Honestly, I wasn't drawn into this book. I think other readers may enjoy it, but perhaps it was not at the right time for me. I don't think the writing style was for me either. It's great that there is a historical note. I think that I may pick up this book again at a later time.

This YA contemporary in verse follows two queer best friends who fall in love while coming to terms with their identities as trans boys. When one of them moves away, the two seek comfort by digging into queer history. In doing so, they become taken with the tale of two Revolutionary War soldiers rumored to be two trans men in love. Feeling a need to honor this piece of history, the two adopt the soldiers’ names for themselves—Aaron and Oliver—and delve deeper into queer and trans history together.

A Million Quiet Revolutions is a thoughtful queer love story that has a dreamy and lyrical tone thanks to its verse structure; much of the novel takes the form of letters between the two boys. Aaron and Oliver fluidly go from friends to boyfriends, and they experience many major moments together: coming out, changing their names, purchasing their first binders. While first and foremost a romance, the novel also tackles many heavier topics: Aaron’s family has recently moved in the aftermath of his older brother coming forward about sexual abuse within their church. Aaron is struggling to understand what his brother is going through and is trying to adjust to a new school, while also struggling with a family that isn’t as supportive as Oliver’s. Both Aaron and Oliver are trying to adapt to being apart and their relationship changes shape as they figure out what they want.

In terms of representation, both Aaron and Oliver are gay transgender boys. Aaron is Puerto-Rican, while Oliver is white and Jewish, and there are minor characters who are queer and/or BIPOC. It should be noted that the book does deal with sexual abuse, homophobia, and transphobia. There is sex scene included (that models consent and healthy communication!); librarians may want to take this into account when recommending, as younger readers may not be ready for such content.

Overall, A Million Quiet Revolutions is a poetic, beautiful, and lyrical YA romance that is also a love letter to queer and trans history. It is about the power of finding yourself reflected in stories and about reclaiming our stories. Readers who enjoy verse novels like Me (Moth), Every Body Looking, or The Black Flamingo will enjoy this one. I will also be recommending it to fans of Anna-Marie McLemore, Elizabeth Acevedo, and Aiden Thomas. A Million Quiet Revolutions is an excellent purchase for public and high school libraries, and Robin Gow is an author to watch.

My heart was filled when I finished this book. This was such an amazing book and I can’t wait to put it in my classroom room library. The writing is beautiful and I feel in love with both characters. Recommend this book to everyone.

4.5 stars

Beautiful story and the verse worked well. The two main characters were so well done as they grappled with their identity and growing up.
At the beginning it was hard to tell which character was which and the ending felt a little abrupt but otherwise a wonderful read.

To say A Million Quiet Revolutions is a beautiful books is an understatement. Their connection felt to real to me and I appreciated the deep interest in queer history that was shown. My only complaint is that I sometimes found it difficult to keep the POVs straight.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-arc.

I absolutely adored this fictional trans romance exploring history through verse, letter writing, text, and more. I've not read anything from Gow, but after my experience with this novel, I would check out more of their works. Aaron and Oliver are finding their way through the world, figuring out their identities and how to let those out. Gow covers the intricacies of family dynamics, particularly where queer youth are concerned, navigating cultural aspects as well.
I have loved some of the queer histories published recently that have taken a deep dive into where queerness was missed historically. These non-fiction stories have uncovered accounts from people who were very much queer, reminding us how underrepresented queer stories have been throughout history. These stories remind us that we are not alone, that we are not strange, that queer people have been around forever. Gow's A Million Quiet Revolutions is a love story to the possibilities that the lack of history show us. The boys theorize throughout their story about queerness in history, and how freeing it can be to think that there is a much more rich history than has been documented.
The pacing of this book is slower, and I found that I had to stay on top of reading titles, headings, and other information that I often skip over in order to get an accurate picture of which character was conveying what. They are distinct characters, but if I wasn't careful, I found that their voices could get jumbled up together. Despite reading this carefully, this book didn't feel too long, which I think is due in part to the verse, text messages, and other styles besides prose that filled the pages.

Overall Rating: 4/5

Characters: 5/5
All the characters are definitely raw and extremely relatable.

Writing Style: 5/5
I really loved the writing style! Reading a book written in verse was definitely a new experience, but I enjoyed it!

Romance: 5/5
The romance in this book was the perfect amount. It left enough room to focus on the main characters and the trials and societal pressures placed on them throughout the book.

Read if you:
like pain
love poetry
want a book with a diverse cast of characters

I was delighted to discover that A MILLION QUIET REVOLUTIONS is a novel in verse! Somehow I missed that when I agreed to review it, and as soon as I started reading the lines of poetry, I was immediately carried away by the story of these two boys.

I loved the connection between their present day lives and the things they read about Revolutionary War soldiers who may have been transgender. The story mentions reports of some women who dressed as men to fight and then continued to live as men after the war. There wasn’t language for those soldiers to describe themselves as transgender, and the author is clear to point out that we don’t know for sure what their intentions or reasons were. It made an interesting thing to think about and kind of pointed up the fact that being transgender, while the term may be relatively new, the identity isn’t.

