A solid coming of age story and i can respect the history that went in to it, but i didn't really like the characters used to tell it besides the main character. Idk why there had to be a romance, could they not have just been friends.

Archived prior to being able to read the book. Lost interest in trying to pick it up. I was originally interested but as it sat in my library, I did not feel the summary grabbed my attention anymore.

The cover of this book really drew me in. Just by looking at it I could feel the absolutely heartbreaking and beautiful subject matter that it carries. The Edge of Being is such an important story, that NEEDS to be told. This was inspiring and heartfelt and will be sticking with me for a good long while.

I think this is important in it's mental health conversations, but I found it just "okay" as a coming of age story and feel there are other books out there doing that theme better.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Idk about this one. I did like parts of it. But some of it made no sense and was annoying.

SO this book is about Isaac finding out more about his missing bio parent who was only with his mother for a short time. The two were separated before Isaac's mother found out she was pregnant and could inform Isaac's parent.

We find out Isaac's other bio parent was a trans woman who played a key role in the queer scene of San Francisco. But Isaac misgenders her a bunch. Keeps calling her Dad which she might not like. And then even though all these older queers tell Isaac she was a woman and started going by she/her, Isaac uses they/them for her for a while. It was really annoying. When you know someone's pronouns and intentionally use they/them when those are wrong, that IS misgendering.

Isaac also spends a good majority of this book saying all his problems are because of his missing parent. He is constantly hung up about his missing parent, but his mother is incredibly supportive of him. He has no reason to say all these things about his missing parent, who he has never known. There are plenty of kids that grew up with one parent and don't blame all their problems on not having a second parent.

Something else that bothered me was that even though Isaac is queer himself, he has such a heternormative view of parents. Like he is given evidence (literal queer history) of different types of parenting and still is like parents = one mother and one father. It was really annoying. And he definitely reduced his trans parent to being a sperm donor essentially. :/

The other thing that was annoying was how Isaac pushed everyone who cared about him away. He treats his boyfriend horribly the whole book, even though his boyfriend was half the reason Isaac could even go on this wild goose chase for his missing parent.

There's some great queer history in this book, but Isaac really makes it hard to root for or even sympathize with him. He spends all of this book complaining and not really trying to make things better for himself. He also doesn't change by the end of the book. It felt like the trip taught him nothing.

TLDR: this was not for me. Read if you can stand super whiny boys :/

Rep: white pansexual cis male MC with anxiety, white cis female side character who self harms, queer Black cis male side character, white bisexual cis female side character, white queer trans female side character, Latina trans female side character, various trans side characters.

CWs: Mental illness (anxiety), self harm depictions, transphobia/transmisia, queerphobia/queermisia, physical and emotional abuse (parent/child side character), misgendering.

I wasn´t the biggest fan of the cover, but I ended up enjoying the story well enough. At times it felt a bit much, like there was one or two things happening TOO MUCH, but overall a nice story.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

I love the exploration of relationships and growth, complicatedness of relationships, family, connection and belongingness. It was heart wrenching to read at times but the characters are just beautiful and endearing. I'm not one to drive across the country to look for someone but I understood that need for connection and belonging.

i'm... not quite sure how to feel about this one. on one hand i wanted to enjoy it sheerly for the story of searching for a loved-one, learning the queer history of california. on the other hand, i feel like *so much* happens, and not really in the best way. it almost felt like things were thrown left and right at the reader for the sake of an almost shock factor effect. for such a short book, so much is there. and i couldn't really connect with the characters all that well, which made me feel so disconnected from the story, from their struggles. idk...

This was such a delightful read! The setting made for a great time and I'm glad I got to learn a bit more about the history of it. The representation was casual but done well and I loved all of the characters. They were very enjoyable and made rhe book. This is definitely a hidden gem of a novel.

TW: Self Harm, Suicide Attempt, alcohol, abuse, drugs, hospitalization

Thoughts and Themes: I really enjoyed Ziggy, Stardust, and Me so when I saw the author had come out with another book I knew I had to read it. When I found out the audiobook is read by the author I decided I wanted to listen to the book rather than read the e-book version.

