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A Million Quiet Revolutions
For as long as they can remember, Aaron and Oliver have only ever had each other. In a small town with few queer teenagers, let alone young trans men, they've shared milestones like coming out as trans, buying the right binders--and falling for each other.
But just as their relationship has started to blossom, Aaron moves away. Feeling adrift, separated from the one person who understands them, they seek solace in digging deep into the annals of America's past. When they discover the story of two Revolutionary War soldiers who they believe to have been trans man in love, they're inspired to pay tribute to these soldiers by adopting their names--Aaron and Oliver. As they learn, they delve further into unwritten queer stories, and they discover the transformative power of reclaiming one's place in history.
But just as their relationship has started to blossom, Aaron moves away. Feeling adrift, separated from the one person who understands them, they seek solace in digging deep into the annals of America's past. When they discover the story of two Revolutionary War soldiers who they believe to have been trans man in love, they're inspired to pay tribute to these soldiers by adopting their names--Aaron and Oliver. As they learn, they delve further into unwritten queer stories, and they discover the transformative power of reclaiming one's place in history.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published March 22, 2022
About the author
Robin Gow
13 books125 followersGow grew up in rural Pennsylvania and lives in Allentown Pennsylvania with their two pugs, Eddie and Gertie and their queer family. He works at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center coordinating supportive services for the local LGBTQIA+ community.
Awarded the Jerry Cain and Scott James Creative Writing Fellow, Gow earned their MFA in Creative Writing from Adelphi University where they also taught writing courses as an adjunct professor.
Gow runs the trans & queer reading series Gender Reveal Party and co-edits the new magazine The Comments Section.
Robin is the author of the chapbook Honeysuckle by Finishing Line Press and the collection Our Lady of Perpetual Degeneracy by Tolsun Books.
Their first YA novel in verse, A Million Quiet Revolutions, is forthcoming March 2022 with FSG Books for Young readers and their first essay collection, Blue Blood, is forthcoming with Nasiona Publishing House.
They is a managing editor The Nasiona and the assistant editor at large at Doubleback Books. They served for four years as the production editor of the Lantern literary magazine and are Social Media Coordinator for Oyster River Pages. They has also worked to help produce several zines and taught creative writing workshops in a variety of community spaces, including online forms.
They are an out and proud autistic bisexual genderqueer man passionate about LGBTQIAA+ issues.
Awarded the Jerry Cain and Scott James Creative Writing Fellow, Gow earned their MFA in Creative Writing from Adelphi University where they also taught writing courses as an adjunct professor.
Gow runs the trans & queer reading series Gender Reveal Party and co-edits the new magazine The Comments Section.
Robin is the author of the chapbook Honeysuckle by Finishing Line Press and the collection Our Lady of Perpetual Degeneracy by Tolsun Books.
Their first YA novel in verse, A Million Quiet Revolutions, is forthcoming March 2022 with FSG Books for Young readers and their first essay collection, Blue Blood, is forthcoming with Nasiona Publishing House.
They is a managing editor The Nasiona and the assistant editor at large at Doubleback Books. They served for four years as the production editor of the Lantern literary magazine and are Social Media Coordinator for Oyster River Pages. They has also worked to help produce several zines and taught creative writing workshops in a variety of community spaces, including online forms.
They are an out and proud autistic bisexual genderqueer man passionate about LGBTQIAA+ issues.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 235 reviews
March 21, 2022
A Million Quiet Revolutions is a wonderful YA about two trans boys, written in verse, personal and lyrical, powerful and rhythmical, and so incredibly vulnerable.
I like YA in verse. Instead of a word vomit like a cascade, a novel in verse is a gorgeous stream, bending and accelerating and then slowing down again, the words quietly rolling.
This book is not your usual story from start to end. It’s more a stream of thoughts, texts, and letters of two trans boys that beautifully come together. Two teens in love, going through the same phases, deciding together they don’t want to use their deadnames anymore and choosing names that two women, possible trans men, used during the Revolution. Doubting themselves because sometimes it doesn’t feel right to just move from one gender to the other. Robin Gow doesn’t shy away from heavy, important topics, and I cried multiple times.
I cried when Oliver came out to his parents, and they just hugged him and said they loved him. I cried when I read about the abuse in the Catholic Church. I cried because of Aaron’s winter poems. And sometimes, I just smiled. Because of all those special moments those two boys had.
The quietness of A Million Quiet Revolutions touched me deeply and reflected the feelings of Oliver and Aaron so beautifully. The only criticism I have is that the POVs of Aaron and Oliver were quite similar. But you know what? Even with a bit of criticism, I’m giving this important novel five magnificent stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!
I received an ARC from MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I like YA in verse. Instead of a word vomit like a cascade, a novel in verse is a gorgeous stream, bending and accelerating and then slowing down again, the words quietly rolling.
This book is not your usual story from start to end. It’s more a stream of thoughts, texts, and letters of two trans boys that beautifully come together. Two teens in love, going through the same phases, deciding together they don’t want to use their deadnames anymore and choosing names that two women, possible trans men, used during the Revolution. Doubting themselves because sometimes it doesn’t feel right to just move from one gender to the other. Robin Gow doesn’t shy away from heavy, important topics, and I cried multiple times.
I cried when Oliver came out to his parents, and they just hugged him and said they loved him. I cried when I read about the abuse in the Catholic Church. I cried because of Aaron’s winter poems. And sometimes, I just smiled. Because of all those special moments those two boys had.
