book reviews !

and she was; jessica verdi

and she was by jessica verdi was fairly interesting, to say the least. the main character, Dara Baker, was very transphobic throughout most of the book.

and she was is about Dara Baker finding out her mother, Mellie, is transgender. she also finds out that Mellie fled from her grandparents to a small town in New York. after this information is revealed to her, Dara goes on a road trip with her bestfriend to find her extended family she never knew about until now.

it honeslty wasn't a great book. when Dara finds out Mellie is trans, she freaks out. Dara even says in the book she'd be supportive of her if she hadn't been lying all this time. Dara treats her mother as she's a monster and tells her that she should've known from the beggining.

now, i undestand that Dara was affected by the news or whatever. but, the way she treats Mellie was absolutely insane. she tells her that she doesn't even know if she could trust her with anything anymore. and treats her with absolute disrespect. calls her selfish for not trusting her with this knowledge.

Dara ends up running away with her bestfriend to find said grandparents. they end up finding them but her bestfriend leaves. she goes to live with the grandparents and comes to realize that oh, there was a reason her mother ran away from them, shocking ! 

Dara finds out that the grandparents put money into causes against the LGBTQ+ community. she also finds out that her grandparents tried to gain full custody over her, only because her mother was trans. and that is the reason why Mellie left.

Dara leaves back to New York, apologizes to her mother, and is no longer transphobic.

what an amazing ending, i tell you.

the only good thing i can say about this bok is that it is somewhat a page turner. it has you wondering what kind of transphobia is lurking on the next page.

thats really all for now. 2/5 stars, wouldn't really recommend unless you're looking to be angry or frustrated.

until next time,
janelle.