuster for review via Edelweiss.

Not Otherwise Specified manages to tackle a lot of important and real issues without being an “issue book”, which is so important. I’m pretty much going to talk about the main themes that stood out to me when reading Not Otherwise Specified, because that’s how I roll.

1. Etta is bisexual, and open about it. She’s not hiding it from anyone, she’s open about ogling pretty boys and pretty girls alike. And I LOVED this. Bu ...more

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May 08, 2013 shady boots rated it really liked it

Shelves: heroines-i-adore, 2015-faves, i-just-have-a-lot-of-feelings, fluffy, the-gay-agenda

Yaaaaasssss, Hannah, yaaaaaaaaaaasssssss gurl. This book made me feel my oats.

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Jul 08, 2014 Debbie Narh rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, march, simon-and-schuster, lgbt, 2015, adventure, awesome-protagonist, can-summarize-without-finishing, contemporary, disappointments

I'm in love with Hannah Moskowitz. I love her writing, her characters, the way that I feel like I personally know her solely from reading her books. I feel like she puts a lot of herself into her stories. Not Otherwise Specified isn't... a bad book by any means. But it is a what the fuck just happened ? kind of book. From the setting to the dialogue, all the way to the fucking cover I just...

I don't think I ever encountered a book by an author I loved that has had info-dumping, but Not Otherwise I'm in love with Hannah Moskowitz. I love her writing, her characters, the way that I feel like I personally know her solely from reading her books. I feel like she puts a lot of herself into her stories. Not Otherwise Specified isn't... a bad book by any means. But it is a what the fuck just happened ? kind of book. From the setting to the dialogue, all the way to the fucking cover I just...

I don't think I ever encountered a book by an author I loved that has had info-dumping, but Not Otherwise Specified has it to the max. I'm not even kidding. Sure there are a lot of witty comments that make some of the several info-dumping parts bearable but just barely. Also, the dialogue is really bad. It's all cookie cutter edge with 'he says' or 'I say' 'she says'. They say a lot of shit, I get it. Now make it interesting by adding actions. And I don't know if it's just me but all anyone talks about are eating disorders and theater and a dash of the LGBT community thus making the characters not as fleshed out as I would have liked. I got bored quite easily reading this one because I was waiting for something out of the ordinary. It didn't really come. Anyway, the relationship between Bianca and Etta is so crazy and unbelievable that I had a hard time taking to it. Bianca barely talks and somehow, she's clinging to Etta for dear life after like a month? Of course these scenarios happen, but I'm sorry there's just so much planning that could have made it seem realistic. Bianca has too much to lose (I think) to just allow Etta into her life instantly.

Still, this is Hannah Moskowitz and after a while, the random-all-over-the-place-but-not-really-I-don't-know writing didn't stand out so much to me. In addition to this, Etta is such a handful, not only for the secondary characters but for readers as well but I liked her for the most part. She's loud, confused, happy, and pissed off. I liked her because of how strong she is and how strong she makes the other characters. The struggle that goes on in the story is so true. She tries so hard to work on herself, so hard to get her old friends back, to get healthy, to get in really that I felt for her. It's so hard to really 'fit' in somewhere and I felt as if Etta is the memory for all of us, because I'm sure that everyone has felt like a sore thumb at least once in their life.

Let me say it again: I love Hannah Moskowitz and I believe that this love for her has made me second guess my thoughts on the book. I really want to believe that I got a faulty copy because it just didn't work for me. Especially the cover, just looking at it makes me mad not because of the person on it, but just the fact that the publisher probably paid a lot of money for something that looks thrown together in ten minutes. It's poorly photoshoped, poorly lighted, and just all around, poor colour choices. I know for a fact, they could have done better. But anyway, yes, I think I would still recommend it solely because it is Hannah Moskowitz and she's awesome but Not Otherwise Specified is not that great. It's a solid, 'meh' book with 'meh' characters and a 'meh' setting. ...more

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May 24, 2017 kory. rated it did not like it

Shelves: queer, 2017, bisexual, nope-nope-nope, eating-disorder, mental-illness, stand-alone, 1-star, fiction, young-adult

content/trigger warnings; ableism, eating disorders, biphobia, lesbophobia, d slur, slut shaming, alcohol consumption, bullying, harassment,

rep; etta (mc) is black, bisexual, and has ednos. rachel (sc) is japanese and a lesbian. natasha (sc) is a lesbian. biance (sc) has an eating disorder. james (sc) is gay.