The quietness of A Million Quiet Revolutions touched me deeply and reflected the feelings of Oliver and Aaron so beautifully. The only criticism I have is that the POVs of Aaron and Oliver were quite similar. But you know what? Even with a bit of criticism, I’m giving this important novel five magnificent stars ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!
I received an ARC from MacMillan Children’s Publishing Group and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 15, 2022
This has got to be one of the most romantic stories I've ever read. Seeing these characters being in love first, coming out to each other as trans later, and growing both together and apart, was so incredibly special to see. I loved how both of these characters, while they had a lot in common, were really different from each other and were in different situations. I loved how real they felt, how they almost jumped off the page with how they talked to each other, while being larger than life at the same time.
I especially adored the second part of the book, which was almost entirely written in an epistolary format. It really reminded me of the emails in Red, White & Royal Blue, with an almost dreamy quality and a similar focus on queer history.
I especially adored the second part of the book, which was almost entirely written in an epistolary format. It really reminded me of the emails in Red, White & Royal Blue, with an almost dreamy quality and a similar focus on queer history.
May 20, 2022
I don't read much novels in verse but YA novels in verse that is also heavily based in LGBTQ + subjects is definitely one of the more intruiging and hard hitting novels. A million quiet revelations isn't a new favorite but was a very good audiobook even if I wasn't the biggest fan of the ending
Shelved as 'dnf'
January 11, 2023sadly i'm not connecting with this as much as i would like to, so dnf @33%
March 25, 2022
Thank you to Pride Book Tours and Fierce Reads for a finished copy in exchange for an honest review and promotion. All opinions are my own.
I am very emotional after reading this.
A Million Quiet Revolutions is a YA contemporary novel in verse that follows the journey of two trans boys who are best friends and fall in love with each other. When they find the story of two trans men in the Revolutionary war, they adopt their names: Aaron and Oliver. Just as they feel like their relationship is blossoming, Aaron is forced to move away. The two continue to write letters to each other and cling to the hope of love, identity and finding their place in history.
This book broke me. I am a void after reading this heartbreaking and breathtaking story of two trans boys in love. I loved how much these two boys cared for each other. I loved the exploration of queer culture, Latine culture and Jewish culture that we got in this novel. Aaron and Oliver's journeys to acceptance are different for them both, but each was powerful.
I loved watching Aaron find a community for himself, including other queer Latine people. I loved seeing Oliver dive deeper into history and finding stories of queer heroes. Oliver's home life is much more accepting and I loved how easily his parents supported him. Aaron has a tougher time, but the way his relationship with his older brother, Jose, is explored was amazing. I loved seeing these two open up to each other and how Jose was always willing to help Aaron if that's what he wanted.
Overall, this was a moving and evocative story and I loved it with my whole heart.
Jewish gay trans male MC, Puerto Rican Christian gay trans male MC, Latine queer nonbinary side character, Puerto Rican cishet side characters, various queer side characters, Black male side character.
CWs: Homophobia/homomisia, transphobia/transmisia, deadnaming, misgendering. Moderate: misogyny, consensual sexual content, sexual assault, rape, sexual violence, religious bigotry, dysphoria. Minor: Antisemitism.
I am very emotional after reading this.
A Million Quiet Revolutions is a YA contemporary novel in verse that follows the journey of two trans boys who are best friends and fall in love with each other. When they find the story of two trans men in the Revolutionary war, they adopt their names: Aaron and Oliver. Just as they feel like their relationship is blossoming, Aaron is forced to move away. The two continue to write letters to each other and cling to the hope of love, identity and finding their place in history.
This book broke me. I am a void after reading this heartbreaking and breathtaking story of two trans boys in love. I loved how much these two boys cared for each other. I loved the exploration of queer culture, Latine culture and Jewish culture that we got in this novel. Aaron and Oliver's journeys to acceptance are different for them both, but each was powerful.
I loved watching Aaron find a community for himself, including other queer Latine people. I loved seeing Oliver dive deeper into history and finding stories of queer heroes. Oliver's home life is much more accepting and I loved how easily his parents supported him. Aaron has a tougher time, but the way his relationship with his older brother, Jose, is explored was amazing. I loved seeing these two open up to each other and how Jose was always willing to help Aaron if that's what he wanted.
Overall, this was a moving and evocative story and I loved it with my whole heart.
Jewish gay trans male MC, Puerto Rican Christian gay trans male MC, Latine queer nonbinary side character, Puerto Rican cishet side characters, various queer side characters, Black male side character.
CWs: Homophobia/homomisia, transphobia/transmisia, deadnaming, misgendering. Moderate: misogyny, consensual sexual content, sexual assault, rape, sexual violence, religious bigotry, dysphoria. Minor: Antisemitism.
January 11, 2023
10/01/2023
★★★★★
I am unwell.
WHY IS THIS SO UNDERRATED???
I’ve been thinking about all the ways
the world makes us feel
NOT real. I think people imagine transphobia and queerphobia as
people shouting at us and hurting us, which of course it is sometimes,
but really mostly at school and in town
I feel like people are trying to erase us—
like they just don’t want to see us,
which is
just another type of violence.
Dead, fr. Honestly, the way they chose their names??? Dead. The openly communicating and setting boundaries when being intimate??? Dead. The family dynamics??? very dead, but bc I am sad and also very happy.
By the way, sdbfdjwdhf for the trans rep.
ALSo I have been listening to the last 40 min in a car parking lot while it was raining, I am still not over this.
★★★★★
I am unwell.
WHY IS THIS SO UNDERRATED???
