Trans Like Me by C N Lester - Review

I've had this book absolutely forever and I think I followed the author on Twitter at one point way back in time and probably ordered this then. I picked this book up as part of my LGBTQ+ reading month in January. I am really glad I got round to it. I don't tend to read a lot of non fiction but enjoyed this. 

C N Lester is non binary and talks in this book about that and their experiences as a trans person, but alongside that are parts where they talk about sex and gender, break down myths about trans people, cite up to date research and so on about trans people. It is at once both personal and clinical, in a was that I really liked. There's no sugar coating reality for trans people, but equally there is a message of hope for the community. 

One thing I did think was, well this book was written a decade ago (it was published in 2017) and really I feel like we've gone back politically for trans people. With pressure groups barring trans women from using the loo in public and people like J K Rowling using their vast wealth to push their backward thinking viewpoints, it feels like we've gone backwards in that decade. I find that upsetting and as always I stand behind my trans siblings in the community. 

I don't have a lot to say about this - I just really liked reading it and am grateful that C N Lester laid their soul bare in such a way. I'm giving this five out of five. 

Boy Friends by Kai Spellmeier - Review

I got this book on Netgalley so thank you very much to Bloomsbury Publishing for granting me access to it. This book will be published in May 2026. I was given an electronic copy of this book for review purposes, but was not otherwise compensated for this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Okay so first of all I was really excited to read this book. I understand that it is the first book that Kai Spellmeier has written in English. Maybe that's why I just couldn't gel with it. My main issue with it is that I do not understand where it is set. It's set in a small town called Lombard which seems to be on an island... but where? I thought at first it was American, but no, Luca and Simo use a lot of British phrases. It's a cute seaside town, but I cannot get to grips with where in the world it's supposed to be located. It comes off to me like a Channel Island or something. I also felt like the town just wasn't rooted enough in reality. It wasn't described well enough. I found this issue was enough to stop me from loving the book. 

However, it does have its high points. Luca lives with his dad, who owns a bakery slash cafe, where Luca sometimes works. Luca is gay and so is his dad. Luca's mum is off doing some kind of scientific research like in a volcano or in Antartica or something, I'm not sure. She's not around, anyway. Luca has a huge crush on his best friend, Simo, and has done for years. 

The two boys are really close. They have sleepovers and trust each other implicitly. Simo lives with his parents. His older brother died a long time ago and Simo misses him, but no one in the family will really talk about him. Simo kind of has a crush on Luca, but not really? It's complicated. His parents are pretty homophobic so that puts him off talking about how he feels. 

Anyway there's this noticeboard in Lombard where every week something gets put up. Luca always rushes to see what it says so he can share the news with an elderly neighbour, but one week the noticeboard says "LUCA AND SIMO ARE IN LOVE". Both boys are absolutely shocked by this. Simo especially is just cringing - because it might be true but he doesn't want the whole world to know! Besides how would someone else know when they don't?!

But they do both want to be boyfriend not boy friends. I do think there are very sweet elements of the book - the way they fall in love is good. But I found it a bit ethereal and not really grounded enough for me. It ended on a cliffhanger so I kind of would be interested in the next part of the story - but the writing just didn't do it for me. I'm giving it three out of five. 

The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons - Review

 

I have absolutely no idea where I got this book. I don't remember buying it, but that doesn't mean I didn't. I don't remember someone giving me it, either. But it was on my shelves and I picked it up as part of my LGBTQ+ books only in January thing. I wanted to really like it, but unfortunately I just didn't. 

It's a book about Spencer, who is a trans boy. He is fifteen and he's just moved schools, for complex reasons that get forgotten later. His younger brother is autistic and struggles with school, which I felt was portrayed in quite a stereotypical way which I didn't like. Their parents are incredibly involved in their lives. Their dad is Black and their mum is white, I think, which is not entirely relevant to the plot but it is a nice little side plot. 

Spencer came out as trans as a kid as went on puberty blockers aged thirteen, and now uses testosterone gel. This isn't a huge part of the book either but it is relevant to Spencer's history. His parents are really supportive but due to what happened at his old school they don't want him to play soccer at his new school. But Spencer is a brilliant footballer and really wants to play, so he ends up going behind their back and tries out for the team anyway. He ends up getting selected, of course, and his team is happy to have him on board. But they don't know he's trans, and Spencer doesn't want to come out. His coach eventually - seriously, it takes forever to get to this point in the book - needs some ID for his permission stuff, and of course this means Spencer will be outed. He does eventually tells his parents but that takes forever too. A lot of the book goes really slow. 

Meanwhile, Spencer does join the Queer Straight Alliance. There's a non binary kid there called Riley, who fears using the boys toilets at another point in the book, and Spencer helps them. I did like this bit. Riley wants to push for gender neutral bathrooms but the leader of the QSA isn't too keen on this. Spencer knows he needs to step up for himself and others, but it's a whole thing that he can't.

