Title: Something Like Gravity
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, LGBTQ
Trigger Warning: Bullying, Homophobia, Transphobia, Misgendering, Language/Slurs, Mentions of Violence
Rating: 3 stars
Release Date: June 18
Synopsis
For fans of Love, Simon and Eleanor & Park, a romantic and sweet novel about a transgender boy who falls in love for the first time—and how first love changes us all—from New York Times bestselling author Amber Smith.Chris and Maia aren’t off to a great start.
A near-fatal car accident first brings them together, and their next encounters don’t fare much better. Chris’s good intentions backfire. Maia’s temper gets the best of her.
But they’re neighbors, at least for the summer, and despite their best efforts, they just can’t seem to stay away from each other.
The path forward isn’t easy. Chris has come out as transgender, but he’s still processing a frightening assault he survived the year before. Maia is grieving the loss of her older sister and trying to find her place in the world without her. Falling in love was the last thing on either of their minds.
But would it be so bad if it happened anyway?
Review
A special thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster's Children's Publishing for providing a free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
This book follows the recovery of two teens after tragic events within their own lives and moving on to cope with these solutions. Chris struggles with his relationship with his mom after coming out as trans, and Maia tries to cope with the death of her sister and her relationship with the rest of the people in her life. I really like the concept of this book and how the two main characters' paths cross back and forth until they collide.
I also like some of the relationships between characters, especially Chris and his aunt and how clear Neil's motivations are throughout the book. The past influencing the present was a really cool idea that I feel was well carried out, as the past really does influence current scenarios. There were flashbacks that interacted well as the character remembered them and just references to things and I was still able to comprehend what was going on and how it worked.
However, there was just not enough stuff going on. I love getting insight into emotions and minds and motivations, but this was to an extreme. How was this book 400 pages? Especially since for the most part, the characters don't end up changing. Maia just pretends to be her sister to Chris and apologizes to one person for one lie out of many. Does she have problems and challenges? Yes, but it really felt like none of them ended up changing. Chris changes a little, but most of this is as a result of actions and changes by people who are rarely mentioned. Like I mentioned above, I liked the concept, but the characters did not feel like active participants in their own story.
Also, while I am not trans and don't want to speak for sure, the portrayal of Chris and his relationship concerned me in the manner that it was treated. Most of it made me uncomfortable, but also it resorted to a trope where SPOILER Maia spies on him after she breaks into his room and sees him changing, which is when she discovers that he is trans, even before they kiss. There is never any repercussion for these alarming behaviors and it made me really uncomfortable to read. Chris' relationship with his mom as she tries to accept him is fascinating, but Maia just made me sick in her behaviors, and most of them seemed transphobic but like they weren't supposed to be written that way. Definitely check out a ownvoices review on this, but I definitely did not view it as positive.
Overall, I feel really mixed about this. Would I read it again? Probably not. I loved the premise, but not enough happened and it felt extremely slow at times. Chris' point of view was really fun to read at times, and him and his aunt had a great dynamic, but I just wanted there to be more that happened within this book as the characters actually took part in their own lives.
Thanks for reading!
Alyssa
This book follows the recovery of two teens after tragic events within their own lives and moving on to cope with these solutions. Chris struggles with his relationship with his mom after coming out as trans, and Maia tries to cope with the death of her sister and her relationship with the rest of the people in her life. I really like the concept of this book and how the two main characters' paths cross back and forth until they collide.
I also like some of the relationships between characters, especially Chris and his aunt and how clear Neil's motivations are throughout the book. The past influencing the present was a really cool idea that I feel was well carried out, as the past really does influence current scenarios. There were flashbacks that interacted well as the character remembered them and just references to things and I was still able to comprehend what was going on and how it worked.
However, there was just not enough stuff going on. I love getting insight into emotions and minds and motivations, but this was to an extreme. How was this book 400 pages? Especially since for the most part, the characters don't end up changing. Maia just pretends to be her sister to Chris and apologizes to one person for one lie out of many. Does she have problems and challenges? Yes, but it really felt like none of them ended up changing. Chris changes a little, but most of this is as a result of actions and changes by people who are rarely mentioned. Like I mentioned above, I liked the concept, but the characters did not feel like active participants in their own story.
Also, while I am not trans and don't want to speak for sure, the portrayal of Chris and his relationship concerned me in the manner that it was treated. Most of it made me uncomfortable, but also it resorted to a trope where SPOILER
Overall, I feel really mixed about this. Would I read it again? Probably not. I loved the premise, but not enough happened and it felt extremely slow at times. Chris' point of view was really fun to read at times, and him and his aunt had a great dynamic, but I just wanted there to be more that happened within this book as the characters actually took part in their own lives.
Thanks for reading!
Alyssa
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