I’ve been thinking about all the ways
the world makes us feel
NOT real. I think people imagine transphobia and queerphobia as
people shouting at us and hurting us, which of course it is sometimes,
but really mostly at school and in town
I feel like people are trying to erase us—
like they just don’t want to see us,
which is
just another type of violence.
Dead, fr. Honestly, the way they chose their names??? Dead. The openly communicating and setting boundaries when being intimate??? Dead. The family dynamics??? very dead, but bc I am sad and also very happy.
By the way, sdbfdjwdhf for the trans rep.
ALSo I have been listening to the last 40 min in a car parking lot while it was raining, I am still not over this.
August 24, 2022
"I see your old name like a moth, / dusty-winged and glowing. // The name escapes out the / open window and into the soupy / August night, / into forever."
A Million Quiet Revolutions is simply a stunning book. From the gorgeous in-verse writing to the complex relationships and the difficult topics it explicitly explores, I think I can safely call it beautiful. It's not what I expected, and I don't think it's for everyone. But for someone like me, who always leans toward queer history, who is determined to explore the permanence of queer people throughout time and fiction, A Million Quiet Revolutions opened my mind and let it go farther than I thought it could reach.
AMQR follows two trans boys, Oliver and Aaron, who grew up by each other's sides in a small town. The two face their trans milestones together: choosing their names, getting their first binders, and falling in love with each other. When Aaron has to move away from town with his family, the two have to relearn how to live their lives without the other by their sides.
Aaron and Oliver's story is unflinchingly honest. Every word they spoke — in both their written letters and their thoughts — had so much of their hopes, fears, and self. Seeing them grow apart, adapt to life without the other hurt. But seeing them still able to come together and bond with queer history, with the trans Revolutionary War soldiers they named themselves after, was soothing in a way I didn't expect. It didn't override the pain of them not being accepted for who they were, or of life still going on with them on separate paths, but it added a bittersweet tinge, like a watery smile or a tight hug.
I loved how Aaron and Oliver's identities were woven throughout the discussions, and especially how they asked the questions I think a lot of people are afraid of asking. Of knowing the answers to. In one of my favorite passages, Oliver, who's Jewish, explored how religious faith can hold back its youth from feeling that acceptance. He questioned Judaism and the gender roles it upholds. And I loved that. It was such a mindful point of view, to really question how intersectionality even functions in a religion.
This is a book full of queer history. History is often seen as some sort of unbiased, all-encompassing record of the past, but it's none of those things. At the end of the day, they are stories, told by the ones in power, and not everyone is heard — especially for those who are not straight, cisgender, white, Christian, etc. AMQR conquers this discussion by clearly taking the stance that history doesn't have to be factual to be right. History will never be right, so the stories of queer people, of trans people and POC, need to be believed more than they need to be proven. And I love this. It shows how we can reclaim our pasts so that it's not in the hands of the people who've always had it at their disposal. Believing, sharing, and finding how it can inspire the future is arguably what history is really about.
A Million Quiet Revolutions is a book that tests the boundaries of questioning. Of acceptance and love. Of identity and true understanding. It's unique in a way that's healing, and in a way that needs to be known.
Trigger Warnings: transphobia (including multiple instances of deadnaming), dysphoria, homophobia, sexual assault (discussed), religious homophobia/bigotry, misogyny, antisemitism, ableism
June 21, 2022
4.5
WOW !!!!!!!
WOW !!!!!!!
March 19, 2022
➳ 𝟮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀
this book is so important for young trans people like myself. the representation was done amazingly and it was definitely the highlight of this book. i also adored the latino representation! this novel did trans/queer latino representation at it's finest.
my favorite section was probably the letters section while my least was the reenactment section. the letters were a very fun way to see the development of their relationship! the section after that was just alright.
i enjoyed reading about both of the main characters but did sometimes get confused with their POVs. they had very similar voices so it was hard to differentiate at times. they were both very fleshed out though! i didn't love their relationship either despite how much I liked the characters. lots of things that were supposed to be seen as romantic just weren't for me. them having sex in a cemetery is one example.
i love queer history so much but i found the characters love for it to be obsessive at times. and that's coming from someone who's about to start writing a 10 page research paper on trans people in history– for school but still! the romanticization of war was just a big no.
I've never read a novel written in verse before but I think it worked very well here! the writing style was lyrical and made the book very flowy and easy to read.
overall i was very excited for this book but ended up liking the premise for than the execution.
thank you to pride book tours for a finished copy in exchange for my honest review!
this book is so important for young trans people like myself. the representation was done amazingly and it was definitely the highlight of this book. i also adored the latino representation! this novel did trans/queer latino representation at it's finest.
my favorite section was probably the letters section while my least was the reenactment section. the letters were a very fun way to see the development of their relationship! the section after that was just alright.
i enjoyed reading about both of the main characters but did sometimes get confused with their POVs. they had very similar voices so it was hard to differentiate at times. they were both very fleshed out though! i didn't love their relationship either despite how much I liked the characters. lots of things that were supposed to be seen as romantic just weren't for me. them having sex in a cemetery is one example.
i love queer history so much but i found the characters love for it to be obsessive at times. and that's coming from someone who's about to start writing a 10 page research paper on trans people in history– for school but still! the romanticization of war was just a big no.
I've never read a novel written in verse before but I think it worked very well here! the writing style was lyrical and made the book very flowy and easy to read.
overall i was very excited for this book but ended up liking the premise for than the execution.
thank you to pride book tours for a finished copy in exchange for my honest review!