The story flips back and forth between Aaron and Oliver’s points of view, relating things they experience and think about in sparse, emotive verse. Oliver’s parents are supportive of his identity, but Aaron’s parents are not. The journey through the experiences of both definitely communicated moments of pain and validation for each of them. I thought the relationships between characters, especially the boys and their families, felt real and layered.

On the whole, I very much enjoyed reading this book. I read the whole thing in one sitting because I really wanted to keep going all the way until the end of the story. I think readers who enjoyed JESS, CHUNK AND THE ROAD TRIP TO INFINITY or MUSIC FROM ANOTHER WORLD should check this one out, too.

This book. Wow, it's hard to come up with words to describe this tender, trans* coming of age story. I quickly fell in love with Aaron and Oliver and was rooting for them throughout the book. Lyrical novels are one of my favorite formats and this one did not disappoint! I love that Aaron and Oliver sought out transgender people throughout history in an attempt to help them claim space in the present. I highly recommend this beautiful, lyrical novel!

Favorite Quotes:
~ "There's never anything about people like us...so I want to write stories that show we exist."
~ "I feel lke the only way to exist as a queer person here is to hide."
~ "I'm really thankful for that pin-for symbols we have to show other queer people where we are."
~ "This reminds me that even in the hardest times we can find ways to uplift each other."
~ "Why do our stories always have to be ones of suffering and longing? I want to end happy with you."

Written in verse, this debut YA novel follows a couple approaching their high school graduation as they are realizing their identities as trans boys and find comfort in the story of two Revolutionary War soldiers that they believe are trans men in love. They lean on each other as they deal with coming out to those around them and how people like them have been erased from history.

TW: transphobia/queerphobia, mentions of molestation.

This is such a great story that will resonate with the queer youth. Aaron and Oliver have a sweet relationship, that also manages to stay realistic as they have to spend time apart. They each have their own anxieties about different aspects of their identities, but they're never dismissive of themselves. Aaron in particular is dealing with the stresses of coming from a stricter and more religious family that is not as accepting of his identity, which was sad to read but I felt was handled well and realistically. I really enjoyed Oliver's dives into queer history, particularly that of the American Revolution, so much so that I am interested in doing my own research into queer people at the time. The author provided plenty of resources in the back of the book to do so!

Overall, this is a YA novel that I will be highly recommending to just about everyone, but especially to queer teens.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for giving me access to an eARC of Robin Gow’s A Million Quiet Revolutions in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Million Quiet Revolutions by Robin Gow is a phenomenal coming of age novel in verse about two teenage trans boys who have been intertwined since childhood and have to part ways when Aaron moves due to a family emergency. Oliver and Aaron name themselves after Revolutionary War soldiers Oliver researched and believes were transgender men who were in love with each other. An important topic in this book is the fact that transgender people have always existed, they just haven’t always been acknowledged, and there have been different words to describe trans and queer experiences throughout time.

There are serious topics discussed in this book. One of these topics is the difference between Oliver’s coming out story and Aaron’s coming out story. One family is more accepting while the other takes more time to become accepting. Another serious topic is the different experiences Aaron, a Puerto Rican Catholic gay trans teenage boy and Oliver, a Jewish trans teenage boy, have living in a small town. Other serious topics discussed include transphobia, sexual assault, racism, and more.

At the beginning of the story, Oliver and Aaron’s point of views are very similar and become more different later on. I wonder if it was by design to show that they were intertwined when they lived in such close proximity, but when they are separated, they learn to flourish into their own people. Something else that I liked was the use of multimedia correspondence. It's one of the things I love about novels in verse: the room for creativity. Readers get the characters’ thoughts, texts, letters, and art which adds to readers’ understanding of the characters.

5 out of 5 stars.

A Million Quiet Revolutions by Robin Gow is out now!

This book very much is about the growing pains of going through coming out, and learning how to navigate that within yourself and with people who are also experiencing it, but maybe aren’t ready/can’t fully be themselves yet. I think the author has crafted an incredible story that many young queer people will find deeply relatable and a place to see themselves. I loved that there were no deadnames on page <3. I loved the unique format of telling the story through prose and the incorporation of letters and drawings as well later on in the story. I like that we can see Oliver and Aaron deal with questioning/discovering their genders and sexuality through the lense of the world around them and how it relates back to things within their cultures and religions. I loved the incorporation of queer history through the book as the boys are discovering it and how it pertains to their journey. This book was heart-wrenching and beautiful.

TW: transphobia (briefly mentioned, within family groups), homophobia, child/ sexual abuse (specifically within the church), deadnaming mention with-in family, misgendering with-in family, sexual assault mention, sexual content

This is such a powerful book that I think is a must-have for high school classroom libraries.

At first, I thought that the poems in this novel-in-verse were a little too narrative, but they grew on me over time. I do think some pieces are stronger than others, but I think they also build a solid narrative whole.