This book pissed me off. Everything about it. The biphobia and misconceptions about bisexuality. The lesbophobia. The only lesbians in the books being the actual worst people ever and being ...more

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May 08, 2013 Stuti Rai rated it liked it

Shelves: realistic-fiction

3.5

Etta is a mess of a person and it pointedly comes across in her narration, with trademark Moskowitz rambling sentences of paragraphs, and boy did I enjoy it.

On top of that, you have Etta herself with a crazy, maybe stolen, personality. A BIG personality. She's the kind of bouncy, excited person with whom you actually understand what a big personality means besides the obvious euphemisms.

Etta's orientation is bisexual and she used to be a part of the Disco Dykes at an all girls' private schoo ...more

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Jun 12, 2014 Cynthia rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, lgbtq, contemporary, arc-egalley-review-copy, bisexual-mc

Ahhh, NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, I don't know how long I've been waiting for a book like you. And you definitely delivered.

Etta is seventeen and lives in Nebraska. She's bisexual. She's black. She has an eating disorder, but she's not thin enough to be diagnosed with one properly. So it's just "eating disorder not otherwise specified". She used to do ballet, but not anymore. When she dates a guy for the first time, all her lesbian friends abandon her. When she breaks up with him, her friends still Ahhh, NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, I don't know how long I've been waiting for a book like you. And you definitely delivered.

Etta is seventeen and lives in Nebraska. She's bisexual. She's black. She has an eating disorder, but she's not thin enough to be diagnosed with one properly. So it's just "eating disorder not otherwise specified". She used to do ballet, but not anymore. When she dates a guy for the first time, all her lesbian friends abandon her. When she breaks up with him, her friends still refuse to let her back into their group – in fact, they start bullying her. But Etta learns that there are open auditions coming up for scholarships to Brentwood, the dream school for musical theatre kids in NYC, and when she decides to take part, she makes some new friends and realises that maybe she's meant for something different to what she's always dreamed about.

NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED is a very earnest kind of book. This is the kind of book where the voice is everything, and Etta's voice is perfect. It's strong and funny and sincere. It's an optimistic book and it's full of hope but it also shows you that not everything is easy and not everything can be fixed, and I liked that. Even though I did think that the ending was kind of a bit too abrupt, I recognised that unlike a lot of books where I complain about the ending being too easy, this isn't the case here.

Etta makes a new friend called Bianca, who is anorexic, and I loved seeing how the book explored how Etta felt about Bianca, who was everything she wanted and didn't want to be: someone so much skinnier, someone who seemed to have "succeeded" at her eating disorder instead of someone like Etta, who's still kinda chubby despite having an eating disorder. It was a painfully complex subject: how Etta wished she could be like Bianca but at the same time recognised that Bianca was the opposite of what she wanted to be. The book shows how frustrating it is, wanting to get better and not wanting to get better at the same time, how there's no quick fix, how the path towards recovery is long and hard.

I did find it a little annoying though how Etta was constantly going on about how Bianca was only fourteen. I get it. You can stop repeating that. It just seemed Etta was almost babying Bianca at times. She's fourteen! That's only three years younger than you. Stop acting like she's only like, ten.

Etta used to be best friends with Rachel before she got ejected from their friend group for not being gay enough, and Etta doesn't quite know how to reach out to Rachel again. Etta and Rachel's friendship was so beautifully complicated. I love the heavy history behind it all, the way Etta and Rachel grew up together and were always there for each other when no one else was, how their love for each other is so deep and profound and strange, not like a friendship kinda love but not like a romantic kinda love either, but something altogether different, intense and frightening, and how Rachel's actually very selfish and not all that good for Etta and she's holding Etta back because of her own insecurities. I really wanted to see more their friendship, because it was intoxicating, bad and good all at once.

My favourite aspect of this book was definitely Etta's bisexuality and how that was handled. She's very confident about her bisexuality and she talks about it all the time and what it means to her, to be bisexual and ostracised by her friends because she's not gay enough, but she's not straight enough for straight people either. And god, these lines from the book:

Rainbow kids are going to yell “breeder” at me when I’m out with a boy and they’re never going to know I’ve done all the shit that they have. They’re not going to know that I know what it’s like to be gay in goddamn Nebraska.