July 31, 2023
QUOTES:
"Maybe it's not that I don't feel American
but more like America doesn't feel like me.
What is American?
Fourth of July? Red, white and blue?
Apple pie? Burgers?
Red pickup trucks? Corn on the cob?
Frozen TV dinners?
I'm not any of those things.
in my heart
I think of Puerto Rico as my home
but sometimes my island
feels like a far-off dream.
And Puerto Rico is America.
But America is not Puerto Rico.
It's a stolen land.
First Spain, than the United States.
How can I ever begin
to unravel what that means?"
_____________________
"I wonder what makes this change different.
I wonder why it has to be me and
somewhere deep in my core
I think how wildly beautiful it
is to exist in spite
of all the places the stories
of men like you, like us, are
left untold."
___________________
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm real.
I guess not sometimes,
all the time.
Not my gender anymore,
but my whole self,
and I think that's because you
can love someone else so much
that you start to erase yourself
and you start to erase yourself
and you start to try to
erase them."
________________
"Dear Oliver,
if I die in the cold winter
valley
will you remember me?
Will you remember me as who I was
and not as the person
who didn't come back
and left you for a war
none of us understand?
I love you,
Aaron
1778."
__________________
"Dear Aaron,
Even if we both survive the war
I know there is a change
we won't see each other again.
I want you to know
I will carry your name inside me—
a continuous echo, and in each repetition
will flicker a different moment
I am missing you."
___________________
"Dear Oliver,
I'm thinking about you
and those cold nights this winter.
I'm writing to you,
even though I know you could
be dead.
I'm talking to you,
even though I know I might
never see you again.
I pray one of those nights
I'll meet you in the woods,
even if it's just your ghost.
Because I believe that I have loved you,
Oliver. I have.
I have truly,
and no one but us will ever know
our truths.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
-Aaron."
"Maybe it's not that I don't feel American
but more like America doesn't feel like me.
What is American?
Fourth of July? Red, white and blue?
Apple pie? Burgers?
Red pickup trucks? Corn on the cob?
Frozen TV dinners?
I'm not any of those things.
in my heart
I think of Puerto Rico as my home
but sometimes my island
feels like a far-off dream.
And Puerto Rico is America.
But America is not Puerto Rico.
It's a stolen land.
First Spain, than the United States.
How can I ever begin
to unravel what that means?"
_____________________
"I wonder what makes this change different.
I wonder why it has to be me and
somewhere deep in my core
I think how wildly beautiful it
is to exist in spite
of all the places the stories
of men like you, like us, are
left untold."
___________________
"Sometimes I wonder if I'm real.
I guess not sometimes,
all the time.
Not my gender anymore,
but my whole self,
and I think that's because you
can love someone else so much
that you start to erase yourself
and you start to erase yourself
and you start to try to
erase them."
________________
"Dear Oliver,
if I die in the cold winter
valley
will you remember me?
Will you remember me as who I was
and not as the person
who didn't come back
and left you for a war
none of us understand?
I love you,
Aaron
1778."
__________________
"Dear Aaron,
Even if we both survive the war
I know there is a change
we won't see each other again.
I want you to know
I will carry your name inside me—
a continuous echo, and in each repetition
will flicker a different moment
I am missing you."
___________________
"Dear Oliver,
I'm thinking about you
and those cold nights this winter.
I'm writing to you,
even though I know you could
be dead.
I'm talking to you,
even though I know I might
never see you again.
I pray one of those nights
I'll meet you in the woods,
even if it's just your ghost.
Because I believe that I have loved you,
Oliver. I have.
I have truly,
and no one but us will ever know
our truths.
I love you. I love you. I love you.
-Aaron."
August 25, 2022
3.5 rounded up
Great book overall- I struggled with the writing style and found the formatting confusing as it was difficult to decipher who was talking when. I typically love books written in verse, but unfortunately the formatting and writing style took a bit away from the main point of the story. Great book, great content, definitely recommend!
Great book overall- I struggled with the writing style and found the formatting confusing as it was difficult to decipher who was talking when. I typically love books written in verse, but unfortunately the formatting and writing style took a bit away from the main point of the story. Great book, great content, definitely recommend!
Read
May 26, 2022don't get me wrong, i really loved the writing and the beautiful trans rep, but i just don't understand why these kids couldn't have been into different parts of history than all that war stuff..
June 24, 2022
This one is SO good!
A new favourite, for sure!
A new favourite, for sure!
June 13, 2022
“maybe i love history and i want it to help me understand myself / but despite it all i want you to remember / that we existed and we loved each other so much / that we existed and maybe someday us existing / will give someone else hope.”
my history people. my people who read “history, huh?” and never stopped thinking it, who ache to know what our history will look like. how we will play a role, how we will have a legacy, how we somehow survive for so many years after death. this one is for you. this is the book i’ve been looking for ever since i heard the words “queer” and “history put in a sentence. ever since i wanted to understand life that never intersected with mine, and life that did. where i came from, in an all but biological sense. this book,,, full of a million quiet revolutions. of found family being a concept of ancestors who you feel are a part of you, family found through a tweet, an article. historical evidence that you are the past, the present, and the will-be future.
so. this book, then. oliver. aaron. trans boys coming into manhood. they let go of their names together one summer night, in each others arms and into the breeze, names lost now, and new lost names discovered. when oliver finds a story almost out of touch with reality, dating back to 1778, of oliver and aaron, two revolutionary war soldiers who lived together. who bound their chests to hide their feminine bodies. and the thing about this story,,, it doesn’t matter how real it is. because if trans people existed then, before queer meant what it does, before transgender was a piece of common vocabulary, then they can exist now. what’s more revolutionary than the existence of trans folk? of literally transcending societal boundaries. of fighting, figuratively and literally for the right to live.
