I got an ARC of this book.

I got this because I was super excited by genderqueer rep in YA books. The title and the description are pretty misleading. Just assume everything I type is going to be a spoiler after this line. Ok, so Jamie is genderqueer, that is established super early on in the book with very little fanfare. There is a lot of angst about coming out, but the identity itself was super easy. They started using they pronouns pretty early in the book, so I wouldn't feel comfortable using she like the description does. This is why I hate the title. Jamie doesn't identify as a girl, so why is the title about being a girl? There are so many lines where Jamie expresses how they are neither girl or boy, so why did this title stick? It is so untrue to the character and to the idea behind the story. It invalidates the feelings that Jamie expresses over and over again in this book. 

The reason why I can still rate this book as high as I do is there is the background characters. There are gay people coming out to differing degrees of acceptance, there is the older brother who is a total sweetheart (made me tear up at one point), and then there are the straight and cis characters who have actually things going on in their lives that is unrelated to sexuality which gives the book depth. The book otherwise had no depth. It was just angsty poetry about being afraid to come out. It read much below the age of the characters in the book too. If this was aimed at or about ten year olds, then this would have made perfect sense. Instead I am left feeling like I was being talked down to instead. 

The ARC file I received was also very much inaccessible at times with formatting and repeating of whole sections of the book. I am hoping this is cleared up with the final ebook that is for sale, but it makes me wary of recommending buying the ebook instead of the hard copy. The hard copy version would be better because it would give a more tangible weight to my favorite part of the book. The one line that made this book make a huge impression on me. 

There is a line that stood out as so wonderful and so necessary that it made me tear up. The older brother tells Jaime that they are perfect and they are enough. If someone had said that to me when I was coming to terms with my gender, maybe I wouldn't still be ashamed and hate what I am. Maybe I wouldn't still struggle with my body and my mind on a daily basis. Seeing a character get that level of support and hearing the exact words that I would have needed touched me so deeply. I just can't get over it. That line alone would have made this book worth reading. I can ignore all of my bad feelings and recommend this book based on that one line.

This book has such important subject matter and I liked the stream of consciousness format of it, but it was weighed down by a jarring unfinished format and a pretty unremarkable writing style

Some Girls Bind was such a unique story for me, I've never read a book where the main character is genderqueer before so it was a great experience being able to see through Jamie's eyes.

Jamie are adorably sweet and strong nontheless. I loved seeing how they discovered how they felt about their identity and how that was perceived by other people. Their struggle was so saddening but truthful, this is one of those books that make you feel exactly what the character is going through and that made it a very moving story.

Moreover, we have a friend group in here that was just the most adorable thing to read about, they are all so supportive to each other and they created a safe space where everyone can be their true selves without feeling judged. And that's also another nice thing about this book, every friend had their own challenges and things they had to deal with, it was a very diverse group and we don't get that often.

The problem I had with this book, though was that after finishing it I cannot exactly tell you anything else about Jamie apart from the fact that they are genderqueer. I was expecting to get to know them better but I get the story focuses only on that aspect.

All in all, it was an enjoyable and very eye-opening read but I didn't give it 5 full stars because I would have like to know Jamie outside of their gender identity too.

3.5 Stars
*I received an eArc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest answer*

This book was fine... The only somewhat interesting thing about this book is the fact that the main character was genderqueer. Other than that I found the main character to be pretty bland for me to be honest, and I don't think it's helpful for a character's most interesting trait to be their gender identity. However, I can see how the main character's story could be affirming for another reader and actually how the character's blank personality might help others relate to it even more, by being able to place themselves into the story. I didn't find that the way the story was written (through verse) was particularly impactful, but I don't think it drastically lowered the quality of the story either.

I was a little concerned going into this book because I hadn't heard much from trans and nonbinary reviewers that I know. However, going into this book was a refreshing, wonderful experience.

It's written as a verse novel from the first person PoV of teenaged Jamie. Right from the start, we are introduced their very queer friendly friendship group (I particularly like the line where one of her friends is worried that he's not queer/doesn't have any secrets and the rest of the group reassures him that's okay).

The novel talks a lot about coming out, it is the focus of the book, for better or worse. We go from Jamie being annoyed that coming out is a thing that even needs to happen, to feeling pressure from their best friend Levi to come out (even though it's not intended that way and does get addressed). We see Jamie being afraid of coming out, of what it will mean to tell more than one person that they are genderqueer.

