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The Other Me

Suzanne van Rooyen (Goodreads Author)

3.96 · Rating details · 68 ratings · 18 reviews

Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott thinks she's an alien. She doesn’t fit in with the preppy South African private school crowd and feels claustrophobic in her own skin. Treasa is worried she might spend life as a social pariah when she meets Gabriel du Preez. Gabriel plays the piano better than Beethoven, has a black belt in karate, and would look good wearing a garbage ...more

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Paperback, 216 pages

Published December 19th 2013 by Harmony Ink Press LLC (first published December 18th 2013)

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Nov 21, 2013 Tracey (Life and Literature) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

"Do you know what it's like to live every day feeling trapped, feeling cheated by God and biology? Nobody asked me if I wanted this body." I grab at my boobs, wishing I could tear them right off. "Every day-" My voice cracks, and a new onslaught of tears threatens to wreck my complexion. "Every day, I wish I'd never been born, because then I wouldn't have to live this lie."

You know how sometimes you can start reading a book, and despite it being a fantastic and engrossing read, it can feel "Do you know what it's like to live every day feeling trapped, feeling cheated by God and biology? Nobody asked me if I wanted this body." I grab at my boobs, wishing I could tear them right off. "Every day-" My voice cracks, and a new onslaught of tears threatens to wreck my complexion. "Every day, I wish I'd never been born, because then I wouldn't have to live this lie."

You know how sometimes you can start reading a book, and despite it being a fantastic and engrossing read, it can feel like you've read it before because of the subject matter? Well, The Other Me is a fantastic read. It is a book that completely drags you into the story and it is so completely original and unique that you will never once feel like it's been done before. And that's because I've never read a book based around this subject before.

At some stage in our lives we all experiment with the way we look, the clothes we wear and how we wear our hair. Imagine doing all of that because the body that you are in feels so completely foreign to you. Fifteen year old Treasa Prescott feels like an alien. An alien living in the body of a girl. Then she meets Gabriel du Preez and she is instantly drawn to him. She thinks he's perfect. But Gabriel is fighting some pretty heavy demons of his own and he believes that he doesn't deserve someone like Treasa. But he can't seem to get her out of his head. When their secrets are revealed how will they both deal with the very real and deep feelings that they have both developed?

He smiles, and not even the sunshine parting the clouds or the rainbow hanging in the sky comes close to the radiance of his expression.

I love books written in dual point of view. The ultimate way to get to know both main characters on a deeper level. Being able to get a true feeling for what they are experiencing allows a much greater connection and understanding of not just the characters, but also the story. And The Other Me allowed me, as the reader to feel both characters pain. I didn't expect to be so taken in by this story and it's characters. But the things that they were both dealing with pulled at my heart. It ached for them. Going through your teenage years can be hard at the best of times, but Treasa and Gabriel are dealing with so much on top of the norm.

I loved Suzanne Van Rooyen's writing style. It made reading her words so easy. Her characters came across as incredibly real. Add all of that into the uniqueness of the stories subject and The Other Me turned out to be a book that I absolutely loved. So much in fact that I would love to read more of these characters. I would love to see how Treasa deals with all the changes she will be going through. I would love to see the deeper development of the friendship between Gabriel and Tristan. And I would love to be there as Gabriel and his Dad repair their relationship.

My only negative, if you could even call it that, was that I felt the end wrapped up too quickly. But aside from that, if you are looking for a Young Adult contemporary, with a storyline that hasn't been done before, then I couldn't recommend The Other Me highly enough.

4.5/5 Original Stars. ...more

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Jul 17, 2014 Inked Reads rated it it was amazing

Shelves: trans

*Copy given for Honest Review*

This is a fairly quick read, as it's young adult and not long. It's relatively fast-paced, as I expected. The YA genre and length should not be deterrents for anyone interested in the subject, however. This was hands-down one of the best works of YA queer fiction I've ever read.

It is the story of a South African trans teenager, though it is also in part a love story. Not merely in the romantic sense (though there's a bit of that too) but in a general sense, *Copy given for Honest Review*

This is a fairly quick read, as it's young adult and not long. It's relatively fast-paced, as I expected. The YA genre and length should not be deterrents for anyone interested in the subject, however. This was hands-down one of the best works of YA queer fiction I've ever read.