“i want you to know i will carry your name inside me- a continuous echo, and in each repetition will flicker a different moment i am missing you.”
oliver and aaron (in the present),, they have struggles. they are in love, for one. aaron’s parents are catholic, for another. but when they adopt their names, they are reclaiming their own history that was hidden to them in history classes and churches and knowledge lost. aaron and oliver, who’s soldiers they are akin to who never knew them, but would have shown them love. in a sense, this is hope, hope that their names are going to survive beyond them. hope that they’re history. this is a t4t (both trans) romance, and it’s the freedom to grow into themselves. buying their first binders. writing love letters. love over time and endlessly and loving each other and trust and history. we’re history.
content warnings: transphobia, deadnaming, homophobia, sexual assault (discussed), religious homophobia/bigotry, misogyny, antisemitism, sexual content, ableism, dysphoria
my history people. my people who read “history, huh?” and never stopped thinking it, who ache to know what our history will look like. how we will play a role, how we will have a legacy, how we somehow survive for so many years after death. this one is for you. this is the book i’ve been looking for ever since i heard the words “queer” and “history put in a sentence. ever since i wanted to understand life that never intersected with mine, and life that did. where i came from, in an all but biological sense. this book,,, full of a million quiet revolutions. of found family being a concept of ancestors who you feel are a part of you, family found through a tweet, an article. historical evidence that you are the past, the present, and the will-be future.
so. this book, then. oliver. aaron. trans boys coming into manhood. they let go of their names together one summer night, in each others arms and into the breeze, names lost now, and new lost names discovered. when oliver finds a story almost out of touch with reality, dating back to 1778, of oliver and aaron, two revolutionary war soldiers who lived together. who bound their chests to hide their feminine bodies. and the thing about this story,,, it doesn’t matter how real it is. because if trans people existed then, before queer meant what it does, before transgender was a piece of common vocabulary, then they can exist now. what’s more revolutionary than the existence of trans folk? of literally transcending societal boundaries. of fighting, figuratively and literally for the right to live.
“i want you to know i will carry your name inside me- a continuous echo, and in each repetition will flicker a different moment i am missing you.”
oliver and aaron (in the present),, they have struggles. they are in love, for one. aaron’s parents are catholic, for another. but when they adopt their names, they are reclaiming their own history that was hidden to them in history classes and churches and knowledge lost. aaron and oliver, who’s soldiers they are akin to who never knew them, but would have shown them love. in a sense, this is hope, hope that their names are going to survive beyond them. hope that they’re history. this is a t4t (both trans) romance, and it’s the freedom to grow into themselves. buying their first binders. writing love letters. love over time and endlessly and loving each other and trust and history. we’re history.
content warnings: transphobia, deadnaming, homophobia, sexual assault (discussed), religious homophobia/bigotry, misogyny, antisemitism, sexual content, ableism, dysphoria
March 26, 2023
“We’ve been erased from so much history. Someone needs to write us back in.”
This book was spectacular.
This book was spectacular.
September 5, 2022
4.5/5⭐️
Queer YA is so healing. I've encountered so few T4T YA books and none that have been so tender. I was absolutely crying less than 10 minutes into this. The way this book interacts with queer history also means so much more to me than I can articulate.
While I do have some technical critiques of this, they're pretty standard critiques that I have of a fair amount of YA (and I would argue is frequently a part of the charm of it). Even the issues I noticed more, I almost don't care because this was such a meaningful book that it didn't impact my experience of it much.
Queer YA is so healing. I've encountered so few T4T YA books and none that have been so tender. I was absolutely crying less than 10 minutes into this. The way this book interacts with queer history also means so much more to me than I can articulate.
While I do have some technical critiques of this, they're pretty standard critiques that I have of a fair amount of YA (and I would argue is frequently a part of the charm of it). Even the issues I noticed more, I almost don't care because this was such a meaningful book that it didn't impact my experience of it much.
Want to read
July 2, 2021a love story about two trans boys
WRITTEN IN VERSE
2022 come sooner
WRITTEN IN VERSE
2022 come sooner
March 31, 2022
"We thrive in any time we want. We could belong there "
I'm always hesitant to call a book perfect because books are written by people and people are not perfect but this book is all encompassing and emotional and vulnerable and romantic and dare I say, perfect.
I wanted to cry upon finishing this book. It truly is a feat to have a book that's told in verse where at the end of the story you feel so intensely connected to the characters. I am honestly kind of speechless.
A million quiet revolutions is about two queer trans boys who are in love and they grow up together and they come out together and when one of them moves away they write letters to each other. They connect their transness and their queerness through stories of queer history and are able to find solace and validity and identity within these moments and queer history that aren't told.
The writing in this book is lyrical and illustrative and romantic and sweeping. It is magical to be honest.
I loved the discussions about family relationships and coming out and having insecurity about coming out even though you know that coming out was the best thing you did. It is fucking hard to come out. I don't care how many people say that it is easy to come out in 2022, it is still so freaking hard and so freaking scary. Even when you have parents who you think will support you, it is terrifying. Aaron and Oliver have different familial situations and they both have some struggles and some triumphs and I really enjoyed that subplot of the book.