I almost cried, I could relate to Etta so hard. Because being with a boy doesn't make her any less bisexual. She's still bisexual and she's dated girls and she might date girls again. She's gone through all the things that her lesbian friends have, but the moment she dates a boy, that all becomes invisible to other people. But not to her, because her experiences have shaped who she is, because her past is a part of her identity, because she knows who she is. She's Etta, and she is enough. She is more than enough. It means so much to me to see a bisexual girl as a main character in a book, saying out loud that she's bisexual and telling other people what that means. To see her fight for her dreams, fighting for a better life, for a way out of Nebraska, out of the place where she seems to be the only bisexual for miles. To see her, a black, chubby girl, dancing ballet among all these skinny white girls.

To see Etta Not Otherwise Specified conquering the world when the world doesn't know quite what to make of her and the way she doesn't fit into their preconceptions. That's a sweet, sweet feeling. ...more

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Jan 08, 2015 Katharina rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, favourites, read-harder-2015, bisexuals-exist-yay

"Bisexual, Rachel. I'm bisexual. It's a fucking WORD."

Am I biased in judging this book because it has an actual Bi main character? Absolutely. But that knowledge doesn't make me love it any less. I raced through it in a day (despite being at work for most of that) and I wish I could spend more time in this story, with these people.
I think, reading this book, you're either gonna love Etta and her fierce, non-stop, messy stream-of-consciousness narration or hate it, and it's pretty obvious where ...more

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Jan 17, 2014 Shaun Hutchinson rated it it was amazing

As usual, Hannah kills it. This is the first book of hers I've read with a female narrator, and I have to say that I adored Etta. She was awesome all around. This book hits so many different topics—queerness (Etta is bi), race, eating disorders—but, in my opinion, the most important topic it explores is learning to accept yourself for who you are and follow you're own path.

I would read anything Hannah wrote. ...more

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Jun 11, 2014 Celine rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc

If you're looking for a diverse book, look no further. Not Otherwise Specified is the picture of diversity, including a black bisexual main character, gay side characters, an asian, lesbian former best friend, religious side characters, and eating disorders.

Etta, our main character, feels like she doesn't really belong anywhere. Due to a recent relationship with a boy, her former group of lesbian friends has cast her out. She once was bulimic, but is well on the way to recovery, in contrast to If you're looking for a diverse book, look no further. Not Otherwise Specified is the picture of diversity, including a black bisexual main character, gay side characters, an asian, lesbian former best friend, religious side characters, and eating disorders.

Etta, our main character, feels like she doesn't really belong anywhere. Due to a recent relationship with a boy, her former group of lesbian friends has cast her out. She once was bulimic, but is well on the way to recovery, in contrast to some of the members of her guidance group. She loves ballet, but doesn't look like a ballerina: she's too chubby, too black (unfortunately, most ballerinas are very much white), too much curves where there should be straight lines.

Throughout the book, though, she starts finding her place in the world. She learns who are true friends and where her passions lie, and that she can excel at certain things. Moskowitz subtly let Etta grow into a more grown-up version of herself. Though I immensely loved that growth, Etta had my heart from the start. She tells it like it is: she's straightforward and not ashamed of anything. She's tough, but not perfect: sometimes she makes mistakes, sometimes she doubts herself, sometimes she falls back into not very healthy habits. She was just such a real person.

Moskowitz also shows the struggles of being "different" from the norm. Basically, everyone who isn't a straight white male faces a struggle, some more often that others.

If I end up marrying a guy, what the hell queer community is ever going to want me?

Etta has doubts, she struggles with herself and the world sometimes. Not Otherwise Specified is really about problems and learning to face them, to handle them. It's about finding out what you really want in life and pursuing that dream until it becomes reality. It's about acceptance, both of yourself and others. And above all, it was just really, really good.

The focus with Etta's difficulties lies mainly with her sexuality (and figuring out what she wants). However, there's also a large focus on eating disorders. Etta herself has more or less recovered from her bulimia, but her newfound friend Bianca isn't nearly there yet when it comes to her anorexia. I thought it was handled really well, and I loved how Moskowitz focused on recovery and hope, though it never got unbelievably sappy and sunshine-y. There were ups and downs, but the final message is one of hope, and I loved that.