Then there's Justice. He's also on the soccer team and he rides a motorbike and Spencer immediately has a crush. He and Justice have Music Appreciation class together and end up playing soccer together too, so they get really close. Justice's family is Christian evangelists and they won't accept Justice's sexuality, and Spencer knows they won't accept him either. A lot of the romance between the two is really cute, but again, it drags. 

I also feel like the book skews a lot younger than if it was written for fifteen year olds. Spencer and Justice often come off more like twelve or thirteen and a lot of the whole thing comes off like Middle  Grade. A lot of how the teens talk to each other just doesn't ring true at all. There are no girls in the book, which annoyed me, and the ones who briefly appear are portrayed as silly and too 'girly'. There are flashes of loveliness - like the Homecoming Dance - but in general it just didn't ring true for me. The whole thing was a bit like an After School Special. I'm giving it two out of five. 

Boy Queen by George Lester - Review

I bought this book at Northern YA Lit Fest a few years ago. George was there talking about the book, so I bought it and got him to sign it. I was so glad to get to read it. George himself is a drag queen and from what I gather an editor or someone else in publishing suggested he wrote a book about it, and this is what he came up with. That's an interesting way for it to happen, but I don't think it's to the book's detriment!

Robin Cooper is in his last year of sixth form and he's really into performing arts. He really wants to go to a performing arts school in London, that he has auditioned for. The dream is that he will go there and his best friend, Natalie, will go to university nearby, and they will live together and have a fabulous time. Robin spends a lot of his time rehearsing and dancing. He has a secret boyfriend, Connor, who doesn't want anyone to know they're together, and who does not deserve Robin in any way. He and Natalie hang out with a lad called Greg who is their token straight friend; Greg is incredibly sweet and would do anything for his friends. Robin is also friends with a girl called Priya who goes to dancing with him. I love a set of supportive friends and these are fab! He also lives with just his mum and I loved her too - she's funny and sassy and loves him deeply. After Robin got beaten up and bullied for being gay the previous summer, his mum worries about him and doesn't want him to put himself out there too much. This is relevant later. 

Anyway, the future looks set - but then Robin doesn't get into the school of his dreams. He is crushed. His friends are of course crushed for him. He literally has no idea what he wants to do next. I loved the depiction of that - when you're eighteen and about to leave school or sixth form and you're all on that precipice and you're not going to be together anymore. It's scary! George put it across so well. 

To cheer Robin up his friends take him to a drag show in a queer pub in the next town over. They have a great time and little by little, Robin gets involved in drag. He has a drag mother whose name I forget but who is a great character. At college, there's a new boy called Seth who has a dangerous reputation, and he starts driving Robin back and forward to the queer pub. He and Robin get close - I liked Seth and I loved his back story when it came out. Robin's drag coming out is done in such a fantastic way, but I also really liked everything going on under that.

Robin and Natalie's relationship starts to fall apart, and there's just a lot of rubbish going through the friendship group which I thought was dealt with really well. I feel like I could read books and books of George writing about friendship groups and what being seventeen/eighteen is really like. I'm giving this four out of five, and I'll definitely read something else by George in the future. 

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M Johnson - Review

I bought this last year I think, when I visited a children's bookshop in Retford. It's a memoir and seemed my kind of thing, so I picked it up. I read it as part of my reading only queer books in January plan, and I'm really glad I got to it. I don't really have tons to say about it because it's a memoir, so it's the true story of someone's life, so it's not like I'm going to criticise it, is it!

George M Johnson is queer and non binary and Black, and grew up in a loving household in New Jersey. This book is mostly linear, ranging from their early years being looked after by their grandmother, with a ton of cousins running around, to their experiences as a teenager. The book is aimed towards young adults and does feature some resources for others who feel similar. It tells the stories of other queer people in their family, which I really liked. 

I found George's writing engaging. There are a couple of incidences of sexual assault, and I felt like they wrote about them in really powerful ways. I would heartily recommend the book but take care of yourself, of course. I'm giving it four stars. 

West Yorkshire Queer Stories - Review

First of all let me share a couple of photos of books! Doesn't everyone love a book haul? Then I'll get into this review.  

First of all these are the books I got for Christmas. The top three were from a swap I did run by Gwen and Janet, I've joined in with this swap a zillion times and always enjoy it. This year my swapper turned out to by my friend Sarah Beth, so I had fun choosing some books that I thought they would like and vice versa. Shy Radicals is totally me, I'm looking forward to this. My friend Stacey says What you are looking for is in the library is great, so I'm looking forward to that, too. The third one is a queer romance which isn't always my thing, but I'm willing to take Sarah Beth's word that it is good!  

Lee bought me We Fell Apart and Bog Queen because I asked for both of them. We Fell Apart is the third in this series and I can't wait to read it. I can't remember why I chose Bog Queen but it sounds great. Girls to the Front was from my Secret Santa in Lee's family, which turns out to be my sister in law Libby. She's also really into books and this sounds really up my street. 