I think one of my favorite parts about a million quiet revolutions is how complex and intricate we are as individuals. There are so many pieces to us and none of them reflect our entirety but they all make us who we are. We aren't just one label but each of our labels affects our existence. Both Aaron and Oliver are so much more than just trans boys but their transness and their queerness affects every decision and every thought that they have.
I'm not sure what else I can say So I'm going to leave you with a few more quotes that I loved.
"It's hard to search for someone like yourself when you're not even sure who you are."
"I wonder why it has to be me and somewhere deep in my core I think how wildly beautiful it is to exist in spite of all the places the stories of men like you, like us, are left untold."
"I've been thinking about all the ways the world makes us feel not real. I think people imagine transphobia and queer phobia as people shouting at us and hurting us, which of course it is sometimes, but really mostly at school and in town I feel like people are trying to erase us like they just don't want to see us, which is just another type of violence.
"We've been erased from so much history. Someone needs to write us back in."
I'm always hesitant to call a book perfect because books are written by people and people are not perfect but this book is all encompassing and emotional and vulnerable and romantic and dare I say, perfect.
I wanted to cry upon finishing this book. It truly is a feat to have a book that's told in verse where at the end of the story you feel so intensely connected to the characters. I am honestly kind of speechless.
A million quiet revolutions is about two queer trans boys who are in love and they grow up together and they come out together and when one of them moves away they write letters to each other. They connect their transness and their queerness through stories of queer history and are able to find solace and validity and identity within these moments and queer history that aren't told.
The writing in this book is lyrical and illustrative and romantic and sweeping. It is magical to be honest.
I loved the discussions about family relationships and coming out and having insecurity about coming out even though you know that coming out was the best thing you did. It is fucking hard to come out. I don't care how many people say that it is easy to come out in 2022, it is still so freaking hard and so freaking scary. Even when you have parents who you think will support you, it is terrifying. Aaron and Oliver have different familial situations and they both have some struggles and some triumphs and I really enjoyed that subplot of the book.
I think one of my favorite parts about a million quiet revolutions is how complex and intricate we are as individuals. There are so many pieces to us and none of them reflect our entirety but they all make us who we are. We aren't just one label but each of our labels affects our existence. Both Aaron and Oliver are so much more than just trans boys but their transness and their queerness affects every decision and every thought that they have.
I'm not sure what else I can say So I'm going to leave you with a few more quotes that I loved.
"It's hard to search for someone like yourself when you're not even sure who you are."
"I wonder why it has to be me and somewhere deep in my core I think how wildly beautiful it is to exist in spite of all the places the stories of men like you, like us, are left untold."
"I've been thinking about all the ways the world makes us feel not real. I think people imagine transphobia and queer phobia as people shouting at us and hurting us, which of course it is sometimes, but really mostly at school and in town I feel like people are trying to erase us like they just don't want to see us, which is just another type of violence.
"We've been erased from so much history. Someone needs to write us back in."
April 4, 2022
I am beyond taken by this book. It is told in verse, and is one of the most romantic and reflective stories I've read. Highly, HIGHLY recommend the audiobook especially—the narrators do beautiful job of bringing these characters to life.
This is a coming-of-age story of two trans teens, best friends Aaron and Oliver, who adopt the names of Revolutionary War soldiers they believe were trans men in love. The story is an exploration of love, identity, culture, and religion, as well as navigating the intersection of communities and reclamation of one's self and history. I am all in my feels right now and the in verse format, as well as exchange of letters between characters is so easy to sink into and find yourself lost within.
This is a coming-of-age story of two trans teens, best friends Aaron and Oliver, who adopt the names of Revolutionary War soldiers they believe were trans men in love. The story is an exploration of love, identity, culture, and religion, as well as navigating the intersection of communities and reclamation of one's self and history. I am all in my feels right now and the in verse format, as well as exchange of letters between characters is so easy to sink into and find yourself lost within.
March 23, 2022
Full of achingly beautiful lines, 'A Million Quiet Revolutions' is told in verse, often through letters, between trans boys Oliver and Aaron, whose struggles are paralleled with soldiers from the Revolutionary War period. It reads like a long-form poem, and there were so many gorgeous, relatable, emotional quotes that I loved reading throughout.
Personally I didn't enjoy some choices, such as the sex scene in the cemetery. Although I understand the thematic significance of the setting, it just didn't work for me as a reader.
Moreover, the subplot of the child sexual abuse in a church setting was something I was entirely unprepared for, and I wish there had been a content warning about this provided beforehand. If I had been prepared to read this subject matter, I would have enjoyed the novel more. In 2022, books including CSA should include content warnings.
CW: Child sexual abuse in a religious context (church); generally transphobic cultural context, although one character's parents are much more affirming than the other.
Personally I didn't enjoy some choices, such as the sex scene in the cemetery. Although I understand the thematic significance of the setting, it just didn't work for me as a reader.
Moreover, the subplot of the child sexual abuse in a church setting was something I was entirely unprepared for, and I wish there had been a content warning about this provided beforehand. If I had been prepared to read this subject matter, I would have enjoyed the novel more. In 2022, books including CSA should include content warnings.
CW: Child sexual abuse in a religious context (church); generally transphobic cultural context, although one character's parents are much more affirming than the other.
November 16, 2021
I received an advance copy from the publisher via Netgalley for review purposes. This in no way influences my review; all words, thoughts, and opinions are my own.
Content notes:
Oh my gosh, I don’t even know what to say about this book. This is a delight and emotional and wonderful and a book I feel everyone should read.