In all: highly recommended. Not Otherwise Specified is another gem by Hannah Moskowitz. It was written really well, with believable characters, problems many people will be able to relate to, and a whole lot of diversity.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for the review copy! ...more

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May 06, 2015 Aurora Dimitre rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, hey-bro-diversity, lgbt-main-characters, liferuiners, may-2015

What I love the most about Hannah Moskowitz books is that they make me feel . And I'm not talking wincing when something bad happens, I'm talking, the book ends and my heart feels like it's not there, like there's just a cavity in my chest and I can't breathe and even if there's a happy ending just the mix of the absolute glory that is the writing and the absolute reality that encompasses the characters that just - makes me feel .

I didn't honestly know if I'd be able to write a review for this What I love the most about Hannah Moskowitz books is that they make me feel . And I'm not talking wincing when something bad happens, I'm talking, the book ends and my heart feels like it's not there, like there's just a cavity in my chest and I can't breathe and even if there's a happy ending just the mix of the absolute glory that is the writing and the absolute reality that encompasses the characters that just - makes me feel .

I didn't honestly know if I'd be able to write a review for this. There are parts of it that hit really close to home, and i didn't know if I'd have to just rate it five stars and scram, or if I could do this. But I think I can do this. So let's start out with a quick little plot synopsis, later to fall into unorganized rambling.

The book's about Etta, a bisexual black girl with an eating disorder, and her attempts to get into this musical theater school. She's got a lot of problems - one of them being that, since she's bisexual, she obviously likes dudes as well as chicks, and her former little clique sort of viewed it as betrayal when she had a relationship with one. And so - she's got her problems.

One thing that I really love about Moskowitz is that she really just - gets people. She just gets people. The way that she writes people and their struggles and their relationships is just amazing. She writes these amazing, flawed characters that are just super relatable and leave you with that empty feeling in your chest because you just love them so much.

And Etta. I really - I really liked her. She was one of those characters that I could relate to. I've had kind of a... strange track record when it comes to relating to characters, because some of them don't really seem to match up, like, at all, and I can pinpoint reasons for some of them - for example, I relate to Sawyer from Fall from Grace because his actions seem perfectly logical to me and I'd do the exact same thing, yo - but for some of them I have no clue why I connect to them so much - Seth from More Than This comes to mind. But Etta was...

Yeah.

This was a good one. ...more

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Mar 22, 2017 Alexandra Tiller rated it did not like it

Someone hates lesbians, wow

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Apr 05, 2015 ♫✯Em loves Hollenstein✯♫❤the summertime and butterflies all belong to your creation❤ rated it it was ok

Shelves: a-bit-iffy-content, annoying-main-characters, big-sisters, bitching-and-backstabbing, bitchy-bffs, breakups-and-makeups, cat-fights, bffness, cheating-and-lies, cheesy-but-cute-ending

reaction after reading:
Eh. Nothing special
Mason was just there for Etta to have sex with, James was cool, Etta was annoying as fuck, Bianca was sad.
Rachel and Ettas relationship was fucking weird. They were best friends who Etta was sort of in love with they had sex tons, then fell out, became friends again and then Etta goes all 'who cares that I have feelings for her and we've been friends since forever, I'm leaving her behind, fuck this'
In fact, 'fuck this' is pretty much Ettas whole attitud reaction after reading:
Eh. Nothing special
Mason was just there for Etta to have sex with, James was cool, Etta was annoying as fuck, Bianca was sad.
Rachel and Ettas relationship was fucking weird. They were best friends who Etta was sort of in love with they had sex tons, then fell out, became friends again and then Etta goes all 'who cares that I have feelings for her and we've been friends since forever, I'm leaving her behind, fuck this'
In fact, 'fuck this' is pretty much Ettas whole attitude towards everything. :/

FULL REVIEW:

I picked up this book expecting, I don't know, a story of friendship. And that's mostly what I got.
It was a nice (if not flimsy) friendship and getting better story, but it didn't really do much for me.
On one hand, I liked that we had a bisexual narrator. There are many (actually, most) YA books about straight girls, and some about lesbians- but rarely do we get a bisexual narrator. So many people don't "get" or "believe in" bisexuality, and this book definitely shows you it's a "real" thing. (sorry, I "love" doing that)
I also did like Bianca's getting better story, it was very uplifting. The side story with James, Bianca's brother, being gay and Bianca trying to accept that (being from a religious upbringing) was a complex part of the book, too.
I liked that Etta chased her dreams, and eventually realised that her best friend, Rachel, wasn't that good for her- they had such a weird relationship. It was obvious that they had feelings for each other, and it mentioned that they'd slept together on numerous occasions, yet they didn't ever officially get together.
I didn't like Etta's attitude for most of the book- she calls herself a "slut", she complains about everything- I mean, sure, she had a hard time but lemons make lemonade, you know?

