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.com
Review
After a bad
experience trying to have sex after prom, Kristin visits her OB/GYN as a
precaution as her mother had died a few years earlier from cervical cancer.
However, the visit is more than she is expecting and after some questions and
an examination, the doctor is suspicious Kristin may have a chromosomal
abnormality which causes her to externally look female, but internally carry
male hormones and have internal male structures. The book covers her life as
she learns to accept her new diagnosis, which she is having a tough time
dealing with. This is all made worse when people at her school find out. The lack of support she receives from her peers, and the start
of bullying, both emotionally and physically at one point, go to show how ignorance
breeds fear and hatred.
Kristin is a
strong character overall, but also allows herself to show weakness. She has a
tough time dealing with all the information being thrown at her all at once,
and goes through the stages of grief as a result. The supporting characters
were also important in the overall shaping of the novel. There are the best
friends, Faith and Vee, who upon discovery of Kristin’s disorder attempt to be
supportive but there is also tension and confusion for them as well. Then there
is her dad, who tries to help in the only way he knows how, by researching
everything from A to Z and offering his own support while encouraging her to
reach out to others who are in the same position as her.
This book proved
informative, while also remaining engaging and entertaining. There were a lot
of important educational messages about AIS, along with messages on bullying
and acceptance. The fact that it was written by a surgeon who has encountered people with this disorder before provides an authentic and likely well
researched novel.
Diverse novels
always leave me with a lot to think about. None of the Above was a particularly
interesting one which brought to the forefront of my mind many a question of
how I would feel in the situation of Kristin. If I had been told that I had
internal male sex organs, or that my chromosomes weren’t the expected XX of a
girl, how would I feel? How would I deal with this knowledge? How would I learn
to adjust to the idea of never carrying a child of my own?
Reading these
kinds of novels are so important for young and old alike, because it teaches us
to empathize and put ourselves in the position of the characters, and just
maybe if we do that in our everyday lives a little more often the world could
be a better place.
SPOILER BELOW
So the romance
between Darren and Kristin seemed somewhat unnecessary to me. I thought they
could have just remained friends, instead of turning it into a romance and
right at the end too. Or if the author was determined to make it into a romantic
relationship then Darren’s girlfriend, who conveniently broke up with him right
before him and Kristin get together seemed such an unnecessary character. She
didn’t really serve any point to the plot, and if Darren had been single for
the book the romance would have come across much more genuine at the end than
the rushed and opportune ending that we were left with. Other than that I did
like their romance and I thought it was particularly sweet, especially since
they had known each other when they were much younger.
My Rating 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment