Thank you for the opportunities to read this book. I have attempted it on a number of occasions but unfortunately I haven’t been able to get into it.

An amazing and relevant read. It was constructed beautifully. Great character development and writing. Loved it!

This book was written at the perfect time. It’s both and educational and emotive read that I would recommend for readers of any age.

What a lovely, wonderful and important book for teens! This book was filled with a wonderful family, good friendships and a new voice to a coming of age story. Being inside the thought of a trans teen was so different and I believe so important for teen readers. The fears and the feelings were so well written that I felt like I knew Mick/Michelle myself. If the topic seems scary or uninteresting to you as a reader, please give this book a try anyway. You will come away understanding that a trans teen is really just a teen with a different story to tell. I thank the author for this Beautiful and important book.

I liked this book well enough, but I didn't especially love it. I don't know if it's good rep or not, but hopefully it helps rather than hurts people.

First off: I'm not an authority on this topic.
Second: THIS WAS GOOD.

I was really afraid this would just be a sad story about how coming out as transgender made everyone turn away from Michelle, but fortunately, it was not!
It was actually quite heartwarming and I wish all trans kids were received as well as this (preferably even better). Some characters reacted badly, but Nina Rossing found just the right balance, making the book both realistic and lovable. Most of the characters really have their own distinct personalities and I fell in love with not just Michelle, but with Ash, their parents and Diego. The Mullins have a really good family dynamic and I'm so happy Michelle has such a good place to come home too.

Michelle is strong, unwavering and authentic. The book is narrated realistically and close to heart, making me feel really sympathetic towards her. She never gives up who she truly is and stays true to herself, which I admire a lot.

The story itself truly read like a passage from her life. The work on her grandfather's house, the visits to her grandfather, the runs with her mum; everything was worked out very well and the world building was excellent. It never gets boring as you really get pulled into Michelle's life.

[ slight spoiler alert ahead. I will put a note to close the spoiler. ]

Michelle's grandfather's reaction is so good. He is exactly what I expect most grandparents would be like when their grandchild comes out as transgender or even as gay.

[ spoilers done. ]

Michelle's story is realistic, strong and lovable. I would 100% recommend this to anyone, as we could all benefit from reading up on this topic.

I really enjoyed this one, I will have to say I am rather ignorant when it comes to the trans community. I am very accepting of it, just never looked further into it. I was really excited to be able to read this mainly because I wanted some insight as to how they may struggle from day to day.
I haven't read any other books regarding trans characters but I feel like it was represented fairly well in this book. Mick the main character has some struggle with coming out to his family and friends and I loved reading about the emotion he held. I hope to be able to read more about Michelle someday

I was unable to review this book because of a conflict in my schedule. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused the publisher or the author of the work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review for you and I look forward to reviewing for you in the future.

I found this book to be rather boring and I skimmed it after the first half, hoping that it would get better, but it didn't. It was just meh. It is 2 1/2 stars to me, but I will put 3 stars on Goodreads.

Rossing writes so clearly and emphatically you really feel for the journey that Michelle is on as she tries to break free from the body of Mick that everyone else sees. The way she talks about how Michelle feels, the things she must do to herself physically, the things she hides from others, her fears, all of it comes off the pages in waves of pain, sadness and confusion. If you aren’t transgendered it really makes you think about the extreme simplistic things we take for granted, that we don’t even think about as we go through our days.

Michelle is given lots of people in her life who know her as Mick, the boy she was born as and lived, and she is trying to hide the truth of her identity from them in order to protect their feelings and her ties to them. Family, friends and even a ‘potential’ love interest are all used to as various pieces to the bigger puzzle of how do you live as your authentic self in a world that might not be ready for it?

Though what she’s going through is very emotional and psychologically confusing, Michelle’s character also has a huge heart in that she considers the welfare of others such as her ailing Grandfather in trying to decide how to live as she was meant to be. To some it may seem selfish that she’s trying to put their happiness ahead of hers but Rossing shows it was about more than that, it was about her love and compassion for others.

As Michelle begins to emerge we are given a very emotional yet genuine impression of what it feels like for her to struggle to be honest to those whose opinions mean the most. The fear and pain that could come if she doesn’t receive the support she needs or the relief and happiness if they accept her. Rossing writes with respect towards the Trans community while managing to provide a heartwarming story without exploiting the very people she’s trying to give a voice to.