Something that I really enjoy about this book is the way that it integrates Queer history throughout the story. There were a lot of pieces that I knew about briefly but not extensively and these pieces sparked interest in learning more. I really like this aspect because this is meant for Queer youth to read so it’s nice knowing they would learn history along with reading this story.

Something else that I really enjoyed about this book was that while it is a coming of age story, it isn’t a coming out story. I like how all three of the main characters are trying to figure out their lives and the missing pieces in each of them. I also like how each of them are trying to use other people to fill that void, and how this doesn’t turn out how they planned.

Characters: In this book you are introduced to our main character, Fig, his boyfriend, Christopher, a friend of his, Charlie, and a girl that they met along their journey, Max. You are also introduced to several characters that Fig comes into contact with on his journey to find his dad.

I really liked all of the characters that you are introduced to throughout this book. I liked the relationship between Fig and Christopher and how this changes throughout the book. I liked how real their relationship is and how messy they are with each other. I like how you see them both trying to hold onto something that isn’t there, and while you hope for the best for them you also hope they find themselves without the other one.

I also really enjoyed the relationship that develops between Max and Fig and how this shifts throughout the story. I liked seeing how each of them understands the other and how they just clicked right from meeting each other. I just like how easy it was for Fig to trust Max, and how she just takes it all in and vice versa.

Writing Style: This book is written in first person through the perspective of Fig. I really enjoyed this being told through his perspective because you don’t get a chance to see how other people feel. I like that we are inside of Fig’s head as he is figuring out things for himself especially when he locks others out.

I'm sorry to say but I DNF'd this one. I couldn't sit down and read the ebook when I thought the main character was horrible and I didn't understand why he was complaining constantly. I didn't get very far, so maybe I will try to read this again someday if I am able to find an audio version so I can get through it faster I might end up liking it.

I usually put trigger warnings at the end, but I'm going to put them here, at the top, because I was majorly unprepared and don't want anyone else to be, either.

Trigger Warnings: depictions of self-harm (cutting), talk of suicidal ideation, dismissal of mental illness of a side character, physical and emotional abuse of a side character, discussion of sexual assault of a side character, transphobia, queerphobia, misgendering

The Edge of Being follows Isaac (nicknamed Fig) on his search for his father. Feeling lost without his dad, and not really knowing what he wants to do with his life, he decides to take his boyfriend and follow the trail of clues his dad left behind. Except in the middle of his road trip to San Francisco, his car breaks down and he meets a girl named Max who offers them a ride. And while Fig and Max start forming a closer relationship, cracks in his relationship with his boyfriend start to grow larger and larger. And Fig feels more lost than ever before.

I finished this book with an overwhelming feeling of whiplash. I think this book had a lot of strands it was trying to follow through with — Fig's relationship with his boyfriend, his growing feelings for Max, his search for his dad, and his understanding of himself — and it just ended up being too much. I would have really liked to have seen less things thrown in there for shock value, and more development on maybe one or two aspects. And while I liked the overall feeling and understanding Fig comes to about his dad, I wish it happened sooner.

I loved the way queer history before Stonewall was worked in. I really enjoyed how the past and present collide, and how I was able to learn along with Fig about all these riots and protests and the key role trans women played in them.

What I was not a big fan of in terms of the queer rep, though, was how it had the pansexual MC lowkey cheat on his boyfriend? I mean, no matter your sexuality, that's just... not a great thing to do. But (and speaking as someone who is NOT pan or bi) I really wish that was less of a plot point. I think it could have been so much more impactful had the boyfriend (I forget his name) either (a) not existent (b) already be broken up with or (c) just be another friend. I don't think it's a good look to have the main character fall in love with someone else while still in a relationship — especially considering how it unwittingly falls into the stereotype of people who like more than one gender being unfaithful.

I don't not recommend this book — it had a lot of great history worked in, and I don't think there's much other media like it. However, I really did not enjoy how much of the plot rested on extreme drama and events, and I felt there was a lot of undeveloped space of actual self-exploration.

I loved this story of love and struggle, I highly enjoyed this novel. The writing style made the experience so much better,

The Edge of Being is a unique YA queer coming of age contemporary novel. Isaac grew up without his father, later realizing something was missing he set out to find his father. Something I relate deeply to as I have similar familial issues. He travels to San Francisco and discovers many things along the way.
The Edge of being delivers a heart warming story about a young man on a path of self discovery that features diverse themes throughout the book. This story also has roots in history, and I even found myself learning some things about life along the way. I really enjoyed this story and thought it delivered on all fronts.

