Book Review: None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio

Title: None of the Above

Author: I.W. Gregorio

Release date: April 7th 2015
Pages: 352
Genres: YA, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
My rating: 4/ 5

Synopsis:

A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she was born intersex... and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.

What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant?

When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She's a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she's madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she's decided that she's ready to take things to the next level with him.

But Kristin's first time isn't the perfect moment she's planned—something is very wrong. A visit to the doctor reveals the truth: Kristin is intersex, which means that though she outwardly looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes, not to mention boy "parts."

Dealing with her body is difficult enough, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin's entire identity is thrown into question. As her world unravels, can she come to terms with her new self?

Goodreads | Amazon | TBD | Barnes & Noble

Review:

I remember having heard some one say that this book was brilliant. So I went into it with considerably elevated expectations. And we all know how that typically goes, but to my surprise, this one definitely delivered said brilliance. 

Im really glad that diverse books are becoming more and more prominent with every passing day. And it really makes me happy to read more books like None Of The Above. With such a substantial topic, it can sometime be arduous to translate it well onto the page. However, I.W. Gregorio wrote a story that was equal parts entertaining and informative. There was such a great balance between the two that can only be described as the perfect articulation of the two. 

I have heard the term "inter-sex" prior to reading this book, but I had only ever seen heard the surface of it. Reading Kristin's story made me feel quite accomplished by the end, due to how informative this book was and how much more educated i feel on the subject. And yes, there's obviously a lot more to learn and comprehend, but this book really does help at understanding the sensitive subject a lot better.

It was really an experience seeing how Kristin's life changed so drastically in a matter of seconds. One can only imagine how terrifying the whole thing must have been for her and I think that the author really portrayed her reaction very clearly and effectively. Not to mention, realistically. Because, I'm sure that in real life, things would go somewhat similar to what Kristin had to deal with. With shock and barely any time to digest all the terms, options and medical procedures that were thrown at her, Kristin did everything she could to not crumble into a million tiny, shattered pieces. On top of all of that, she had to deal with betrayal from the people she loved the most, and with small-minded comments, judgement and ignorant bullying. And it's sad because it shouldn't be like that, you know? People always react rashly upon things that they don't really understand. If people had a more open-minded approach and wouldn't feel the need to belittle and shame other for things that are out of their control things would be drastically better. 

Ok, enough ranting. The point it that this book was very well written in a way that can make you understand the situation and also show you the cruel nature of how people tend to react. Plus, how it affects the person when they have barely any time to adjust. To me the writing style was great and it was fairly easy to read. It's the type of book that will have you hooked from the very beginning. And believe it or not, it had it's funny moments. There was just a balanced amount of everything I love in a book. The reason why I knocked off a star is because I felt that towards the middle it hit a pit of a slow point. Which resulted in the ending being a bit abrupt. In spite of that, it really is a brilliant book; one that everyone should read. 

YouTube Instagram Facebook