It is the story of a South African trans teenager, though it is also in part a love story. Not merely in the romantic sense (though there's a bit of that too) but in a general sense, including self-acceptance and love between friends or family members. Most people, not only teenagers, would be able to relate to the themes of feeling like an outsider and of being trapped in a life or body that feel wrong.

The first thing that impressed me was that it's about a trans boy. More often than not, trans fiction focuses on people living their authentic lives as girls/women. Of the several YA tans-themed books I've read previously, all were about trans girls. The second thing of note is that it's told mainly from Treasa's perspective and with Treasa's feelings about actually being a boy. Other books have told trans stories mainly from the perspective of lovers or family members. Finally, the last thing that stood out was that Treasa is also not straight. Again, the vast majority of my previous readings have involved trans people who are presumed gay until they transition, but Treasa maintains a preference for boys throughout.

Another aspect to Treasa's identity as a gay boy is that often, trans stories are incredibly binary. In other words, someone "proves" to be a "real" boy because of a love for sports and typically masculine pursuits and interests. Treasa is, even as a boy, still somewhat gender-non-conforming. I appreciate that the author didn't go overboard to assure us just how much of a boy Treasa truly is.

Those things alone make the book an absorbing read. In addition, the two main point-of-view characters, Treasa and Gabriel, are both very different from the teenagers who populate many YA novels. They both have secrets and things about which they feel hurt and shame, however, both are highly sympathetic characters. They are the sort of people who feel like friends after reading their stories. Characters are always my favorite part of any story, and I found myself drawn to both of them.

The only things about which I had any concerns are a few minor implications. First, Treasa muses that it must not be normal for a girl to want to write fan fiction about two boys. It's hard to tell whether this is the author's view as well or whether Treasa just feels like an "alien" already that everything is suspect.

My other concern was that Gabriel insists throughout the book that his few very minor gender-non-conforming behaviors (mainly music and nail polish) don't make him gay. But he does it to the point that I couldn't help wondering who he was trying to convince--himself or the reader. Again, it was hard to tell if this was the author's insertion of her views or genuinely part of his character, an unwillingness to question his own sexuality. This becomes particularly important towards the end of the story.

These concerns are not reasons to dislike the book. On the contrary, they provide excellent talking points. Rather than making assumptions about the author's intent or rejecting the book for perceived flaws, we should have open dialog about what those things mean.

Overall, I rank this as one of my all-time favorite YA books. Despite the fact that I'm well past the target age and rarely read the genre, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone who has adolescents, in part because the beginning of empathy is understanding. Provided the book is still in print, I fully plan to make sure my kids read it when they are older.

I give this book 4.5 stars.

~Amy ...more

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Dec 01, 2013 Mtsnow13 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-star-reads, contemporary, dsp-proof, harmonyinkpress, less-than-200-pages, young-adult, transgender, musician-band-rocker, dark, own-read

When I read this book back in December of 2013, I absolutely fell in love with the storytelling style of this author. It was done in alternating POVs of both Gabriel and Treasa, and was really nice to 'get in their heads' so to speak. And the fact there was a glossary at the beginning of the book, well, it came in real handy, as I was VERY unfamiliar with the Afrikaans way of life and terminology.

Gender Dysphoria. What is it? Is it something we should know about, or better yet, how will it make ...more

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Dec 04, 2013 Lola rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: e-books-on-kobo, books-that-i-own, got-a-copy-for-review-reviewed

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review

I really liked the sound of the blurb, but I never expected to like it as much as I did. I really like this authors writing style and as soon as I started this book I just couldn't stop reading it. The story totally captured my attention. The story is fresh and original and the author captures those teenager feelings of feeling left out so well. I could totally relate to Treasa, even though she has different problems, those feelings of being I received a copy in exchange for an honest review

I really liked the sound of the blurb, but I never expected to like it as much as I did. I really like this authors writing style and as soon as I started this book I just couldn't stop reading it. The story totally captured my attention. The story is fresh and original and the author captures those teenager feelings of feeling left out so well. I could totally relate to Treasa, even though she has different problems, those feelings of being alone and misunderstood are feelings I struggled with when I was a teenager as well. I loved how well Suzanne captured those feelings and wrote this story without being afraid to handle the difficult topics.