I highly recommend picking up The Edge of Being for your next queer YA book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
3.5/5 STARS

This is a YA queer contemporary coming of age.

Isaac grew up without ever knowing his father. Realizing that something was missing in his life, he goes on a mission to find his father. He travels to San Francisco with his boyfriend retracing his father’s footsteps during the Compton Cafeteria Riots. Throughout his journey, he discovers so much more than he thought he would along the way.

This was a heart warming story about a boy on a path to self discovery. There are multiple LQBTQ+ themes throughout the book. I enjoyed the history portion with the Compton Cafeteria Riots the most. While I liked the story, I felt there were too many themes trying to be squeezed into the plot and it just didn’t connect with me.

There is also some self harm described if that is a TW for you.

Overall, if you enjoy queer YA novels, this is definitely for you!

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the ARC! 🏳️‍🌈

Thank you, NetGalley, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, Nancy Paulsen Books, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Isaac Griffin has never met his dad and he feels like he doesn't belong in this world, until he discovers a box hidden in the attic with his father's name on it. In order to follow his clues, pointing him to San Francisco, he and his boyfriend head there, but nothing goes as planned, as the car breaks down, his relationship seems to be in crisis and they have to rely on a girl named Max, with her own family problem, in order to get to the city.
As Isaac slowly pieces his family history together, he starts to feel more and more attracted to Max and using his father's notes, he begins to follow his past footsteps, a few weeks before the Compton's Cafeteria Riot, a precursor of the Stonewall Riots. Only to discover things he never thought he would see and learn.

The edge of being, besides having one of the most beautiful cover in many years, is one of the best book I've read in a very long time. It moved me, it made me smile, it made me cry and laugh and learn new things, following Isaac's journey in finding not only his past, but also himself and new love and more. It's a story about family and its complexities and secrets, about finding yourself and your place in the world, a story about grief and moving one. It's written beautifully and I truly loved everything and every character. Isaac, Max are wonderfully, complex and intricate characters, relatable in their feelings and actions and I loved following Isaac's journey. This book is truly amazing, a heartfelt queer YA novel about grief and love and everything in between.

(Note: This is another one where I am marking it as a five star here and on goodreads, because it is objectively a great book that is really important for it's intended audience !! But I am marking it as a four star on my personal tracker to keep track of my own personal enjoyment - as an adult who reads YA).

REVIEW
I just love when novels sprinkle in a bit of true history, (and of course that goes doubly for queer history). It’s so important to remember where Pride came from -to set aside time to remember the struggles that lead to today’s celebrations, both so we can be grateful but also so we can learn to recognize the signs of some of those struggles re-emerging now.
James does such an incredible job of balancing fact and fiction, history and present, in both of his books, and I’m so grateful for his story telling.

(PS - not this book out here reminding me that I’m OLD 😂😂. I spent most of it identifying with the adults and mentally yelling at the main character to communicate with his mom and to make smart and safe choices for himself and his friends. I’ll always love YA and I’ll never pull away from it completely, but sometimes it likes to remind me that I am no longer it’s intended audience. Adult Kirstin knows Teenage Kirstin would have made this book my whole damn personality though, so I can’t wait to see how much it means to the readers who find it!! It’s such an important coming of age story and I wish there had been more like it - specifically with this kind of diverse representation and care taken for conversations around mental health and trauma - when I was younger).

Emotionally complex and deeply moving, James Brandon knocks his second novel out of the park in the same way he did his first.

I can't say enough good things about the beautiful writing, the rich emotional world he crafts, and the characters he creates. They burrow into your head and your heart in ways few authors are able to accomplish. While perhaps not as quick a read as Ziggy Stardust was, I still fell head over feet in love with this book.

This book was full of different forms of LGBTQ representation and showed how vulnerable growing up can be. The writing was good. I just think the book was not for me. I struggled to relate to the character. That doesn't mean that others won't. The character feels a loss for a father he never met. Growing up I had a different perspective.