She was way too hard on herself. It was hard to not feel sorry for her when her ex-friends started bullying her, though.

I didn't like that she used Mason, James' friend, when she knew full well that he liked her more than she liked him. She led him on, when it was clear she wasn't over her ex, Danielle, or her best friend, Rachel.
I didn't like that at first she was willing to just date girls so her friends would like her again. I didn't like that she was bullied- severely, in fact, Natasha was physically violent towards her, and Etta was locked in a bathroom by her old friends- and never got help from anyone. It gave the message that if you ignore bullying it goes away, and that is NOT a message teens should be hearing.
I was glad that Etta got some self-confidence back by the end, realised she was a curve and not a line, got into a dance school, and everything, but lots was left not completed.
The book was pretty much what I expected- not bad, but nothing special.
...more

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Mar 20, 2015 Frederique Courard-Hauri rated it did not like it

Shelves: read-in-2015

I really wanted to like this book. There aren't many YA novels that deal with bisexuality or the misunderstanding of bisexuality in both the gay and straight communities. But there were too many fact and stylistic faults to make this book a success.

First the fact issues: Nebraska in January is cold and most often snowy. Hanging out in cornfields, barefoot, is just not realistic. Then, I don't believe evangelical Christians (at least, that's what was implied in the novel) would have alcohol in th I really wanted to like this book. There aren't many YA novels that deal with bisexuality or the misunderstanding of bisexuality in both the gay and straight communities. But there were too many fact and stylistic faults to make this book a success.

First the fact issues: Nebraska in January is cold and most often snowy. Hanging out in cornfields, barefoot, is just not realistic. Then, I don't believe evangelical Christians (at least, that's what was implied in the novel) would have alcohol in their house; and even if they did, it certainly wouldn't be freely accessible to a 14 year old. Also, to have a "reasonable" 17-year-old ask another 17-yo if she's slept with a 14-yo "yet" seems absolutely implausible to me -- sex is sex, heterosexual or not. Lastly, the school (or at least some of the faculty) have a sense that there is bullying going on, but other than one general assembly mentioned in passing, I find it curious that nobody takes this more seriously. This book needed a much stronger hand from the Editing Department; too bad the publisher didn't take its job more seriously here.

Stylistically, throughout the novel we are told rather than shown. Other than bowing their heads once at a meal, how do we know that Bianca and James are from a strict Christian family? Etta tells us that Bianca is working through the conflicting opinions of her church and her heart when it comes to her brother, but we don't see it. Race seems to be a fill in the blank for the characters: Etta is black -- but other than having dreads, would we know this? How about the fact that Rachel is Asian? Mentioned once, then dropped -- not even subsequent descriptions of Rachel have her seem like anything other than another rich white girl.

Lastly, I would like to note that although early on Etta tells us that a frustrating aspect of being bisexual is that everybody thinks you have lots of sex with lots of people, what the book shows us is a young person who has: lots of sex with lots of people. And who uses young men to fill a temporary need, but who has no problems ignoring these young men when she no longer needs them.

I applaud the author for thinking about incorporating bisexuality in a YA novel. But I'm still waiting for a good novel about this issue.

...more

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Feb 16, 2015 Ceilidh rated it really liked it

There are few writers out there with the talent and focus of Moskowitz, and Not Otherwise Specified is a vibrant and fully realised portrait of a woman who is complex, prickly, ambitious, scared, self-deprecating, brave and altogether entirely human. Character pieces this beautifully done are hard to come by in any category of fiction.

4.5 stars.

Read the full review at Bibliodaze.

http://bibliodaze.com/2015/02/review-... ...more

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Jun 27, 2014 TheBlueBookworm marked it as to-read

Shelves: ya, to-be-released, lgbtqia, poc-characters, comtemporary

POC bisexual main character? YES!