I really liked the characters and how real they felt, for some reason I love it in contemporary romance books when the character feel real. They acted realistic and I enjoyed learning more asbout these two troubled teenagers. The two point of view thing really worked for this story and gives the reader both Treasa and Gabriel their point of view. Both have their issues, but I really liked both of them and understood why they acted the way they did. While dealing with some serious topics, it managed to have enough light and funny moments as well.

I really liked the romance in this book. The ending was a bit too open for my taste, while on the one hand it was a great ending, I also wanted more. I grew to like these characters and I just wanted to know what would happen next.

There are some south african words thrown in, but as the language looks a lot like Dutch (my mother language) I didn't have much difficulty understanding the words and I liked how this book was set in a country i've never read about, although there wasn't much focus on the setting I still liked it.

To conclude: I really enjoyed The Other Me and once I started it I didn't want to put it down. I really like Suzanne her writing style and I loved how well she wrote about difficult issues and managed to write those feelings of feeling alone and different so well. The ending was great, although a bit too open for my taste. The romance was done well. The Other Me is one of the most fresh and original Young Adult contemporary romances I read in a while! ...more

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Mar 02, 2014 Myra (Pieces of Whimsy) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: e-book, for-review

Review first published on my blog, Pieces of Whimsy.

4.5/5

This book is a great new contemporary read, so different from everything else that's out there, and it is brilliant! Suzanne van Rooyen does a brilliant job of crafting a story that is not only entertaining and engaging, but interesting and unique too.

There are several important issues that were brought up in this book, one of which I haven't come across before: gender dysphoria. Not to get too technical but basically one of the main ...more

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Dec 27, 2013 H T rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Finally a teenage girl I can relate to, and not a school drama full of candy floss and makeup!

The Other Me tells a story of Treasa, alien to her own body, and Gabriel, the troubled multi-talent boy. Discussing their feelings and fears makes this book interesting on multiple levels: Nobody is perfect and you should not fear what you feel inside. The musical and school related themes bind the story well together to a believable teenager scenario one can truly relate to. You find yourself cheering ...more

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Jan 30, 2014 Nerine Dorman rated it it was amazing

Every once in a while I encounter a novel that has so much resonance that I feel as if author Suzanne van Rooyen has written the book with just me in mind. The Other Me is such a story. Set in South Africa, this novel is told from the perspectives of two teenagers at a time of their lives when they are coming to terms with aspects of their selves.

See the full review at http://yougottaread.com/review-the-ot...

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Jan 23, 2014 B. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I was expecting something completely different than I read, but I'm glad I was wrong. The Other Me focuses on a girl named Treasa who suffers from Gender Dysphoria. The author, I think, did a good job making the reader feel Treasa's confusion and feelings of being abnormal as she struggles to fit in as a teenager, but also as a boy. Really great read!

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Dec 20, 2013 Amy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-them

Hoping for a sequel with these boys in the future.

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Feb 05, 2014 Liralen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: africa, fiction, lgbtq, ya, z-2017, reviewed, a-ku

Nicely intersecting stories here—Treasa* trying to understand her feelings towards her body and Gabriel struggling with the loss of his mother, while they also have a fledgling sort-of romance. I love that van Rooyen made a point to separate gender and sexuality here, and that there's a limit to how much Treasa and Gabriel's stories have to do with each other. I wish it had gone on a bit further, because Treasa in particular seems to really only be getting to the beginning of the journey by the ...more

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Nov 30, 2016 Sieran rated it really liked it

Shelves: same-gender-romances, transgender-romances

Wow, this was lovely! The chapters on Treasa doing experiments to see if she's an alien are so cute and funny. They were kind of tongue in cheek.

Gabriel was really a guy with flaws, and sometimes some of the things he says makes me frown. But ultimately, I like him as a person. Not only does he have "redeeming qualities," I truly liked how, as we can see from his perspective, we understand his struggles and how he arrives at his conclusions. (view spoiler) Wow, this was lovely! The chapters on Treasa doing experiments to see if she's an alien are so cute and funny. They were kind of tongue in cheek.