Aaron and Oliver are best friends, boyfriends, and the one who they came to understand their trans identity with. And they gave each other their name. But when Aaron’s older brother, José, comes forward about the sexual abuse in their Catholic Church, Aaron and his family move away from small-town Kutzman to New York. Aaron and Oliver try to stay in contact via letters like the Revolutionary War soldiers they named themselves after, thinking of the 1778 Aaron and Oliver as trans history and something they want to embody.
This book was so emotional to read, and I am so glad I was able to read an early copy. I loved Oliver’s Jewish identity and the bits of his Jewishness that shaped his character. Seeing a queer Jewish trans man character, and seeing him getting a happy story, fills my heart with such joy.
This book is told in verse, and I really feel that added to the emotional impact throughout. Oliver and Aaron navigating their identity, their family, and their distance was such a fulfilling story. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for more trans stories with teens finding love and happiness and acceptance. Plus the blending of history and Oliver’s fascination with history just added so much depth. I adored this book and cannot wait for more people to get to read it~
Content notes:
Oh my gosh, I don’t even know what to say about this book. This is a delight and emotional and wonderful and a book I feel everyone should read.
Aaron and Oliver are best friends, boyfriends, and the one who they came to understand their trans identity with. And they gave each other their name. But when Aaron’s older brother, José, comes forward about the sexual abuse in their Catholic Church, Aaron and his family move away from small-town Kutzman to New York. Aaron and Oliver try to stay in contact via letters like the Revolutionary War soldiers they named themselves after, thinking of the 1778 Aaron and Oliver as trans history and something they want to embody.
This book was so emotional to read, and I am so glad I was able to read an early copy. I loved Oliver’s Jewish identity and the bits of his Jewishness that shaped his character. Seeing a queer Jewish trans man character, and seeing him getting a happy story, fills my heart with such joy.
This book is told in verse, and I really feel that added to the emotional impact throughout. Oliver and Aaron navigating their identity, their family, and their distance was such a fulfilling story. I highly recommend this for anyone looking for more trans stories with teens finding love and happiness and acceptance. Plus the blending of history and Oliver’s fascination with history just added so much depth. I adored this book and cannot wait for more people to get to read it~
February 1, 2022
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this book.
I did not know this would be in verse otherwise I would not have asked for it. I often find novels in verse are lacking a lot of emotional and character depth, this novel falls into that category very hard. There was no real emotion or plot or character development that happened. It was often hard in the first section to even know where in the timeline of growing up they were in.
There are three sections of the book: one from Oliver’s point of view, one that is letters, and one that is in Aaron’s point of view. I could not tell either character apart. Thankfully the book was formatted to have Oliver’s words on one side and Aaron’s on the other. The issue is still I do not know which one was which. So left side was Jewish and had supportive parents. Right side was Puerto Rican, Catholic, and had parents who did not support. If the book did not have the formatting that put them on the other side from each other, I would not have been able to follow anything.
The main plot for a lot of the book appears to be sexual assaults of children in churches, which is the plot the 20 year old older brother of right side faces. I know so much more about that than I do anything else. There was just a lot of nothing happening.
The author is genderqueer, so the next point is especially annoying to me. The resources section uses an outdated term that has been deemed to be problematic for at least the last decade. So it seems like a huge oversight to have it.
So overall, I loved the idea of this book and the description more than the actual book. I ended up not finishing it at about 78%, which was only an hour or two of reading. It just felt like nothing had happened and I doubted the ending would redeem it enough to get me to be invested.
I got an ARC of this book.
I did not know this would be in verse otherwise I would not have asked for it. I often find novels in verse are lacking a lot of emotional and character depth, this novel falls into that category very hard. There was no real emotion or plot or character development that happened. It was often hard in the first section to even know where in the timeline of growing up they were in.
There are three sections of the book: one from Oliver’s point of view, one that is letters, and one that is in Aaron’s point of view. I could not tell either character apart. Thankfully the book was formatted to have Oliver’s words on one side and Aaron’s on the other. The issue is still I do not know which one was which. So left side was Jewish and had supportive parents. Right side was Puerto Rican, Catholic, and had parents who did not support. If the book did not have the formatting that put them on the other side from each other, I would not have been able to follow anything.
The main plot for a lot of the book appears to be sexual assaults of children in churches, which is the plot the 20 year old older brother of right side faces. I know so much more about that than I do anything else. There was just a lot of nothing happening.
The author is genderqueer, so the next point is especially annoying to me. The resources section uses an outdated term that has been deemed to be problematic for at least the last decade. So it seems like a huge oversight to have it.
So overall, I loved the idea of this book and the description more than the actual book. I ended up not finishing it at about 78%, which was only an hour or two of reading. It just felt like nothing had happened and I doubted the ending would redeem it enough to get me to be invested.
January 12, 2022
Add this one to your TBR, folx!
Written in verse, this book to me is the Poet X meets Felix Ever After. A queer, trans coming-of-age story from two POVs, Oliver and Aaron.
Oliver is obsessed with history - and believes he discovered that there were these trans men that fought in the Revolutionary War as soldiers. This causes him to wonder how many other queer stories haven’t been told or been erased or… straight-washed (?) throughout history, and definitely goes down the rabbit hole following this lead.
I should also mention Oliver and his family are Jewish, and that was nice to see because I don’t see that representation in a lot of books, and just the thought of having a bar vs bat mitzvah and some of the things he dealt with/thought about that were different from Aaron and his family.
