Book Review: Confessions Of a Teenage Hermaphrodite

Title: Confessions Of a Teenage Hermaphrodite
Author: Lianne Simon
Pages: 232
Published: September 18th 2012

Summary: 
Jamie was born with a testis, an ovary, and a pixie face. He can be a boy after minor surgery and a few years on testosterone. That's what his parents always say, but he sees an elfin princess in the mirror. To become the man his parents expect, Jamie must leave a little girl's dreams.

At sixteen, the four-foot-eleven soprano leaves home school for a boys' dorm at college. The elfin princess can live in the books Jameson reads and nobody has to find out he isn't like the other boys.

When a medical student tells Jamie he should have been raised female, he discovers the life he could have as a girl. The elfin princess can thrive, but will she risk losing her family and her education for a boyfriend who may desert her, or a toddler she may never be allowed to adopt.

Review: 

Omg, I used so much time on this review. Actually I wrote this review last week, I just never published it... Oh that reminds me, I have some old mails I have to answer....

This book is special in so many ways. Simon's writing style is fantastic, she knows how to write Jamie's feelings without telling them directly to us. For example; Jamie talks about herself as the elfin princess, and she likes playing with dolls, but she is 17... Well first you can wonder if it's something wrong with this 17 year old girl, but when you think about it, it actually makes sense. It shows how small and helpless Jamie feels.

But sometimes I got confused, Jamie said she was 17, but other people said she was 12? and sometimes even she said she was 12. Hmmm... How old was she? That made no sense for me, but they later explained that she looked like she was a 12 year old little girl, but she was actually 17.

It was no action in this book, but it caught my attention anyway. Confessions Of a Teenage Hermaphrodite is so full of feelings and heart-breaking moments that I just had to read more, longing for the happy parts. And no, this book is not a ''dark'' book, it's very ''light'', but sometimes her future looked very dark.

I'm an easy crier, and this book had many moments when I just wanted to curl up in a corner and cry my heart out. I felt like crying, even at happy parts. It totally took control of my feelings.

Confessions Of a Teenage Hermaphrodite contains many parts when Jamie prays, religion is standing strong in the book. I personally don't mind a little religion in a book, but this book has a lot of it. She was like praying and asking questions to God all the time, and the toddler also wanted to pray All.The.Time. I have nothing against Christian, I'm a Christian myself. But this book has too much religion.

My favorite characters were clearly Lisa and Sharon, they were those down "on earth characters". I liked Lisa because she was always happy, and showed Jamie that it was okay to be intersex. Sharon was the one that started leading Jamie in the right direction. They were both so awesome, I loved them!
One character that made me angry over and over, was Jamie. Okay, I understand that you have a big problem, that your parents wants you to be a boy, and you want to be a girl, it's okay to feel depressed and confused. But please relax, you are 17 now, you can take your own decisions. If you want to be a girl, then be a girl, and please slow down a little when it comes to love. Your are 17, you are in no rush to marry or get children. You have just met the guy, you don't know who he really is. And I know you are a christian, but God can't make all of your decisions, God created your mind, because he wants you to think for yourself darling....
Yeah I hope you got the drill.

Anyway, I liked the book and I give it 4 stars.