I hope anyone who reads this and hasn’t had firsthand experience with someone in the Trans community will gain a better understanding of what they go through so maybe they’ll act with more compassion and respect when given the opportunity.

I really, really, really wanted to love this book. I wanted to be happy to see another book representing lgbt community in a great way, but that isn’t really what I got with Mick & Michelle.

Why I didn’t really like this book:

The writing in this novel felt off.

The writing itself felt disjointed from what a realistic situation would have been like. No matter what the author tried to do to make this feel authentic for me, I just couldn’t see it, because every so often a character would say or do something that seemed pretty off to me and I couldn’t get into the story.

Weird Situations.


There is a part in this novel where a guy catcalls a girl in the street and Mick (truly Michelle) wishes she would one day be catcalled… which paired with the guy (who originally catcalled) basically telling Michelle that girls feel good and enjoy being catcalled because they feel wanted came off as extremely disturbing. This situation and many others made this book a very uncomfortable book to read.

Redeeming Qualities:


The ending was kinda cute.

I liked the ending a bit. If anything it was my favorite part of this novel.

Imperfect Humans:


So while a lot of this story didn’t really make sense to me, the one thing that did make sense was that in the end this story was an imperfect one about imperfect people and while I may not have enjoyed it in the way I wanted to and that’s ok. All human experience is different and even though parts of Michelle’s journey didn’t ring true for me, they could ring true for you.

I have read a few YA books about trans people and the impact that transitioning has on their life but this is the first one that I have come across where the main character had yet to say to their family “oh hey, I am transgender”, and that is what drew me to this book in the first place.

Nina Rossing does a really good job of writing in such a way that even cis readers get a lump in their throat when learning of everything that Michelle is going through whilst trapped in Mick’s body. The thing that hit me most emotionally wasn’t the fear of Michelle’s voice breaking, or that she had a suitcase of clothes under her bed, it was that she was plucking out any hair that might appear in a place that it isn’t stereotypically feminine for them to grow (thanks mainstream media for that one!). I just wanted to hug her so much throughout the entire book.

An important aspect of the book which I don’t think has been tackled so strongly in any of the other fictional stories of trans people that I have read to date is the relationships that are already developed before Michelle came out and how these were impacted as a result. It was, I feel, handled in a very realistic way; sadly enough, not everybody in your life will handle coming out in a positive way. We also see the struggles that even those accepting people have as a result.

I did like this book but the second half was a lot stronger than the first (which was a struggle to get through at times). Definitely a great addition to the LGBT+ representation in this genre and I will definitely be recommending it to others in the future.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This story touches on many important and hard topics but it didn’t feel overstuffed. Nina Rossing did an amazing job in creating a well rounded story about a transgender teen that showed all the problems and hardships that come with coming to terms with being transgender but still show happiness and hope.
Definitely a book people should read to better understand Transgender teenagers.

Full disclosure: I received an ARC through Netgalley

I've mentioned before that I find a lot of Harmony Ink Press's publications read like early drafts, and I'm pleased to say that this one is more neatly written. Technically speaking, it has no glaring issues. I do have problems with the narrative choices, though. Michelle's transition narrative reads like a Trans Issues novel that would have been published two or three years ago, which means as a 2017 or 2018 publication it's a bit backwards. The transmisogyny Michelle faces from family and friends isn't as extreme as it is in some other YA novels, and she isn't subject to assault at any point, but that's as positive as I can be.

I would like to see more trans novels in which at least ONE character doesn't react with confusion and horror when the trans person first comes out-I realize that cis people have a serious overreaction problem, but this novel is set in the modern day, and it seems artificial to me that a trans teen living in a big city would have no contact with other trans people online and not have gravitated even unconsciously toward people who are open to transness. Maybe the thought of positive or neutral reactions to coming out is my own fantasy (although it was also my real-life experience), but there are ENOUGH NOVELS about trans girls SUFFERING.

