This book was so heartbreaking and I think could do so well if it was marketed correctly. Just with the title and the cover, you would never know that this is a story about grief, love, and trying to live life after a loss. Thankfully, I read the synopsis before starting so I had time to prepare myself a little bit. 

Now that I talked about that, while I loved the book, my only issue was that it had a pretty slow start. It makes sense thematically and all, but it took a bit to get into the story and to force myself to continue which I am so glad that I did. If you give this book a chance, you won't regret it.

This book honestly shocked me, and that can be hard to do. It had so much more depth than I was expecting, and it felt like I was on a journey with  Mark as he was going through his life and al the good and bad changes he had to navigate. It was like I was naïve as he was in certain situations, so when things came to a head I was able to feel all the emotions that went along with his discoveries. A really great quality in a book is one that tells a story in a way that can make you feel like the characters are alive and that their life matters to your life. I had to go back and reread the moment just to experience it all again, but I'm also kind of a painful read junkie, so if you like only happiness in books, this may not be the one for you. Saying that, this book has great happiness as well and moments of personal triumph. It illustrates so many aspects of what a good relationship with a partner looks like and what a good relationship with parents should look like. It also has an intense sibling relationship story, so if that's your thing, this might satisfy. This book is not necessarily feel-good, however, as Mark navigates traumatic experiences and finds out who he really is on the inside and out. I recommend this book to anyone struggling with their personal identity or who has experience with alcoholism, as the struggles Mark feels may resonate with the reader. This book did feel long at times, so that could be a deterrent, but I really thought the payoff was there.

I loved this book! That being said, it was a much different read than I initially thought. It was more about grief and resilience than the actual drag community, but nevertheless, I do think YA stories about grief and loss and perseverance are needed for our young readers.

Mark has always wanted to wear dresses, but it isn't until after he breaks up with his disapproving boyfriend and finds a new boyfriend who's supportive of it that he begins to seriously consider wearing a dress to the school dance. Mark's brother Eric has always encouraged Mark to be his "sequin-y self" - which is why, when the worst imaginable happens, Mark finds himself unable to even contemplate that.  Or much else. But slowly, as Mark begins to heal, he develops into his true self.

I might have rated this a little higher if my expectations based on the title and cover had matched the content. The story begins with a light and fun tone, where the dress thing was brought up a few times but took a bit of a backseat to the romance with Ezra, to the point where when the midpoint hits with <spoiler>Eric's death</spoiler>, I wasn't sure the dress thing would even come back. But the last 35-40% of the book solidly moved into Mark and his desire to wear a dress. Essentially I went in thinking this was about a teen becoming a drag queen, which is not what it was. There were, however, some really profound and heartfelt moments, great banter, and an uplifting ending.

I think that this story had a lot of potential. The timeline was a little choppy and but the second half was very heart warming and a tear jerker.

What a well-synched, sequined-dazzling story of determination and drive. Clay tells a story that should have been said for LGBTQ youth to dare for a dream and go for it.

Oh, how to even start talking about this marvelous story?

Dan Clay completely took my heart to the shredder with Becoming a Queen. It literally took me a month to finish this book… a month to think about Clay’s timeless and poignant messages… a month to ruminate over Mark’s choices, a month to process Eric’s words.

And I’m still stunned, and (pretty much) speechless.

I’d like to scrape some words together, to do justice to the experience of reading this incredible novel. To find a way to impress just how much this story touched my heart. To give you just a hint of what’s in store for you when you share Mark’s journey… but I guess it’s best to just leave it with Dan Clay, who’s already said it all so beautifully in Becoming a Queen.

I adored this story. The grief was VERY powerfully displayed; all the thoughts and emotions from affecting characters were clearly felt and easy to follow. I loved the romance piece as well, and how the main characters' choice of partner reflected their own self-acceptance (we accept the love we think we deserve sort of thing!). All in all, this was one of my favorite reads of 2022. I will definitely be following this author for more.

I wanted to enjoy this but was overly unimpressed with the relationships, the dynamic, and the plot felt convoluted.

This book was very powerful and moving. I thought it was going to be lighthearted and fun, but it was very emotional and deep. I was not expecting that. With that said, it was beautiful. There were a lot of ups and downs. The second half of the book was tremendous. This was a wonderful debut novel and a super fast read!

If you’re looking for an emotional, heartfelt story this is it! Be aware, there should be some trigger warnings. Thank you for allowing me to review this book. It will be up on my instagram in the coming weeks. I'll edit my review and post a link when I post it!