We see the beautiful support that they get from their older brother Steve. We see the way they stand up and confront their parents when they say thoughtless things. We also see the effects of Levi and his boyfriend coming out to their own parents, with various results.

Some Girls Bind is about community as much as it is about identity. I particularly loved when Jamie went to a poetry reading of a genderqueer poet who also bound their chest, and later took their friend Nora to another poetry reading.

The main complaint I have is that this book was too short, but having said that it really did everything I set itself out to do.

We definitely need more stories like Jamie's, who identifies as and comes out as genderqueer. It's one of the few times I have seen a non-binary character and I want more books to share with the non-binary and genderqueer people in my life and in my classes. This book is a start.

But it's also a little disappointing in its simplicity and depiction of queerness in general being centered on coming out, especially when conclusions are somewhat one-note. Maybe if this had not been written in verse it would have had more emotional heft to it. Rather than reading as poetry, it read as super-trimmed prose and it gutted some of the emotion. When Jamie cried, it didn't feel earned. I wanted to be crying with them.

I do hope the publisher will keep looking for #ownvoices stories and getting them into the hands of readers. I'm also hoping they will press for more substantive writing.

Told through verses, this book is Jamie's story. Jamie is a teenager, goes to school has friends, and secrets. Jamie's main secret is that they're not a she and they're afraid of people finding out.

This was pretty good. I enjoyed the poems and it's always interesting to hear about points of view from the community. My problem with the books from this publisher stays the same. They're too short and don't convey as much feelings as they could. It didn't help that the file was broken though that did not affect my rating. Anyway, it was interesting and the characters were layered but I felt like with stayed as observers of this story instead of living it. I don't really know if what I'm saying makes much sense, but basically, I liked it, I just would have liked more and for it to go deeper.

I received this ARC via Netgalley in return for an honest review

I think I need to lay off poetry for a while because it's not hitting me like I hope it will. It usually gets (at best) three stars from me and that tells me I'm just not the intended reader. This is poetry in general, as I just like lyric poetry more as apposed to free verse.

This book does have a good flowing narrative throughout it which I really liked. I find it keeps the subject matter in focus as apposed to breaking off into shorter verses. The subject matter in the book is about a major topic of our time, gender fluidity. Our main character Jamie, comes to the realization that she is neither boy or girl but gender queer and is afraid she will be judged by her family/friends for this. She starts out slow by only telling her best friend Levi, and by deciding to use the pronouns they/ them. (Although constantly referred to as SHE) The author herself said the story was based on herself, but seems to still use female pronouns on herself, mistakenly or not.

As other people have stated the middle section repeats itself over (3x) at first I thought it was a artistic choice, then realized it was just a mistake, or a way to be a page filler either way it is distracting. It's a quick read, and I think most people will come away from it fine, the bare bones of the narrative is a "coming out" story and it does that, I also appreciate that it doesn't demonize "cis" people (though I hate that terminology) into not understanding. Even having the character Jamie state that "other people have problems too." It seems like in this day and age that's the most progressive thing about the book. Simple understanding.

Thank you to Netgalley and West 44 Books for the advance Kindle copy of this 2.1.19 release. All opinions are my own.
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⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5. Written in verse, this is the story of high schooler Jamie, who feels better when she binds her chest and wonders if she is genderqueer. Each of her friends has a secret, so she should feel fine telling hers, but she can’t quite bring herself to say it out loud. Despite the ending wrapping up a little too neatly, I think this is an important book to have in middle and high school libraries. There aren’t a lot of LGBTQIA+ books that aren’t too graphic for middle school, so I was pleasantly surprised that this fit the bill for both the content and style my students need. I have it on one of my spring orders, ready to purchase soon!

I was looking forward to this book a lot because I'm trying to educate myself to be a good ally. I want to support the #OwnVoices movement as much as possible. Although I was having trouble finding any information on the author, the "about the author" section of the book did say that the author was inspired by their journey with gender.

The issue that I had with this as a reader was that the synopsis is basically the story. There wasn't really a story here. The book is written in prose, which would be my first time reading a novel written in prose, and while I didn't mind it, I felt like the story really didn't have much substance to it. My perspective on this could very well change if I read more prose in the future (which I do plan on doing).

