VeganYANerds: Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman

Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman

Published January 30, 2012 by Text Publishing

Source: the publisher

Rating: 5 paws

From the blurb: What do you do when everybody says you’re someone you’re not?
Alex wants change. Massive change. More radical than you could imagine.
Her mother is not happy, in fact she’s imploding. Her dad walked out.Alex has turned vegetarian, ditched one school, enrolled in another, thrown out her clothes. And created a new identity. An identity that changes her world.And Alex—the other Alex—has a lot to say about it.

Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman is the story of fifteen year old Alex Stringfellow. Alex was born intersexed, meaning she had both male and female sexual body parts – in Alex’s case she has ovaries and a small appendage classified as a penis. Her parents were told to watch and decide, based her on behaviour, which sex they should raise her as. Her mother chose male and Alex was put on medication and hormones to suit this. The problem is, Alex has always felt like a girl, but her parents have kept her in the dark in regards to the choice they made. Now Alex is old enough to do something about it, she changes school after a nasty incident, she goes vegetarian, and she starts dressing as a girl – and she enjoys making these decisions. All of these changes cause issues with her parents, particularly her mother, but Alex is determined to do what’s right for herself.

Alex As Well is an amazing story, I was really impressed with how realistic and compelling this story was – I could not put this book down. Alex is a really intelligent girl and she made for an entertaining and honest narrator, who speaks directly to the reader, as if she’s telling us her story. She had so much personality that she was jumping out of the pages at me, and I just wanted her classmates to see her for how awesome she was. For as long as she can remember, there have been two voices inside her head: the male Alex and herself, the female Alex. She’s now taking her life into her own hands and this upsets her mother and causes her father to walk out. I really felt for Alex, it can’t have been easy always feeling alone, being told she was different to other boys and having to put up with her mother. Alex knows that usually when her mother is yelling at her, it’s not even about Alex, it’s about her mum and her life, and this was really sad.

Her mother was awful. She takes all of Alex’s decisions as personal insults, throws tantrums and even hits Alex. We also get her point of view via posts she makes on an online mothers’ forum. I know these were supposed to give us an insight into her feelings and perhaps balance the story, but I still despised her, as well as most of the mothers commenting with praise or stupid advice. But, these posts felt so realistic and they really read like an online forum or blog post, and I found them to be quite funny - particularly the conversation about it being ok to drug your kid by comparing Alex to an alcoholic who can’t make decisions! I want to say I could understand where she was coming from, only I really don’t want to say anything nice about such a nasty woman. I feel that she made the wrong decision, raising Alex as a boy, but I’m sure it would have been a difficult decision to make at the time (there, that was almost nice, wasn't it?)

In a way, Alex As Well reminded me of Creepy & Maud, in that some parents don’t realise the responsibility they have to their children and instead treat them in despicable ways, not caring about the ramifications later in life. I was happy with the direction this story took, in that Alex made friends, got some legal advice, and handled everything in a really mature way, despite how she’d been treated.

Alex As Well is a brilliant coming of age story that deals with friendship, figuring out who you are, and believing that you have a right to be happy. I’d recommend this to YA and adult readers.

Thank you to the lovely people at Text Publishing for my review copy.

This review is part of the Australian Women Writers 2013 Challenge

23 comments:

Anna Scott said...: Great review Mandee. I remember reading another one of her books, The Girl Next Door. I got it out of the library not expecting too much (not sure why, rubbish cover probably)and it was BRILLIANT. Another one with a crap mother in it I think!; 8 February 2013 8:16 am
Keertana said...: Amazing review, Mandee! I love how original this novel is and the realistic portrayal of this issue is remarkable. It's a very different topic, but I'm glad to see it explored for once. I hope I can read this one soon as it's definitely one I'd love to check out.; 8 February 2013 8:24 am
kit said...: This sounds amazing - I've only ever read one other book about someone being intersexed (Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides), and this sounds like an excellent exploration of the issue on a personal level. The mother character seems pretty horrible - and I'm not really a fan of those mum-forums in real life, so I imagine that would just aggravate me even more! Awesome review. :); 8 February 2013 10:44 am
Candace said...: I have to read this. After that review I'm ready to order it immediately. I have read a couple similar books and really enjoyed them. But I also think they are important as there are people like this and so this will help people understand better but also make them feel less alone. Thanks so much for the review!; 8 February 2013 3:37 pm
Bailey said...: Wow this sounds like I really compelling book and its good to know that the author wrote it in a very realistic way. Yay for another vegetarian character! There needs to be more of those. :) Fantastic review Mandee!; 9 February 2013 1:24 am
Carrie at In the Hammock Blog said...: wow, that sounds intense!; 9 February 2013 2:03 am
Brandi Kosiner said...: Realistic and compelling sounds great
Happy reading,
Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog; 9 February 2013 6:42 am
Heidi@Rainy Day Ramblings said...: Oh this sounds really good. I just read a book that had this same idea but it was way different. I agree parenting is such a hard thing and I would very much like ot see how this one plays out. Thanks for the recommendation!; 9 February 2013 6:59 am
Alex (A Girl, Books, OtherThings) said...: I actually want to read this now.
It sounds like I would like Alex and I'm really intrigued about this. I can only imagine how lonely it would be and her mom does sound awful!!

