Akiva Reads

by Joris Bas Backer

Don't know what to make of the ending, tbh. It goes from "everyone is making bad but realistic choices and they are having realistically mixed results" to "everyone is making such bizarre choices right now... and it's working out great? it solved the conflicts? huh, OK."

wait, to what degree is this a YA-ified teen forced-masc fantasy?? I think I need to read it again before it goes back to the library.

Dec 2023: Reread. I liked the art even more this time - it's simple yet very expressive, and does a lot of creative, unique, sometimes abstract stuff to convey feelings. It also became clearer to me that the ending is just not satisfying - some things wrap up too neatly (the friend getting a bee in her bonnet about getting Jet to go to the gender clinic; there's a big lacuna where Jet comes out to his parents and everything else that happens between "oh wow, it's possible to transition?" and getting your first medical treatment), others barely feel resolved at all (getting prosecuted for stealing the necklace?!). Too bad! I did really like most of this, and I'll have to read more by Backer.