The galley copy itself was a MESS. There was one set of passages that was repeated at least 4 times and there were tons of typos. For example "My Gbortbmtem ringtone". The main character, Jamie, was referred to as "J" at times by their friends but "I" was used instead. Basically, whoever was supposed to review this and make sure it was edited properly in preparation to get beta read, failed. They did the author dirty, if you ask me.

All-in-all, it seemed unfinished and I would definitely have liked more from it as a whole. More of the characters and more plot.

This is one of those books that is definitely important, but I'm not entirely sure it executes well. If that makes sense? Like yes, this is definitely VERY important as, as a society, we're becoming more open and accepting to gender as a spectrum. Of people not fitting into boxes. But on the other hand, I feel like Jaime's entire coming out experience was almost too easy? Like their parents were super accepting of it (which is true in some real-life cases!), but all the dread and anxiety and stress and build up for...what?

I did appreciate their friend group and found family being so wonderful. I felt like Nora's deal was that she wanted to come out, though? But just...couldn't?

Excellent in theory, but a little lacking in execution.

The plot and potential were there, but this book fell short for me. About half the book was missing -- this was a seriously messed up Galley. So I don't know if I even got the whole plot. I liked that we got into Jamie's head, and I liked that they had an LGBT+ bestie to relate to, but a lot of this book just felt too easy to me. I did appreciate that not all of Jamie's family accepted their identity, because as crappy as that is, it's realistic, and I think that relatable books should also be realistic. I also really liked the format.

All in all, this book was just okay to me. I would like to read more by this author though.

3.5 stars! Wow, this was a really quick read! I think I finished it in just an hour.

I enjoyed the format of Jamie's story being told in verse, but I think it could have used more substance. I feel like the important events happened too quickly (such as Jamie deciding she's non-binary, coming out to her parents, etc), so it just seemed unbelievable to me. I could have used more passages of Jamie coming to terms with who she is as well as how that changes the relationships with friends and family.

Overall, I think this is a solid novel for teens to read that may be confused about who they are, whether that has to do with sexual orientation or gender. There were also quite a few quotes that I highlighted throughout because they were so poignant/well crafted.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read/review this!

I received a free eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I really liked the premise and style of Some Girls Bind. I also would highly recommend this book to middle and high school teachers in my local area for a few reasons. 1-it is a hi-lo text, which can draw in students who may not like reading because they lack vocabulary or skills to figure out vocabulary, as well as students who may still be learning English but want to read books aimed at their age group. 2- it talks about the LGBT+ community in small towns. 3- it actually takes place in my local area, somewhere near Rochester and Buffalo on the Erie Canal. and 4- it doesn't contain a violent outcome for a character being LGBT+.
I would have to wait to recommend this book until the book has final edits though. As someone who is getting a degree in TESOL, the editing for the version of the book I read was painful. I really hope that the book is edited to flow more smoothly, because the writing is actually really beautiful and simplistic, and I would really like to recommend this to older ENL students, but I can't if the mistakes are going to detract from their ability to read it.

Following Jamie through understanding their identity and in their first thoughts of coming out to family and friends, I was worried that this book would follow the same path as every other trans/queer coming-out story. To some extent it did, but the style of writing meant that the set-up moved quickly, onto other aspects of importance.
The book highlights that feeling in high school that 'everyone has their secrets,' but doesn't single Jamie out for their queerness. It brings attention to Jamie being a queer kid in a small town, and that acceptance still isn't automatic, but the overkill trope of violence isn't used to make this point. I loved this novel, and would love to see it expanded on.

4.25 out of 5 stars (Received e-arc from NetGalley

Some girls bind was a great little simple LGBTQIA poetry book about Jamie who is struggling to figure out her sexuality and is scared that the people around her will judge her harshly about binding her chest. A great intro to poetry for teen readers that are considering reading poetry and is a positive story for potentially gender queer individuals. From Jamie's mom thinking that she and her best guy friend are dating (he's gay) to her brother being able to tell something is up and buys her a binder, and to her revealing her secret/thoughts to friends and family. I feel strongly that this book would be a great resource material to have in a junior high or high school. One thing is I read the book on my phone and there were times when it repeated a few pages of dialogue several times, so it did confuse me just a bit thinking am I going crazy didn't I just read this. But just an issue with formatting for the e-book through the kindle app on my phone. Otherwise a lovely poetry/story.

It's my first time reading a book that is written in verse. And I have to say that I absolutely loved it! The story of the main character's self-discovery was very compelling. In terms of writing it was simple and very easy to understand. Overall it was an incredibly enjoyable and quick read.

