This was my first novel in verse, and I liked it! The genderqueer rep was good, but unfortunately the formatting was very weird and that often threw me out of the story.

Three stars for this novel in verse about a genderqueer teen.
This is such an easy read that really highlights the struggles teens and kids go through when coming out to their friends and family. It doesn’t always go well, and the novel shows that. The characters were lovable and I just wanted to hug them all.
I would recommend to anyone questioning gender or to people to want to learn more about the coming out experience.

On the positive stuff, I'd said that's an honest and emotional book. It's a quick read and I'd said a good read for anyone who's struggling with their identity. It was not my case so maybe that's why I didn't feel attached to it. Anyway, I missed some explaining, specially at the beginning.

Thanks to net galley.com and West 44 books for the advance ARC copy for my honest review.

The formatting on this wasn't the best, this is one that I picked up and put down, almost quit and slogged thought it and glad I finished it. Know this is an uncorrected proof but never read an advance copy that had multiple parts repeated over and over, it kills the story, feel like this totally misses it's mark and is a hot mess.

The poetry parts, the group of friends are the best parts, but why not start with a prologue explaining binding a little bit, add the side effects from doing it and a little bit of the history to breast binding.

I personally found Some Girls Bind to be a bit challenging to get through. The formatting was okay - and stories in verse have certainly become a big thing these days. However, I felt like the story just stuck to the surface of what it's like to be non-binary. There didn't feel like there was a whole lot of emotional depth to this book, and I really wanted that!

I did like that the main character had friends that stuck by their side even with all the challenges she faced coming to terms with who she was - the world needs more stories with strong friendships. I would have liked to see even more with the family dynamic in this book.

I wasn't expecting poetry when I originally added this to my TBR. This worked for this story though. I haven't read any books relating to binding and none with genderqueer characters. I enjoyed the read and could feel the anxiousness and worry the character had throughout it. I looked the messages portrayed in this work and I would recommended it to anyone, but especially those questioning themselves. It doesn't over explain the feeling of questioning your gender, but you still understand it - because really can you truly ever explain that kind of feeling?

I will read more from Rory in the future.

an informative story about about a queer person(I read her as non binary) and reads easy for kids who struggle with reading

Some Girls Bind is a HiLo novel about a girl named Jamie who is struggling with her gender identity and her secret--that she binds her chest every day in order to feel more like herself. She doesn't think that anyone will understand her struggle but over time she learns that she's not the only one with secrets.

Recommended for most collections, especially school libraries where HiLo books do well.

** spoiler alert ** I think we need more stories that include/center around people along the gender spectrum. I want to fully support this. I’m grateful that this story talks about binding and identifying as gender queer. The topic is important, but I didn’t find the story itself as engaging as I’d hoped.

It is a coming out story, and the build up is authentic, the worry of being rejected and targeted. And the coming out ends up going well, and that’s so terrific. I just... there’s also a gay character in the story who comes out and his boyfriend is rejected and kicked out of his home. That was a good balance to have in the story, but I didn’t know and care about that character, just cared about his situation.

I rooted for Jamie, the main character, but Jamie already had so many caring people around, that Jamie didn’t need my worrying. I genuinely never thought Jamie would be rejected, and I think that was the problem of the story.

4.5 Stars

Rory James' Some Girls Bind is a great young adult novel.

Jaime has a secret, that they binds their chest everyday. This action helps them to feel more comfortable in her body.

In this wonderful exploration of gender fluidity, Jaime binds to try to be more comfortable with their body. They don't feel right as a boy or a girl. The author does a great job illustrating this struggle of body dysphoria and coming to terms with one's nonbinary awareness.

Rory James truly does a spectacular job writing this tale. It's gripping from the start. Written in first person pov, the reader easily understands the main character.

Some Girls Bind is a great story that involves coming out, hiding, and identity issues. It's an accomplished tale of the everyday, constant divide between genders. This is a must read for any teen questioning their gender identity.

I was very excited to get a copy of this book from NetGalley because it’s about a genderqueer character. But overall my experience with this book was mediocre.

I do believe that a large part of the problem was the terrible formatting in the NetGalley ARC. This isn’t the first time the problem has happened to me and it’s really starting to frustrate me. But nevertheless I plugged along, trying to get the most of the read.

Some Girls Bind is told in poetry form. Which I hadn’t been expecting and was honestly a little disappointed by. Poetry novels are not my favorite. I don’t think that the character development goes deep enough in this format and thus I don’t end up connecting enough with the characters. I was never able to get a good feel for Jamie.

While I give this book points for trying, I just don’t think it hit the mark like it should have. I don’t think that the book has the best representation, even the title is misleading. But then I’m not genderqueer and maybe others will get more out of it than I. It’s definitely worth a chance.

In the end I gave this book 3 stars.

I adored this illuminating story about a gender non-conforming teen trying to find their place in the world.

Note: I identify as Cis so please seek out own voices reviews for thoughts on the representation.