Thanks you Netgalley and Roaring Brook Press for this eARC, these opinions are my own. What a stunning book. Mark just got out of a relationship because his ex boyfriend didn’t like that he wore a dress. But mark yearns to wear dresses. With the help of his super supportive brother he’s trying to move on. Then he meets Ezra, who makes him feel seen and understood, but can he get over his past hurt to make it work? And when his life hits a life altering bump can he survive it? I absolutely loved the relationship between Mark and Eric, his brother! Eric not only told him constantly that he loved him and unconditionally so but it was more than that it was with so much enthusiastic unconditional love! I think that would feel so amazing to have that kind of love. My favorite part of the book though is the second half when Mark hits that life altering bump and is on his grief journey. Dan Clay writes grief like I’ve never read before! I feel like a lot of time it’s discussed but not focused on so you don’t see characters journey. But I never stopped crying in the second part because the read goes through all the ups and downs with Mark, the reader process everything at the same time he does! His grief journey is so beautifully told! The description of the book is a little off as I feel like Mark and the dress, while important throughout the book, are not the main focus until the end when Mark connects wearing dresses to the grief journey. That said how Mark does that is also beautiful and wonderful! I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for it to come out! Though readers be warned you’ll want the tissues close by!

This book is definitely different than I thought it would be. It was full of anger and pain, but also love and acceptance. Although it was different, it was well worth the read, but definitely a punch in the gut and full of naked and raw emotions.  Being able to be a passenger on Mark's journey and walking alongside with him was breathtaking and humbling. Thank you for allowing me an ARC of this, it was beautiful and i look forward to putting it on my public library's shelves for others to experience.

Mark has always been sure of two things: he is gay and his older brother loves him no matter what.

What Mark isn't sure of is how he will feel wearing a dress. He feels like he will love it with all of his heart but he's not sure that anyone else will. 

Luckily, Mark's brother supports him 1000% with the encouragement to, "Be yourself! Your full sequin-y self.”

Just as Mark is starting to find his footing and figure out who he may be, tragedy strikes and he must start to find himself all over again.

Final thoughts: Poignant, sad, sometimes depressing, and sometimes frenetic, this book has a real 'voice' and is a solid story. Some of the moments were a little odd and others just didn't always read well, but the overall story is well done. This book can be very raw and real and there should be some trigger warnings somewhere, but it's worth the read.

Rating: 4/5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The concept for this book sounded amazing and I was really excited to dive in. Unfortunately, I gave up at 37%, as the book seemed to have nothing moving the plot or characters forward. The main character had some depth but kept getting in his own way. The side characters lacked depth. I think the book could be valuable to queer youth, but they would have to be really committed to keep going. I wanted so much more from this book.

I didn’t feel anything. I found the timeline too choppy, I liked Mark, Ezra and Eric, but overall the story fell flat to me. And suddenly tears ran down my face.

This book is different than I thought it would be, and the first and second half are complete opposites. Both contain anger. Both contain pain. Both contain love. But where the first half is just a story about a gay boy, who learns to love again, the second half is much darker and feels like a punch in the gut. 

From the moment everything changes, Mark’s pain sliced through my body and cut my heart into a thousand pieces. His love for Eric, his parents, and Ezra eventually mended my heart slowly, but it took time, just like it takes time for Mark to start dealing with what happened. And like his therapist says: Grief is like a pinball machine and Grief can be like a chronic condition that you and I learn to manage, together.

Mark is a boy who, in the end, wears the dresses he always wanted to wear. But it takes time, courage, pain, and self-love. Those pinballs fired back so many times. I read the whole second part being teary eyed. My chest tightened while reading the lessons from my brother chapters. So while the first half of the story was just okay for me, the second half was heartbreaking and uplifting and changed my opinion completely. Therefore, I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves emotional and heartfelt YA stories. Be aware of the trigger warnings, though!

I hated finishing this book because I became so attached to each character. Clay created an empathetic story that had a lot of heart and care. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I found this as an ARC on netgalley and while it's not something I would usually read, I was intrigued. I figured this would have been a more lighthearted, fun, romance, coming of age kind of story. I knew there would be elements of self discovery and struggling with identity/sexuality but I went in not expecting anything too deep. 

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that this book was not only everything I already described, but so much more. Being able to experience the journey that Mark goes through in the book was very emotional with a lot of ups and downs. It touched on some heavier subjects that I think a lot of young adults will find extremely relatable or helpful, but as a 36 year old mom, this also touched me greatly. I think it's important for parents to read things like this so they can have a better perspective on the struggles their child may face if they are questioning their sexuality or gender. It was tough for my own younger brother to come out when he was in high school but I always had his back and our parents were always extremely supportive and loving. Sadly, I know this is not true for many teens, even in today's culture. So I hope books like this can help lead to greater conversations for understanding. 

There are a lot of other topics discussed within the book and I felt a very strong emotional connection with all of the characters as they tried to navigate their way through some very difficult trauma and struggles. I don't want to give anything away so I won't go into detail, but I had several moments where I got very teary eyed. I hadn't realized how invested I had become in the characters but I could definitely feel their pain.

Overall, this is a wonderful debut novel and I loved it. (I read it all in one day!) I'm glad I took a chance and I hope to see more books in this author's future!

Great for late middle school to early high school. I stopped at 7% but easy four stars if it continues as is. Very relatable for teens. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for the ARC.

Thank you, Roaring Brook Press, for allowing me to read Becoming a Queen early!

Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes. This book is so pure and moving, a riveting tale of self-acceptance., self-expression and self-love.

The start is pretty clunky. lots of dramatic statements when we have no context of the characters, environment, and situation, The book is a solid Young Adult novel however.