[I received a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.]

A collection of essays by and about nonbinary authors. (Incidentally, July 14 is International Nonbinary People's day, so I guess this review comes at just about the right time.) There’s more than just “either man or woman”, and I wish this was more understood, all the more because I have a hard time with the current of hostility exhibited by some people whenever they can’t put others in neat little boxes (doesn’t only apply to gender, but the latter is a definitely a sore spot).

The essays range across a variety of people and assigned genders, and show well that “nonbinary” is not something that only “happens” in specific places, or to specific people. There’s too often a tendency to see all things enby or trans as a “phase”, as something that people should “grow out of”. Here, not all authors are younger people who may be called “too young to know” and who will “stop being confused and change their minds”, the way the usual narrative goes whenever the two little boxes I mentioned above cannot be ticked. Half the authors are at least in their 30s, or even born in the 1950s-60, which goes to show that it’s not a generation thing. The same way, “non-binary” is too often seen as “assigned female as birth who now presents as androgyne”, when the truth is that this concerns many other kinds of people, across all ages, origins, colour and sexuality.

It was really interesting for me to see how all these authors came to understand they were nonbinary. For some, it was obvious very early, others had more trouble putting a name on it, or thought they were looking for transition, and so on. We are formatted from a very young age to see ourselves as either boy or girl, and this formatting can have a strong impact, in that it’s not so easy to sort out what we feel, and the spectre of “having to be normal” weighs heavily. Because you don’t feel like a boy doesn’t mean you’re a cis girl, and conversely. And more visibility (and less dismissal) in general for nonbinary people would be a welcome thing.

In terms of diversity, the one thing I regret here is that it felt like a very US-centric collection, so it doesn’t shed light about what being non-binary may entail in other parts of the world. Maybe it wasn’t possible to get authors from other countries, or maybe it was overlooked? I was also not too thrilled with the chapter told by the parent of a nonbinary teen; I would’ve been more interested in having the direct point of view of Bailey themselves as well, also as someone with the perspective of a teenager.

The start of a new school year. Yoshino makes a new friend, Sarashina Chizuru (I'm calling her Chizuru from here on out), a girl who showed up to the entrance ceremony in a boy's uniform just because she felt like it. Yoshino also has to deal with more unwelcome physical developments: she now needs a bra. Meanwhile, Shuichi is fretting about his voice eventually changing. The class decides (or is strongly encouraged by their teacher) to put on a play, which Shuichi and Saori will be writing together. Shuichi still isn't over Yoshino, and Saori isn't over Shuichi.

I'm “meh” about the romance drama, although I care about the characters enough to want to see where everything is going.

The new teacher is...um. Maybe not the best. And probably in over his head. He's a first-year teacher and a bit of a flake. He keeps arriving to school late, and he mentally matched every student in his class up with kids he used to know when he was in school, thereby handily prejudging everyone. He also pressured Shuichi and Saori into turning the class play into a mystery. He isn't very professional and seems very flawed. I'm worried he's going to somehow make the series' relationship messiness even worse.

Chizuru is strange. She seems oblivious to a lot of things, but she does try. When she realizes that Saori doesn't like it when she touches her, she stops. She doesn't seem to “get” Yoshino, though.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Shuichi quits modeling due to issues with a girl in the group, Sueanna. Unfortunately, Maho becomes best friends with Sueanna, oblivious to the hurtful things she's said to Shuichi. Maho is upset that everyone seems to be falling for Shuichi. Meanwhile, Shuichi thinks

This volume is so incredibly messy and complicated. There's so much going on that even the stuff that should be painful to read just isn't. There isn't enough time to stop and process everything.

I think I've overloaded on drama. I'm also getting super frustrated. We have gender, sexuality, and general “coming of age” stuff going on here, and the drama of it all is overwhelming. We finally learn that Saori

I hate to say this, but at this point Shuichi comes across as kind of annoying, writing “poor me”-type stories. I have a feeling Teenage Me would have taken all of this much better than Adult Me. In part because Teenage Me wrote "poor me" stories too.

The volume's ending reminded me how very gendered high school uniforms are. I'm sure high school will be just wonderful for everybody.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

Maho drags Shuichi to her audition and asks to be accepted or rejected as a set. They're accepted, but their new modeling gig turns out to be both excitement and torture for poor Shuichi. Also for Maho, who is gradually beginning to understand that she is maybe being cruel towards Shuichi because she's hurt that Riku likes Shuichi more. She arranges a date for Riku and Shuichi, and

Mako-chan seems to be one of the most emotionally stable characters in the series, steady even when he takes on Maho at her worst. After she almost calls him a faggot:

“You were just about to leave a scar on my heart that would never heal. And I would never have forgiven you for it. But you stopped yourself first, so I'll let it slide.” (136)

Yuki's overly touchy feely behavior bothered me since her introduction, and in this volume Yoshino reached her breaking point, becoming so uncomfortable that she tried to slip away from Yuki's place without telling her. If I had been Yoshino, I probably would have too. No matter what Yuki, Shuichi, and Yoshino all have in common, Yuki is still an adult with a sometimes screwed up sense of boundaries.

In this volume we learn that Yuki's relationship with her parents isn't very good. Maho's near slip-up with Mako-chan and her behavior lately with Shuichi makes me worry about what Shuichi's relationship with his own family might be like in the future. I worry about what's going through Maho's head.

I wish Shuichi were more outspoken. He just allows Maho to drag him wherever she wants, never saying what he wants. Does he want to be a model? Does he want to date Riku? Then again, the problem may be that he doesn't know what he wants, or is afraid to say his wishes aloud. But, ugh, it's frustrating to watch.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

All the characters are in the 6th grade now, and Saori is in a different class than everybody she got to know in volume 1. Shuichi buys himself a wig for his and Yoshino's outings. They befriend Yuki, who turns out to be a trans woman. Seya Riku, a classmate of Shuichi's sister,

This was my favorite volume of the ones I read during my vacation, in large part because of a few quotes I liked so much that I felt the need to record them in my notes. Here's the first one, said by a drunken Yuki to Yoshino and Shuichi:

“You two are so lucky. I wish I had had a friend like me.” (120)

I can only imagine how tough it must have been for Yuki, growing up. And then there's this one, said by Saori after she dumped her food on a jerk who was picking on Shuichi:

“I apologize to the people who prepared this food. But I will never apologize to you!” (I have no page number for this one, for some reason)

I'm still not sure what to think about Saori, who is an odd mix of supportive and self-centered. However, this part was awesome, even if it did get her in trouble. Shuichi had to deal with an awful bully who made fun of him for squealing when the bully started to strip him (what the hell? I was so mad for poor Shuichi).

Yuki's boyfriend made me...uncomfortable. Grabbing a teen's crotch, even one you thought your girlfriend was cheating on you with, is not cool.

In general, one thing I loved about this volume was that Shuichi and Yoshino were slowly amassing a support network. I hope that it's enough to get them through whatever future volumes throw at them.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)