Lex
Lex asked:

Yeahhh... when the synopsis states that sage is "actually a boy", does that mean she's a trans woman? Because immediately that sort of misgendering bullshit puts me off.

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Brian Sage is a transwoman. I didn't write the synopsis, and newer versions of the book say she is 'biologically male.' Actually, I think the book is better if you learn to like Sage as a person first, rather than a gender. I recommend people read ALMOST PERFECT without reading the synopsis. Thanks for your question.
ashes ➷ There is misgendering bullshit. The whole way through. Sage literally comes out by saying "I'm actually a boy." If you're looking for a good book about a trans girl that /doesn't/ blatantly misgender her, you're gonna have to look somewhere else.

(tl;dr: I've read the book and I'm sorry I did. There's misgendering all over the place.)
Sky Yes, Sage is a trans woman, but the book is set in the midwest and we kind of suck in the midwest, so the protagonist is super prejudiced towards the beginning and the story is really about him learning more about trans issues and trying to learn to accept Sage despite the way he was raised. When Sage comes out, I really think that the way she worded it was because she was scared and still was unsure whether she could really be a "real woman". I don't really know, I didn't write the book, but that's just how I interpreted it.
C.J. Heath When a story is written that has characters who have no comprehension of any trans existence, the pronouns used need to reflect the understanding of the characters she interacts with, not just the conceived correctness.
There are instances in the story when Logan berates himself for using the pronoun 'he' when he thinks of her. It is a minefield for a writer and even if the author populated his story with what is considered the correct terms, somebody would then insist she should be they or ze. For an author, it's always going to be an obstacle to find an acceptable balance to correctness and imparting understanding.
mj The narrator is constantly misgendering her. It's in-character but still frustrating to read for anyone who's been misgendered before. TBH the book is better for someone who is cis and either has never met a trans person and is trying to figure out "what it's all about" or for someone who has just had a loved one come out as transgender
Phélan the misgendering bullshit is pretty consistent with the story's world, though. it's like if you were a gay person who enter a place like middle eastern where they are heavily against gay people of course there will be homophobic bullshit. it's realistic. but if you don't like it, maybe don't read the book, because as i said, it was consistent with the time and place of when and where the story is told, so you encounter it quite often.
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by Brian Katcher (Goodreads Author)
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