This brilliantly personal account of Jacques’ transition, gender and sexuality exploration highlights in a casual manner all the way cisgender and heterosexual discourse makers fail to grasp the experiences of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly the trans, genderqueer and gender non-conforming community. 

Jacques’ book shows the importance of information as well as the necessity for queer spaces - a dying refuge in many places and explored in passing through the text - and welcoming environments. Going beyond the topic of her “transness”, Juliet Jacques lets her into her world as she explores fashion, style, art, the job market and balancing difficult complexities: being in the public eye while maintaining your privacy and sanity as well as being an activist and spokesperson for your community while allowing yourself to develop your own experience and narrative away from what is “expected”, “better representation” and “serving the community”. 

More than providing a deeper understanding of the experiences of some trans people, Jacques’ accounts lead us through what it’s like to be in your 20s and 30s in a ever-changing job market and sociopolitical landscape; trying to find your footing within your identity and politics as well as make a liveable wage. Despite our age gap, her story hits many familiar spots to us millennials and gen Z. 

A journey of Trans represention through art and in the media alongside an open personal Memoire. 
I loved Juliet's writing style and authorial voice as she shares her feelings at different points in her life, her journey to be her true self as fully as she feels is right for her alongside showing how mainstream society has little to no true trans represention in media (through 90's and 00's) and how exhausting and damaging that is to the trans community. But despite this we see glimmers of truth and hope through Music, film and surprisingly football. We follow Juliets interests, inspiration, days of struggle and joy from Horley, to Manchester, to Brighton and London. We meet her friends, her cheerleaders, those who would drag her down, mental health hurdles, a sprinkled history of film woven througout and at the centre is a talented woman who is just trying to live her life. 
I can't wait to read her other words where she telks the story she wants to not just the story she has to. 

‘Some were proud or called me brave i didn’t feel courageous i was just trying to live.’

‘If you articulate an outsider critique well enough you stop being one.’