I'll add it to my wishlist; 9 February 2013 2:58 pm
Nomes said...: i have loved alyssa brugman for a long time. my fave of hers is FINDING GRACE but i cant wait to pick up this one from my library and your review for it just shines x; 9 February 2013 8:19 pm
Shirley said...: I've NEVER read a book about an intersexed (wait...that's a word right :/) person, and honestly, I REALLY want to read one! I'm so glad this was realistic...Alex sounds like a character I'm able to easily understand and support :) Her mother on the other hand...even without reading the book, I FREAKING HATE HER. She sounds like the type who sees her child as her property rather than an actual human being who can make her own decisions...urghhh Anyway, great review Mands! I'm so glad you loved this :D; 9 February 2013 8:59 pm
Sam said...: This reminds me of a book I read a few weeks ago - it dealt with the same sort of issue. I like that some authors are brave enough to tackle something so different and beyond the norm. Great review, Mandee!; 9 February 2013 11:21 pm
Jessica@Booked Up! said...: Wow, wonderful review, Mandee! Never in my life have I read a novel about an intersexed person, but I really want to. This is such a difficult topic for an author to approach, so I'm glad that Alyssa Brugman handled it realistically.

The mother sounds like a complete and utter idiot. I know I would despise her just as much as you do, Mandee. And I wouldn't be able to sympathise with her either, despite the forum trying to balance things out.

Thanks so much for sharing this review with us. I am incredibly intrigued!; 10 February 2013 12:36 am
Livvy said...: This sounds really awesome. I don't think I've ever picked up a book quite like it, and I will be trying to get my hands on a copy eventually.

I like the idea of struggling with her gender, because it's a topic so current in todays society and I was reading somewhere that gender is just a social construct.

Hmmm, the mother does sound awful, but that was semi-nice of you Mandee! haha.

Lovely review! :); 10 February 2013 1:10 am
Maji Bookshelf said...: hmm this sounds like a VERY unique book, but Im not sure its ever something i'd read.. Im glad you loved it though! Wonderful review!
- Farah @ MajiBookshelf; 10 February 2013 7:20 am
Rachel said...: Wow, that mother sounds so awful!! Poor Alex! I know this is something that has happened in real life. If Alex felt like a girl, she should be able to choose to be a girl. How can the parents make a permanent decision when a child has parts of both sexes. I don't think any normal mother would want anything but for their child to be happy. I know that's the way I feel. Lovely review Mandee. :); 10 February 2013 9:04 am
Andrea @The Bookish Babes said...: What a brilliant book. It sort of reminds me of Ask the Passengers, except that was about sexuality instead of gender, but both had judgmental moms. I wish everyone would read more books like these. Lovely review!; 10 February 2013 2:19 pm
Rachel @ Unforgettable Books said...: Amazing, terrific, wonderful review! I laughed at you remark " that was almost nice, wasn't it" This book sounds good and interesting, horrible how the mother acted, terrific reasoning on why you disliked the mother character and liked the story.; 13 February 2013 1:24 pm
YA Anonymous said...: Whoa. This is not your usual YA fare -- an underrepresented story for an underrepresented group. Very, very intrigued.; 14 February 2013 12:15 pm
thesideofwonder said...: This book is very intriguing! My 'Want to Read' button on Goodreads has had a good workout tonight after trolling through your reviews
- Annette; 21 February 2013 8:39 pm
Lauren's Loquacious Lit said...: This sounds really awesome. I loved Finding Grace by the same author, who did a really great job of getting us inside the heads of her characters. I'll have to keep my eye out for this one in the library.; 23 February 2013 9:10 pm
Alexa Y. said...: This sounds like such a compelling book! I love that the subject matter is something that I definitely don't encounter very often, and I admire Alex for what she chooses to do.; 2 March 2013 7:00 am
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