This is what is considered “hi-lo” fiction—short books that are designed to encourage young, reluctant readers to read more. This one seems like it is aimed for an early middle school to early high school audience, so basically mid-middle grade and early young adult. I did like this story quite a bit and I thought the diversity shown here was fantastic. I love seeing more LGBT+ novels entering the world and it is particularly good to target younger audiences. Novels like these encourage open-mindedness and may help readers become more accepting of others as well as themselves.

I will admit, I felt once again that this was a topic that would have been better suited to a slightly longer format. I think expanding the story just a little bit would help readers connect with the characters and better understand the subjects being addressed. However, James does present and explain the process of discovering ones’ identity in a clear and concise way. This is a positive story that I could definitely see inspiring readers to better understand who they are and helping them view the world in a new light. The main characters were likable and easy to connect with, which makes this a fairly engaging reading experience. Overall, I think this is a solid addition to both hi-lo and LGBT+ literature.

*thank you to Netgalley and West 44 Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.

Wow. I dont know what I was really expecting when I took interest in this. It sounded different to anything I had really read and I was right about that. This book was SO good! It was written in verse, a poetic way that made it beautiful. The characters are people who most of us can relate to, with very updated issues. I have never read a story where the main character is genderqueer so I really enjoyed being inside her head. 

One word to describe this book, beautiful. Simply beautiful. Im not usually someone who enjoys poetry, but this was well written. Im adding it to books I want to own a physical copy of.

This powerful novel in verse follows Jamie, a teenager coming to terms with her identity as gender queer. Though her friends are accepting, Jamie struggles with the decision to tell her loved ones. Verse is the perfect way to tell such a complex and real story. What makes this book even more powerful is that it can be considered an #ownvoices book, meaning the author has had personal struggles relating to gender issues. In my opinion, this makes the book more realistic knowing that the author is able to relate to the main character in a way I cannot.

I got this book as an ARC from Netgalley, and my review was delayed because the formatting was AWFUL when my friend, who had also received an ARC showed it to me. I didn't bother downloading it for myself, I just bought myself a physical copy of the book since I didn't want formatting issues to affect my review. Anyway.

I loved this book. I've read close to zero books with a nonbinary character, and this was the first book with the main character as such.

First off, I loved the fact the book was written in poetry form. I rarely see books written well in poetry form, but Some Girls Bind was executed beautifully. The story is essentially about Jamie, who is not "she" but rather, "they". I enjoyed the poems but at the end of the novel I still didn't know anything about Jamie other than the fact they are genderqueer.

I guess books written in verse can only go so deep, but I was still hoping that this book, with all the barriers it crossed, would make the character a little more *real*. I like that the book is a relatable book to so much of the NB community, and I can't speak for them, but I don't think their entire identity revolves around being genderqueer. They still have personalities and stuff so for that, I can't give the book a five star rating.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I loved the premise, and I really liked how it explored the process of working through questions of gender identity rather than it just being a basic coming-out story. The novel-in-verse format lent itself really well to the sort of introspective tone of the book. On the other hand, it was really short, in a way that made it feel somewhat underdeveloped.

I saw this at my library and I was so excited to see this type of book ready for teens to read! I think this is the type of book that needs to get out there! This is about a person who is going through their own journey. Figuring out about binding and gender. It is written in verse but flows very well. It seemed very dull at some points but all together it was a great read. I cannot wait til this can reach more people and make a difference!

This is going to be a short review.
Thank you to the publisher for the e-arc in exchange of a honest review.
So liked this book. It was in verse or poem kind of way. The story is about friends who have secrets which only the group knows and how the main character has secret which she hasn't told anyone so the in way it's coming out story.
Short read. And good story.

The first thing that stood out to me is that this book is written in poetic prose. This is the first time I have read a lyrical novel, but it was really easy to read. The story was interesting, however, it wasn't that complex though and it was a little too easy to read. It reminded me of a book for younger readers more than a young adult novel, I managed to read it in one morning.

However, this is an important book. Yes, it's a short tale, but it's full of really important themes that would be a comfort for any genderqueer teen looking to find something that represents them and what they are going through. It's a tale of self-discovery and coming out, and it's a tale of understanding and acceptance with a sub-plot about a gay couple who are also going through their own coming-out to their family and the fall-out from that.

Jamie always felt different, but throughout the book, they realise why that was. They learn about themself, what pronouns they want to use and discuss the complex emotions that come with binding and dealing with the everyday world which is so set on gender splits. Jamie struggles with the decision about who to tell about their status, and when to tell them. They want to tell everyone who they are but their scared of how people will react. This is a very real situation that a lot of genderqueer teens and adults, can relate to.

I feel like this is a really important addition to my shelf as it opened my eyes about what genderqueer/non-binary people go through, and it showed me how our world still has a long way to go to break the trend of only having two genders. We need more gender neutrality which is something I have always supported, but through this book now understand even more.