'If i was your girl' by Meredith Russo had a subject that I'd never read about before. I had heard a lot of people talking about the book and it was definitely an interesting read.
It was based on a girl Amanda, who used to be called Andrew. She was badly bullied and even had an attempt of killing herself, but after a very hard time, turned it to a girl.
She goes to a new school and she falls in love with a boy, and overall, she turns into a popular teenage girl with a life that she's dreamed of forever.
Except that she has a huge secret that she used to be a boy.
The book has a very strong message that you are valuable and important as you, whatever gender and sexuality you are.
I think it was a very gripping read with great descriptions and I read it very quickly.
It was very clever how it has extracts from when she was a boy, and how she thought when she was young, this created you to really see inside her head.
I think all the characters were described very well and I liked how they all were very different, which created each of them to have different insecurities and problems, which created the book not just about getting over problems due to your gender, but many others too.
However, I was hoping for a more dramatic ending. Where as it didn't actually tell you what happens with her boyfriend. Although this is quite clever, as it leaves you imagining what all the circumstances were, for me, I wanted to know more. I really liked the character of Grant, her boyfriend, the whole way through, but giving the ending that it does it leaves you wondering if he was just another stereo-typical football player, or someone special who accepted Amanda for who she was.
Having said this, I think the relationships between all of Amanda's friends were portrayed brilliantly and you felt like you got to know all of her friends well especially as they were all very different.
I think it is a book which you can read quickly with not much trouble, but it has very important messages and it is a book which I think many teenagers should be encouraged to read.
It is a YA book and I would recommend it to people age 13-18.
Buy it:
https://usborne.com/browse-books/catalogue/product/1/10221/if-i-was-your-girl/