Aaron’s family is from Puerto Rico and very Catholic. When something happens with his brother José, his family decides to move away before Oliver and Aaron can enjoy their senior year together, figuring out how they are and exploring their budding romance. They’re best friends turning maybe more, but now they’re going to be separated by a long distance. How will they survive it?
I think this is a wonderful read. There’s parts that are heartbreaking, humorous, lovely, and awkward (weren’t we all in high school when we were still figuring out who we were and what we wanted in life?). There’s depth and there’s growth. There’s great imagery and you FEEL what the characters are feeling. Gow really has a wonderful way with words!
I hope you pick this one up in March 2022!
TW: transphobia/homophobia/sexism, deadnaming [deadnames not mentioned, author uses ****], sexual assault/pedophilia (referenced).
Written in verse, this book to me is the Poet X meets Felix Ever After. A queer, trans coming-of-age story from two POVs, Oliver and Aaron.
Oliver is obsessed with history - and believes he discovered that there were these trans men that fought in the Revolutionary War as soldiers. This causes him to wonder how many other queer stories haven’t been told or been erased or… straight-washed (?) throughout history, and definitely goes down the rabbit hole following this lead.
I should also mention Oliver and his family are Jewish, and that was nice to see because I don’t see that representation in a lot of books, and just the thought of having a bar vs bat mitzvah and some of the things he dealt with/thought about that were different from Aaron and his family.
Aaron’s family is from Puerto Rico and very Catholic. When something happens with his brother José, his family decides to move away before Oliver and Aaron can enjoy their senior year together, figuring out how they are and exploring their budding romance. They’re best friends turning maybe more, but now they’re going to be separated by a long distance. How will they survive it?
I think this is a wonderful read. There’s parts that are heartbreaking, humorous, lovely, and awkward (weren’t we all in high school when we were still figuring out who we were and what we wanted in life?). There’s depth and there’s growth. There’s great imagery and you FEEL what the characters are feeling. Gow really has a wonderful way with words!
I hope you pick this one up in March 2022!
TW: transphobia/homophobia/sexism, deadnaming [deadnames not mentioned, author uses ****], sexual assault/pedophilia (referenced).
June 6, 2022
I feel very conflicted about this novel in verse. On the one hand, it's so incredibly healing to see a story of two trans teens who discover their trans identity and trans history together, but on the other hand, the way Oliver (and Aaron as well, to a certain extent) is obsessed with war as an escape from his daily life doesn't entirely sit well with me. I understand the healing nature of finding people like yourself in history, but saying you "like reading about war / because [you] / can focus / on the machinery and the uniforms / and distract [your]self / from all the dying" is certainly a choice. Being interested in history, especially queer history, is valid, but I think an important part of learning about history is acknowledging the horrors of different time periods as well, so to me it felt like this book almost romanticized history, especially the topic of war, at times. Still, I really connected with the way Aaron and Oliver talked about their trans identity and seeing two trans boys being in love, so I'm still glad I gave this book a chance.
January 12, 2022
This novel-in-verse, told from dual perspectives (split down the middle, with a center section of letters and texts), is a FABULOUS, heartwarming, and truly affirming portrait of trans teen boyfriends. Its hook of focusing on potential trans men in the revolutionary war and the wider idea of historically 'hidden' queer folks throughout time was wonderful, and the modern focus on the central pair, with their worries about coming out to their families and friends, getting in to college, and navigating a newly long-distance relationship, was so well done and engaging. Can't wait to handsell this book once it comes out in March!!
February 6, 2022
I’m not the biggest fan of verse, but I think it did work well for this book. I really liked the focus on queer history and think this will connect alot with younger trans people
I did struggle with the characters, they both had very similar voices and I struggled to separate them. And their relationship didn’t really have any chemistry, especially on Aaron's side.
I appreciated the focus on queer history but found the whole historical reenactment section a bit odd. As a queer history buff I can understand feeling connected to trans people of the past who’ve been erased, but naming yourself after them and reenacting who you think they are is a bit obsessive to me
I did struggle with the characters, they both had very similar voices and I struggled to separate them. And their relationship didn’t really have any chemistry, especially on Aaron's side.
I appreciated the focus on queer history but found the whole historical reenactment section a bit odd. As a queer history buff I can understand feeling connected to trans people of the past who’ve been erased, but naming yourself after them and reenacting who you think they are is a bit obsessive to me
August 24, 2022
This book is just beautiful and I’ve never read something like it. Two young trans boys fall in love while also figuring out their identity and how they interact with this world, while also giving voices to those that have come before them.
Shelved as 'unreleased'
May 14, 2020a love story between two transgender boys,,, can u hear me crying
November 13, 2022
Reading the synopsis I was worried it'd be somewhat glorifying war in any way but I think it was handled pretty well and I'm glad I read it!
I do have to say I listened to the audiobook during a train ride and was not focusing super hard, so sometimes the changes in perspective were difficult to follow.
Still, I think the writing and the way queer (and specifically trans male) experiences were depicted was incredibly good. Both in style but also in mood and in emotion - the whole story felt realistic in the most positive way of the word and still it kept a magical(?) feeling because of the fact it was written in verse.
Also having the author comment on the book at the end was really nice and interesting.
I do have to say I listened to the audiobook during a train ride and was not focusing super hard, so sometimes the changes in perspective were difficult to follow.
Still, I think the writing and the way queer (and specifically trans male) experiences were depicted was incredibly good. Both in style but also in mood and in emotion - the whole story felt realistic in the most positive way of the word and still it kept a magical(?) feeling because of the fact it was written in verse.
Also having the author comment on the book at the end was really nice and interesting.
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