Some Girls Bind features a protagonist who explores self-acceptance and how to come out as non-binary throughout the course of the novel. While some groups make a distinction, the author doesn’t specifically define non-binary vs genderqueer and uses both terms interchangeably. The book does make a distinction between gender non-conforming vs non-binary identity, which I feel is helpful for both trans and cisgender readers.

Although the book’s synopsis uses “she/her” for Jamie, they also discover gender-neutral pronouns as a way to reduce dysphoria. Beyond non-binary identities, this story features a subplot about a gay student who’s rejected by his community after he comes out.

I’m a bit of a sucker for YA books in verse and am always happy to read LGBTQ poetry. The writing style works well and allows Jamie to reveal their thoughts and feelings in an authentic and often beautiful way. Some Girls Bind features a lot of difficult subjects; even beyond queer topics, it also discusses child abuse, alcoholism, and marginalized characters living in a conservative and homogenous community. And it does so in a concise, yet thought-provoking way that keeps the story overall hopeful.

One of my favorite subplots in the book was when Jamie comes out to their brother Steve. As Jamie prepares to come out and live authentically as themself, Steve helps them find the resources and binding materials they need while supporting them all the way. In so many books about transgender characters, they don’t have someone they can lean on in their family. I thought it was both well-written and powerful to give Jamie one person who may not fully understand their gender experience but tries to and loves them unconditionally.

While this doesn’t necessarily relate to the queer community, I think it’s important to note that this is a hi-lo novel. Hi-lo refers to books written in a simpler style than most YA but still explores challenging topics. The purpose of hi-lo is to bridge the gap between juvenile fiction and YA fiction written at a high reading level for reluctant readers. If you’re a queer student who struggles with reading or know someone who is, this could introduce them to themes they’re looking for in an accessible writing style.

This book’s style reminded me a lot of Ellen Hopkins, another YA writer who explores challenging topics in free verse books. If you’re a fan of her books or hi-lo LGBTQ YA, Some Girls Bind could be a good book recommendation.

Before I get into this review, I want to put down why I was worried about this book. First, the cover gave me a lot of worries. The person on the cover is not binding correctly, and binding like that can cause some serious health issues. I also really dislike the fact that this book is about a questioning gender queer character and the title is Some Girls Bind. I know that some non-binary/genderqueer people do use "girls" personally, but in a book about a questioning character, it felt weird to me for the title to be focused on girls.

In addition to the above, the publisher provided summary was very, very weird. They treated Jamie's gender questioning as a terrible secret, one that they had to hide. And while that is the way some people initially feel about their gender, the way it was treated in the summary was also enough to make me question the insides of this book.

When I finally opened the book, I was ... quite surprised with how much I ended up liking it and the representation. Jamie was a very under-developed character, but it was easy to project yourself into their life because of how general everything was. While that can be seen as a bad thing, I actually quite enjoyed it. Jamie discussed their gender openly with themself, and when they finally decided to come out to another queer friend. I loved how this book showed both positive and negative reactions when people come out. While it was hard to read about the negative reaction, I still appreciated the fact that it was included in addition to positive reactions. 

The writing was also fairly simple. The book was written in verse, so descriptions and thoughts were fairly brief. That's probably why everything was so general, but I thought it fit the story well. 

This book was extremely short and honestly hard to read--in the literal way. The ARC was terribly formatted and repeated portions of the book over and over. In addition to that, because the story is told in verse, it's nearly impossible to read on an e-reader. I emailed the publisher about these issues but they never got back to me. 

Final Rating: ★★★★☆
Overall?
When I started this book, I was worried how the representation would be handled. It turns out, the rep was just handled badly by the publisher, and the author did everything pretty well. I loved how Jamie questioned their gender and worked through it with help from friends and family. I also loved how it not only showed negative reactions, but also positive reactions.

Would I Recommend?
Totally! Although I would recommend not reading it as an e-book. The formatting was terrible, and it was hard to follow due to the fact that the stanzas were separated horizontally sometimes rather than vertically. Lines were separated and ended up ruining the formatting of the page.

This book gave me new insight into binding, the genderqueer community, and trans community. I can not speak for the representation of the book but it was an okay read. I may recommend it to my trans friends to see how they feel about it and what they think, so my opinion on this book is in the middle.