If I Was Your Girl

Author: Meredith Russo
Published: May 13th 2016
Publisher: Flatiron Books
My rating: 4/5

Hi guys it's Shani again, back with a book review this time! I've read a lot of books over the last month but there's one that's really stuck with me and that's If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo. This book is absolutely brilliant for various different reasons, but I really enjoyed the realism that Russo embedded within the pages.
The main protagonist of the novel is a girl called Amanda who is transgender and has recently transitioned. This book is largely centered around the LGBTQIA+ community which I really enjoyed, a lot of young adult fiction is involving more of these themes in recent years, and deals with the issues that Amanda faces being a transgender teenager in a world which is critical and cruel. This novel not only outlined trans people's issues but cis-gender people's issues as well, though the book is mainly aimed at an LGBT+ audience, addressing the hardships that a lot of teenagers have to overcome about their sexuality, family issues and friendship groups. What's so good about this book is the fact that it's addressing a subject that all young adults face, growing up and having to make difficult decisions. Russo doesn't gloss over any of the harsh topics, which include LGBT+ issues, suicide, depression and figuring out who you are, which so many authors tend to romanticise. Russo is unapologetic and through Amanda speaks the harsh truth about how our society is judgmental about subjects which they don't really seem to understand. I also love Amanda's character development throughout the novel. At the start she's a very weak willed character, she has a very fragile relationship with her father and she dislikes herself for being transgender. However by the end of the last chapter, Amanda has come to fully accept the person she is, she is unapologetic about her lifestyle and doesn't back down despite some harsh endearments. Russo should be proud of what she has accomplished, I really admire her writing such a complex novel, jam packed with first love, teenage adolescence and the struggles of a young girl trying to find where she belongs in the world. I look forward to whatever she is writing next!