Next is this pile of books which I got at the beginning of January from Waterstones. My friend Jac gave me a gift voucher so when my mum and I went to Meadowhall I went and browsed. I love Lucy Foley so picked that one up as I've been seeing reviews of it. I had seen someone rave about All Fours so I thought I would give that a go. This Val McDermid is non fiction so that'll be interesting, and the other two just looked interesting (and were on the buy one get one half price which is always good). 

I DO have a lot of books, yep. I love them. 

And now to my review. I've had this book absolutely forever. I'm from West Yorkshire so I was obviously intrigued by this. I think I backed it or something, like the crowdfunding? I really can't remember, but I've had it a while. And I finally got round to it! It's joyful to read. There was a whole project to capture the stories of tons of queer people living in the region. This book is colourful and pretty but also has some really deep stories in it, from elders who have lived through decades of queer history, to people newly out. I loved it, I'm giving it five out of five and I would recommend it if you need a bit of queer joy. 

Cuddy by Benjamin Myers - Review

This was the book club choice for January and I got a Readers Group copy from the library in like November or something, I dunno, a long time ago. The book was a bit intimidating as it seemed long, and I was concentrating on queer books in January, so I decided to listen to the audiobook instead. Generally in a week I might have a couple of hours where I'm driving and can listen to an audiobook, so I knew I could finish it before the 21st when our meeting was. But then I ended up finishing it in only a couple of weeks as I really liked it and ending up listening to it while I was working too. Listening to it was a joy too because three of the four main parts were narrated by friendly Geordies which was nice. My experience with this made me decide to listen to February's choice for book club, too! More on that later... 

So, Cuddy is the nickname of St Cuthbert, who is the patron saint of Durham Cathedral. This was about the sum total of my knowledge about Cuthbert before I read this book (audiobooks count as reading and it's ableist to suggest otherwise as some people CAN'T read paper or electronic books!) and I expected it to be a novel about him and his life, not dissimilar to Haven by Emma Donoghue which I read back in 2023. Margaret at book club thought the same thing, but no. This is not really a book about St Cuthbert. 

There's a lot of scene setting with quotes about Cuthbert's life and the settling of Durham and the start of the building of the cathedral. I found this a bit dull but I made my way through it to Book 1.

Book 1 is about Ediva, a young woman who is with the band of monks that are taking care of Cuthbert's coffin. When Cuthbert died his body was put inot a stone coffin and removed from Lindisfarne, where he had lived, to the mainland, because of the Viking invaders. Ediva is cook, healer, general dogsbody for the monks. She is somewhat friendly with a young boy, who is also an outsider from the monks, and who has large owl eyes. He is a recurring character through the book, in an odd way. Ediva has visions of where they will set Cuthbert's body down and build a chapel for him - there will be a clearing with a cow. Indeed, this comes to pass, at the bend in the river Wear where Durham Cathedral now sits. 

I liked Ediva; it was interesting to hear her back story and her place within the bank of monks. I liked the faith that they all had that they would find a place worthy of Cuthbert's shrine. I love religious stories like this because I just don't have  that type of faith. This book is set in the tenth century. 

Book 2 was my favourite of the four and lots of people at book club felt the same. It could have been a book in its own right! It's about Eda, a woman who is married to Fletcher Bullard, an archer for the king. This book is set in the 1300s. Fletcher is great at his job, a great archer, well respected etc, but he's also abusive towards Eda. He kicked her so hard once that she has been unable to bear children. She likes it when Fletcher is away from home fighting. She makes beer and takes it to the stonemasons working on the walls of the cathedral. There she meets Francis Rolfe, a mason, who woos her and charms her. I thought that the story would end really badly but loved how it worked out. This part was written in the second person which really gave it immediacy and drew us towards it. 

Book 3 was maybe my least favourite but I still liked it a lot. It's a ghost story set in the 1850s or something like that. A professor at Oxford is invited to Durham to be there when some clerics open Cuthbert's tomb. There's a myth that Cuthbert's body has never decayed and that in the stone coffin it is still whole. The professor is disdainful of the north but arrives in Durham and is greeted by a boy with eyes like an owl's who leads him to his lodgings. But his host, one of the vicars involved, doesn't know this boy. The professor is haunted at night by strange singing in his room. This part owes a lot to writing like The Woman in Black and so on. I didn't love it but it is compelling. 

Book 4 is about Michael. It's set in 2019. Michael is around nineteen years old and is caring for his dying mother. He works as a casual labourer doing back breaking work and he budgets every penny - eating nothing but Pot Noodles - while also kind of wishing for something outside of himself. He gets a job working in the cathedral where talented masons and so on are working on repairs to the ancient building. His life is very much a portrait of Tory Britain at the time which I thought was very effective. I felt really sorry for Michael. At book club, we liked the ending too, and we liked the through motif of Cuthbert spraking to the protagonist of each book. 

In all I'm giving this five out of five, I absolutely loved it and it was a joy to keep me company on my drives!