A bigger problem with the narrative, though, is that the protagonist's parents are both police officers, and she idealizes them and wants to join the police herself. YET, there is no discussion of race, whatsoever. There's no discussion of police brutality. They're in the NYPD, no less. This reads incredibly tone-deaf, especially given the prevalence of police violence against trans women of color (is Michelle really completely ignorant of this issue? Wouldn't this have played into her worries about coming out to her parents even though she's white?) Michelle also describes her friend Diana's arrest for graffiti as "well-deserved". IN WHAT UNIVERSE? In what world is it "well-deserved" for a teenager to be arrested for graffiti? This just made me incredibly uncomfortable.

Final note: the author is European and you can tell, because everyone in the novel speaks UK English. It just adds to the sense of disconnect between current American issues and the setting of these novel.

I came across the book by chance whilst browsing netgalley’s LGBTQIA one evening, downloaded after skimming the blurb, and devoured it in less than two days - a rare feat these days.

The book tells of Mich Mullins, the 15 year old youngest child of two cop parents. As a notorious good kid, Mich is constantly pointed out as a very well behaved boy by family and friends, and grandfather alike - the perfect son. The thing is though, Mich is a girl, and her name is Michelle.

We follow Mich's first person narrative through a warm summer holiday between sophomore and junior year of high school, visiting grandfather Mick in his nursing home and clearing out his old home. We follow Michelle through the same summer, as she becomes increasingly aware of the fact that her time is running out. Puberty is well away, and every day brings her closer to irreversible strides towards "manhood" she would rather be without.

What I will say, is that overall, I honestly really liked the book. Michelle's hopes and fears for her future and fore her life; the issues and obstacles that are either brought up, or that she has to work through her self; the reactions she faces when people learn of her truth, both good and bad. Most of all I loved the ending - spoiler allert, it's a happy one.

Concidering the world we live in, writing a book about trans stories that is happy yet true can be difficult, but I feel Nina Rossing did good. Her story manages to maintain a ballance between good and bad, whilst focusing, for the most part, on the positive. It doesn't ignore or overlook the problems one can face as a trans person, but for most part the focus remains on Michelle's life, her sister, her parents, and the friends that stick around.

I was bothered by the rather ableist language that popped up at times - presented as angry or insulting dialogue, for reasons and in ways kids really do use them, but still there, and still, possibly and probably, hurtful for for people affected by them. I am well aware of how normalized this kind of language has become, but I really wish it wasn't so, and that we could do better.

Whilst Michelle’s life could hardly differ more from my own, I still found myself relating more and more to her character and her feelings as the story progress. The feelings of fear, doubt, guilt, and despair are all far too familiar; the feeling that time is running out, of having to do something, but not quite knowing how to start, and how to proceed. I’d be lying if I said my eyes stayed dry throughout.

Review on my blog http://entertainmelgbt.tumblr.com/post/166241718722/mick-and-michelle

Mick is a 15-year-old boy, but not really. Physically, he is male, but inside he's a girl. Through a summer of renovating his grandpa's house, Mick struggles with his body's developments, and how to approach the subject of his gender identification with this family and friends.

My heart breaks for those who feels like Mick; who feel like they were born in the wrong body. That being said, I didn't much like this book. There was hardly any story here apart from Mick/Michelle's inner turmoil, and thought provoking as it was, it got a little boring in the long run. I had hoped it was just a slow start, but it never really kicked in until ~75%, and not even really, then. I had hoped it would include more than a summer so that we could experience Mick/Michelle's budding transformation and his/her high school experience as a transgender kid.

This story touches on many topics, exercise addiction, abortion, drugs, gender identity, to name a few and not all of those are to do with the main character.

This author has a knack for creating three dimensional characters, and bringing the entire cast to life, including those who make minor appearances. While on one hand that’s something to be admired, on the other, it left me with too many questions. What became of Michelle’s marathon obsessed mother, her promiscuous sister, overweight father, grandfather, her mother’s ex-husband (don’t ask) and son… and on and on?

While the ending certainly sounded hopeful, I was still left to decide for myself what became of everyone.

This part of the authors bio sums the tone of this book up perfectly.
- She (Nina) prefers creating young adult stories where obstacles are overcome and endings are hopeful.

Would I recommend this book? You betcha.

Copy provided by the publisher, via NetGalley