This is one book I def can't wait for.

(view spoiler) ["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]> ...more

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Dec 13, 2015 vicky. rated it it was amazing

AAAAHHHH THIS BOOK MAKES MY LITTLE BISEXUAL HEART SO HAPPY
CONTEMPORARY AT ITS FINEST

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Nov 01, 2014 Jen • Just One More Page rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: stunning-covers, stand-alones, young-adult, contemporary, lgbtqia, realistic-fiction, netgalley-edelweiss, favorites, mental-illness-and-health, female-authors

This review is also posted on my blog.

I received a copy free from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

(view spoiler) ...more

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Jun 16, 2014 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: egalley, on-my-shelves, owned-print-copy, owned-ebook-other

For more reviews, gifs, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.

Not Otherwise Specified was my third Hannah Moskowitz novel, so I thought I knew what to expect. I liked the other two. Not Otherwise Specified, though, has this totally unfortunate cover compared to the others, and I don’t know. Basically, my body was not ready for the emotional impact this book had on me. Moskowitz blew my mind with this one, making me laugh and even cry.

The thing about this book is that I’m sort of surpr For more reviews, gifs, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.

Not Otherwise Specified was my third Hannah Moskowitz novel, so I thought I knew what to expect. I liked the other two. Not Otherwise Specified, though, has this totally unfortunate cover compared to the others, and I don’t know. Basically, my body was not ready for the emotional impact this book had on me. Moskowitz blew my mind with this one, making me laugh and even cry.

The thing about this book is that I’m sort of surprised I loved it so much. I mean, it’s written in this stream of consciousness style, which, let me just tell you, is very much not my thing. I’ve had a lot of bad experiences with it, because it generally feels very artificial or like the author was on a lot of drugs. That’s not the case with Not Otherwise Specified. Pretty much immediately, I was caught up in that VOICE. Etta’s voice is vibrant and real and she felt one hundred percent real to me.

My heart ached for Etta throughout this book. She’s a black, bisexual former ballerina struggling with an eating disorder in Nebraska. She’s the very definition of not fitting in, but also fitting in too much. What Etta hates more than anything is that she’s not otherwise specified. She can identify herself as having an eating disorder and as being bisexual, but everyone still puts her in these boxes. She hates that she doesn’t qualify by the technical definitions as anorexic, which just makes her feel like more of a failure, even more out of control, the same reason she gave up ballet which she loves so much.

You’re not supposed to look at a girl’s body when she dances, not in that way. She’s supposed to be unobtrusive. She’s supposed to just be part of the music, and here I come in all attention-grabbing and ETTAETTAETTA and you can make that sound as awesome and special0snowflakey as you want but at the end of the day that’s not what people want ballerinas to be.

Etta sums herself up so well with this quote. She’s vibrant, full of life, and charismatic as hell. However, she tries so hard to fit in, like she did with the Dykes, her group of lesbian friends, who ejected her when she dated a guy, despite the fact she always said she was bi. She tried to be the ballerina that everyone wanted, but became so obsessed with control and how her body was wrong that she developed an eating disorder. Not Otherwise Specified is partially the story of Etta coming to terms with her Ettaness.

A big part of Not Otherwise Specified is about friendship. Friends, even when they love you, can be bad for you. Etta loved the Dykes, but they’ve turned on her and are bullying her. Even so, she kind of wants them back. It’s hard for her to let go, especially of Rachel. She makes a new group of friends through an audition for Brentwood Academy, a school for theater. They still all make mistakes with one another, but the difference between the friendship dynamics is stark.

Not Otherwise Specified gets dark. I mean, the issues are really heavy, but that’s counteracted by Etta’s voice, which is so full of life and humor. Etta doesn’t let things get her down for long; she’s really sweet and optimistic. She sticks up for people and cares so hard. Yes, it hurts, and I marked a lot of quotes for how much they saddened me but also struck this really honest chord. The ending, though, made me happy cry for the progress that’s being made.

I fucking loved this book. I think it’s beautiful and important. READ IT READ IT READ IT. ...more

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Oct 03, 2014 Sam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: e-reads, arc-reviews, books-i-own

Huge thank you to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for this ARC!