Gabriel was really a guy with flaws, and sometimes some of the things he says makes me frown. But ultimately, I like him as a person. Not only does he have "redeeming qualities," I truly liked how, as we can see from his perspective, we understand his struggles and how he arrives at his conclusions. (view spoiler)

Those excerpts of Treasa's fanfic starring Resa and Tristan, were fabulous and I always enjoyed reading them! But honestly, when Treasa felt that what she wrote was appallingly erotic, I laughed because I've seen stuff much more explicit than that. What she wrote was pretty mild to me, haha. (view spoiler)

As for Treasa herself, I found her very relatable, and her experiences were very poignant. (view spoiler)

About other things, though Jordan is a supportive and good friend, I found that I didn't like her that much...but I don't know why. (view spoiler)

The parents of Treasa and Gabriel were pretty interesting. Aside from maybe awesome Treasa's dad and lovely Gabriel's mom, they were neither "all good" or "all bad." Sometimes we might feel that Gabe's dad or even Resa's mom are villains, yet they have good sides too, and you understand why they acted in those terrible ways. Still, I appreciate how the not-so-great things they did weren't minimized or forgotten about either. It felt like an even-handed approach!

Another aspect I enjoyed about this story, (view spoiler) ...more

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Jul 02, 2015 Riki rated it liked it

Shelves: 2015-reading-challenge

Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott thinks she’s an alien. All signs in her carefully executed experiments lead to this conclusion since she clearly doesn’t fit in with the other preppy South African private school kids she attends classes with. She feels claustrophobic in her own skin, constantly questioning herself. When Treasa meets amazing Gabriel dr Preez, she thinks he is perfect. Treasa grows increasingly concerned when what she thinks is love for Gabriel turns into a deep longing to just be
Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott thinks she’s an alien. All signs in her carefully executed experiments lead to this conclusion since she clearly doesn’t fit in with the other preppy South African private school kids she attends classes with. She feels claustrophobic in her own skin, constantly questioning herself. When Treasa meets amazing Gabriel dr Preez, she thinks he is perfect. Treasa grows increasingly concerned when what she thinks is love for Gabriel turns into a deep longing to just be him. Suddenly she is less sure that she’s an alien and more sure that she’s been born into the wrong gender’s body. Together Treasa and Gabriel battle dark secrets and find a way to live authentically.

This was a really interesting look at gender dysphoria. Treasa has the physical appearance and body of a female, but is emotionally and spiritually male. Her confusion and pain is evident throughout, as she fights to find a reason for why she feels so different in her own skin.

I felt like the book started off really slow and took awhile to really get into the flow, which was really too bad, because once it does, it gets really good. It is written in dual POV, switching between Treasa and Gabriel, and I loved that the author really gave us a good look at both teen’s stories.

The last half of the book moves at a much quicker pace than the first and when it finally gets down to the nitty gritty of the story, I was intrigued. Unfortunately it wandered quite a bit along the way and then ended a little abruptly for me. I had just really gotten into the characters when all of a sudden it was over. I wanted to see much more of Treasa’s emotions and thought processes once she accepts the fact that she is actually male.

This book is a captivating look at acceptance and looking past outward appearances, with wonderful themes of redemption and forgiveness. The Other Me tackles the tough topic of gender dysphoria with grace and compassion, giving readers a look into what it really feels like to live in a body that feels foreign to you.
...more

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May 03, 2014 GayListBookReviews rated it liked it

A great story for a young adult with gender dysphoria, the author expresses Treasa's emotions and thoughts to her gender well and Treasa's circumstances, opening up to friends and family and the general difficulties with acceptance and understanding from those friends and family.

Treasa is a typical teenager, pushing boundaries, watching favourite tv shows, writing fan-fiction, listen to music and trying to have fun. Whilst Treasa has a difficult time understanding herself she realises it is her ...more

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Feb 12, 2014 Kaarna rated it liked it

Shelves: lgbtiq, transhahmo-sis-tulkitut

I have really contradictory feelings about this novel. On one hand, it felt way too long, but on the other, I thought it didn't get to the point until the very end. Reading from the back cover that one of the main characters "wants to be a boy" (I'm quoting because it's a problematic phrase, but it's the one the character/author used), and having been recommended this book as a YA novel with a trans main character, the huge plot twist wasn't really a plot twist at all, and that was a bit ...more

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Jan 29, 2015 A.M. Leibowitz rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5-star, favorite-authors, favorites, bi, fiction, gender, inked-review, trans, ya

This is a fairly quick read, as it’s young adult and not long. It’s relatively fast-paced, as I expected. The YA genre and length should not be deterrents for anyone interested in the subject, however. This was hands-down one of the best works of YA queer fiction I’ve ever read.