I really like that the author uses side of the page as a means to delineate the two narrative voices, instead of poem style or structure. This allows the author to play a little more and creates an extra intensity in the pieces. Formatting WAS a little interesting here, and I will be interested to see the final form of the novel when it drops in print next week. (I will be picking up a physical copy, which is very rare for me with eARCs.)

I do think the ending does fizzle out a little, but it is a minor quibble with what is otherwise a very strong piece.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Million Quiet Revolutions is a novel in verse which follows two trans boys through their senior year of high school, as they navigate their own identities, new family dynamics, romance, and unwritten history.

This book was sweet, romantic, sad, heartwarming, and just all around beautiful. Aaron and Oliver both had very different journeys, and yet we were shown both where they were different and where they overlapped. The writing was soft, gentle, loving. The plot itself was incredibly character-driven, and leaned into moments that weren't entirely linear for the sake of deepening our understanding of the characters. I particularly enjoyed part 2, in which Aaron and Oliver exchange letters, as the emotional conflict of their story deepens.

I loved this quick, thought-provoking, important story, and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a swift, sweet, important read.

4.5 stars

Aaron and Oliver have shared a lot together. As two of the few queer teens in their small towns, they were a lot of each other’s firsts. They came out as trans to each other, finding their first binders, finding new names. And now, they might just be falling for each other.

However, before their new romantic relationship can fully blossom, Aaron moves away. The two promise to keep in touch despite the distance with written letters. Like Oliver’s inspirations from queer history, specifically the Revolutionary War. They are each other’s solace and comfort. However, as they grow up in different places, will their love stay strong? Or will they start to drift apart?

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s for an advanced copy of this to review! Immediately drawn in by the cover, I knew this was a book that needed to be on my radar. And for good reason! I don’t think there’s another book quite like it in the YA market, and it is the perfect time for it.

To start, this is a novel in verse, which I definitely didn’t realize before picking it up. But no matter! I absolutely love novels in verse. For Aaron and Oliver’s story, I also think it works really well. There’s an entire section in the middle that is basically told just from their letters, and it’s beautifully done. The formatting also helps in distinquishing between their voices when we get different points of view.

Even though this is a novel in verse, you still get incredible emotion from the main characters, which isn’t always easy to do. You come to care about them as you read, rooting for them to make it, to be together. They’re just two queer teens trying to figure themselves out, and what a wonderful journey it is.

Finally, one of my favorie things about this is Oliver’s determination to find queer people throughout history is inspiring. And also enlightening. You know there were LGBTQ+ people at every moment of important history, but too often their stories are silenced. And Oliver wants to make sure they get told, which is it’s own kind of revolution in itself.

All in all, if you love emotional, moving novels in verse, this is definitely one you should pick up at the end of the month!

Beautifully written coming of age story. This book is written in verse and flows well. I'm normally not a fan of books written in verse, but I enjoyed this one.

There is a lot of history throughout the books, so I thought that was a nice surprise.

I received an ebook arc, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved this book - writing in almost poetic form if reminded me very much of the writing style in Poet X. The flow is captivating and an easy book to keep reading and reading and reading. I love the topics - love, transgender, heartache, confusion and more. An absolute much read to help understand, foster and facilitate conversations we MUST be having about being transgender

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A Million Quiet Revolutions is beautifully written. It's an absolutely gorgeous story about two trans boys who are finding themselves and growing in both life and love. It brings together the past and present to help paint the picture of the boys love for each other. The characters are multi-dimensional with flaws and imperfections showing them as whole and complex beings. The story, the writing, the imagery.. it's all stunning. What an incredibly written book.

Throughout the whole book we see the contrast between Oliver and Aaron's lives. One boy is accepted and supported by his friends and family, while the other boy is part of a family who refuses to acknowledge him as who he really is. The relationship between Oliver and his mom is so adorable. I was so thankful Oliver had a family who supported him even if they didn't understand what he was going through.

Written entirely in verse, A Million Quiet Revolutions is exactly the story you want when looking for a fresh taste of love and hope.

3.5 stars
This was a powerful, beautifully written novel-in-verse following Aaron and Oliver as they discover who they truly are, both as individuals and to each other. We get both character’s perspectives in the book, and in the middle we get communication via letters. I should start out by saying that novels-in-verse are not my favorite kinds to read, simple because they lack the depth that I desire from my characters, but this one was still really well done, though we don’t get the development we would with a standard novel. I really loved the discussion of diverse history in this book; their discovery of the past Aaron and Oliver really spurred the whole book. There’s also the big theme of the two being accepted by their families. This was a quick, but powerful, book, and I’d recommend it!

Oh my gosh, this story broke my heart and repaired it all in the same breath! I loved the way this story is told in prose, with letters and poems, voicemails and texts. Oliver had a special place in my heart for his patience with everyone around him. I will admit, I wish that Aaron had come around sooner rather than later. I really love the way the characters talk about everything going on with them through the story. Probably my favorite thing about the story is the way transness and queer stories are talked about, how just because they didn't get written down, doesn't mean they didn't exist. I even cried a couple of times. I loved all of it.