This book wasn't entirely on my radar at all, despite having heard good things about Hannah Moskowitz's writing. It was actually seeing Courtney Summers' tweets about the book that made me intrigued to check this book out. It's a shame that this book doesn't release until next year, but having now read it, I wish it would be coming sooner so you all can experience how thoughtful and smart this novel in.

Etta isn't the most likeable protagon Huge thank you to Simon Pulse and Edelweiss for this ARC!

This book wasn't entirely on my radar at all, despite having heard good things about Hannah Moskowitz's writing. It was actually seeing Courtney Summers' tweets about the book that made me intrigued to check this book out. It's a shame that this book doesn't release until next year, but having now read it, I wish it would be coming sooner so you all can experience how thoughtful and smart this novel in.

Etta isn't the most likeable protagonist, but I found her completely charming. Like the title states, she's "Not Otherwise Specified" and has no place to truly call her own. She's not butch enough for the lesbian clique (and is in fact, bullied by this group for hooking up with a dude), she's not tiny enough to continue ballet with the same passion she once had, and she's not sick enough to be anorexic. However, it's meeting someone who is, in a lot of ways, her exact opposite, and that is what really gets the story moving.

I actually love both Etta and Bianca. I love Bianca because she is someone who means so well and yet she struggles with her own imperfections. Etta wears her imperfections loud and proud, yet she can't seem to catch a break with anything in her life. Despite being snarky and sassy, Etta struggles in a lot of ways to love herself, and that really is the main connection the two girls have. It made me love their relationship throughout the story because even when they didn't agree with one another, there was this air of understanding between them. I also love how the two girls are constantly teaching each other about friendship, privileges and hardship. It made for great characterization and strong story telling.

Also Natasha was horrid, but did not read like she was a one-dimensional kind of horrid. It's interesting that she's the lead bully and yet Etta always can get under her skin and strikes back. We need more of this in YA, the push back, the "I'm not afraid." Why isn't there more of this? Seriously, we need this so much in YA. We do, we do, we do.

There is an intense amount of richness in this story, and one I could go on about forever, but that would likely spoil this book. If you love wonderfully flawed protagonists and gritty contemporary, then this must be checked out when it releases next March. As for me? I now plan to check out more of Hannah Moskowitz's books. ...more

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Dec 13, 2019 Kara Babcock rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-read, from-library, friendship, young-adult

Longtime Twitter follower of Hannah Moskowitz, first time reader. Why did I pick Not Otherwise Specified? No idea! This was the one that came up and got added to my to-read list. No regrets.

Trigger warning, obviously, for discussions of eating disorder and weight loss. Also for use of potential queer slurs, bullying, and depictions of controlling/manipulative behaviour from friends.

Etta Sinclair is a Black, bisexual girl at an all-girls school. Her decision to date (and then subsequently break u ...more

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About Hannah Moskowitz

Hannah Moskowitz

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Hannah Moskowitz wrote her first story, about a kitten named Lilly on the run from cat hunters, for a contest when she was seven years old. It was disqualified for violence. Her first book, BREAK, was on the ALA's 2010 list of Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults, and in 2013, GONE, GONE, GONE received a Stonewall Honor. 2015's NOT OTHERWISE SPECIFIED was named the YA Bisexual Book of the Year. She ...more

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“I’ve applied to Brentwood every semester since I was a freshman. My mom fought me on it at first, but I think at this point she’s resigned herself to the fact that I’m never going to get in, so she just signs the forms without arguing. I mean, it’s Brentwood, so to get accepted you not only have to dance like you’re in Black Swan and belt out a B over high C like it’s a middle G and cry on cue through a memorized six thousand lines of Shakespeare, but you have to do it all at once, while having a 4.0 and forking over a hundred thousand dollars and giving the admissions director a blow job, apparently, but once you’re in, you’re in, it’s Brentwood then Juilliard then fame and fortune, and even if not, it’s New York City, baby, and the most important part of this equation is Brooklyn Bridge at midnight and tiny dogs in Chelsea and the Staten Island Ferry and that ex-girlfriend (don’t think about that, should I think about that?) and the answer to the goddamn equation is the absolute value of not Nebraska.” — 2 likes

“I go both ways", I say, "You know that whole thing about there being a misconception about bisexuals being sluts. Like everyone thinks that just because we're into both we're into everybody?" ... "Well I'm actually kind of a slut. I'm awesome for the community, obviously” — 1 likes

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