It is the story of a South African trans teenager, though it is also in part a love story. Not merely in the romantic sense (though there’s a bit of that too) but in a general sense, including self-acceptance and love This is a fairly quick read, as it’s young adult and not long. It’s relatively fast-paced, as I expected. The YA genre and length should not be deterrents for anyone interested in the subject, however. This was hands-down one of the best works of YA queer fiction I’ve ever read.

It is the story of a South African trans teenager, though it is also in part a love story. Not merely in the romantic sense (though there’s a bit of that too) but in a general sense, including self-acceptance and love between friends or family members. Most people, not only teenagers, would be able to relate to the themes of feeling like an outsider and of being trapped in a life or body that feel wrong.

The first thing that impressed me was that it’s about a trans boy. More often than not, trans fiction focuses on people living their authentic lives as girls/women. Of the several YA tans-themed books I’ve read previously, all were about trans girls. The second thing of note is that it’s told mainly from Treasa’s perspective and with Treasa’s feelings about actually being a boy. Other books have told trans stories mainly from the perspective of lovers or family members. Finally, the last thing that stood out was that Treasa is also not straight. Again, the vast majority of my previous readings have involved trans people who are presumed gay until they transition, but Treasa maintains a preference for boys throughout.

Another aspect to Treasa’s identity as a gay boy is that often, trans stories are incredibly binary. In other words, someone “proves” to be a “real” boy because of a love for sports and typically masculine pursuits and interests. Treasa is, even as a boy, still somewhat gender-non-conforming. I appreciate that the author didn’t go overboard to assure us just how much of a boy Treasa truly is.

Those things alone make the book an absorbing read. In addition, the two main point-of-view characters, Treasa and Gabriel, are both very different from the teenagers who populate many YA novels. They both have secrets and things about which they feel hurt and shame, however, both are highly sympathetic characters. They are the sort of people who feel like friends after reading their stories. Characters are always my favorite part of any story, and I found myself drawn to both of them.

The only things about which I had any concerns are a few minor implications. First, Treasa muses that it must not be normal for a girl to want to write fan fiction about two boys. It’s hard to tell whether this is the author’s view as well or whether Treasa just feels like an “alien” already that everything is suspect.

My other concern was that Gabriel insists throughout the book that his few very minor gender-non-conforming behaviors (mainly music and nail polish) don’t make him gay. But he does it to the point that I couldn’t help wondering who he was trying to convince–himself or the reader. Again, it was hard to tell if this was the author’s insertion of her views or genuinely part of his character, an unwillingness to question his own sexuality. This becomes particularly important towards the end of the story.

These concerns are not reasons to dislike the book. On the contrary, they provide excellent talking points. Rather than making assumptions about the author’s intent or rejecting the book for perceived flaws, we should have open dialog about what those things mean.

Overall, I rank this as one of my all-time favorite YA books. Despite the fact that I’m well past the target age and rarely read the genre, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I recommend it to anyone who has adolescents, in part because the beginning of empathy is understanding. Provided the book is still in print, I fully plan to make sure my kids read it when they are older. ...more

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Jun 05, 2015 Cassidy rated it really liked it

Reading this book I started to understand what people with hey fever go through. I was constantly crying and it wasn't that the whole book was sad but more that everything seemed to add to the tragedy of her life. Starting from somewhere around the middle of the book I couldn't hold back my tears. I was reading and my tears kept blurring my vision.

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Jun 16, 2014 Beckey rated it really liked it

Shelves: glbt-teen, blog-reviews, young-adult-teen-reads

A Guest review of this book can be seen on my blog on 6/17/14. A Friend went BEA and received a complimentary copy of the book. She asked to be a guest reviewer of my blog

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Harmony Ink Press: The Other Me by Suzanne van Rooyen	1	8	Dec 19, 2013 09:32AM

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About Suzanne van Rooyen

Suzanne van Rooyen

239 followers

I'm a queer author with a penchant for the dark and strange. I primarily write SFF but enjoy literary writing as well.

When not writing, I teach music at an international school, climb, eat anything involving peanut butter, and serve the whims of my shiba inu.