First I want to thank netgally !
This graphic novel is poetic, touching and funny. If you're looking for a book about queerness and specially about gender queerness, this novel is for you. This graphic novel is a memoire about author's journey into gender queerness. As an LGBTQ+ person, I research queer representation and this book really helped me understanding gender identity.
In this book, we follow Maia growing up questioning eir identity and discovering emselves. It's also about going through adolescence: physical change, gender dysphoria but also love and crushes. Growing up being queer is a journey and this graphic novel describes it perfectly.
It also shows how queer representation in books and pop culture are important and educating.
I really loved reading this book and I think that every queer people or allies should read it !

Diversity alert: queergender, bisexuality, coming out, asexuality

It was such a good and important book! I did not expect it to make such an impression on me.

Before I started reading, I didn't know it was an autobiography, but this awareness made me feel all the emotions so much more! There is a lot of sadness and confusion in this novel, but there is also a lot of hope in it. This story helps to realize how queer people feel and what they struggle with. It made me understand non-binary people much better.

This graphic novel should be read by every young person - especially those who are looking for themselves! I highly recommend it.

The importance of these stories cannot be overstated. I am glad to see this previously published work receiving a re-release on the heels of its placement on the ALA Top Ten Banned Books List for 2021.

The first time Gender queer got published, I missed the NetGalley archive date and didn't get a chance to read it even though I had been approved for it, and I've been beating myself up over it since. I'm so glad they came with a deluxe edition because I couldn't have gone without this book for much longer tbh.

This is exactly what it promised to be: a memoir about the author's relationship with gender. I gravitate towards a lot of the stuff e said here, from gender feelings to sexuality feelings to the fear of doctor's appointments. I just got out of Loveless by Alice Oseman last night, and I'm queer myself, so the lesser known queer identities feels are big on my right now lol. Pardon me if I don't make sense.

On the technical part: the drawings are beautiful, clear and expressive. When the author said e has a masters on comics I was lowkey glad because if not, e was probably a comic wizard. The story flows perfectly and seamlessly from childhood to teenage years to college and beyond. The colors were perfect, the text read alright and there wasn't a lot of info dumping on queer issues, as there tends to be in stories like this. Which is fine, but the author finds a more organic way of weaving them throughout the whole book.

I recently devoured Gender Queer. What a brilliant piece. Maia Kobabe gives me even more courage to be the most authentic version of myself.

"Some people are born in mountains while others are born by the sea. Some people are happy to live in the place they were born, while others must make a journey to reach the climate in which they can flourish and grow!"

Gender Queer is a graphic memoir that describes Kobabe’s journey of gender and sexuality. E grew up in a family that allowed em to explore eir sexuality in whatever way e chose, but the real world would not give em that freedom. How do you take up space in a society that considers your identity political? How do you exist in a body that feels wrong, like an itchy sweater that you just want to take off? How do you educate those around you on your identity?

Gender Queer is an autobiographical comic by Maia Kobabe. It is the story of how e grew up and figuring out eir gender identity and sexuality (and how they intersect).

This edition had an introduction from ND Stevenson, mentioning the terrifying and heartbreaking realities of book banning as well why books like this one are so important. I do think the confrontation with this information influenced my reading and made me more aware of how deeply important stories like this one are. I am very glad books like this one exist and grateful that I got to read it.
It is one person's story so of course it cannot show all experiences, nor does it attempt to.I really appreciated how it explained many different ideas and emotions and gave me a bigger understanding of nonbinary identity (as well as a lot of book recommendations)! Some parts were mentioned a little bit quickly or were not explained as much as I would have liked. In particular I would have found it interesting to see more of the conversation about some of the issues that were brought up and the explanation against those arguments, but I also understand that it would have impacted the tone of the story and might have made it more negative, so it is an understandable choice.
I did think the story ended very abruptly and I would have liked to have a bit more story or some kind of conclusion or reflection. However, as is also mentioned in the novel, this might be an ongoing process of learning and hard to explain in the concise way that fits a conclusion.

Overall this was a very personal story (which makes me feel a bit weird even rating it) with an art style that I personally really liked and some interesting information. I think this book is a good starting point, after which it would be useful to look into other stories about the same topic to understand that gender is a very personal thing and although many people can experience similarities, it is different for everyone.

TW: medical trauma, dysphoria, (menstrual) blood, misgendering, transphobia, Harry Potter references

Fascinating insight to the author's mind. I learned things about myself along the way as well! It's straight-forward instead of dancing around topics which I enjoyed. I would recommend this to any adults wanting to understand more about gender identity.

I felt so behind because I hadn't read GENDER QUEER yet, so I was so glad to receive an e-arc of the deluxe edition! What a beautiful, timely text -- I loved Kobabe's art style and eir thoughtful exploration of gender and sexuality. I particularly loved that while the narrative evolves, it never feels completely 'settled': there's always room for doubt and possibility. Simply put, this memoir is a must-read for teens & young adults & everyone else!

Gender Queer is a beautiful, honest insight into what discovering your own identify and coming out could look like. Maia shares eir life with us in an easy to read and understand way, and provides a point of view that many of us will never experience.

I genuinely believe that everyone - queer and cisgender alike - should read this book. Whether you want to know more about gender and being queer, suspect you may be queer, or someone you care about is queer or is questioning if they are queer, Gender Queer will answer so many of your questions and help you understand the nuances of gender identity, and how it may change as a person understands more about themselves and how they identify.

I hope this book makes it onto shelves for young people who need it. As a teacher, the introduction really touched me, and this kind of representation is so very important for young people who are questioning who they are and what they may identify as. I hope the author can be the role model for others that e needed when e was younger.

I lastly want to clarify my 4⭐️ rating of Gender Queer, because it feels somewhat of a disservice to rate a book this helpful and important as less than 5 stars, but I only rate a book 5⭐️s if I think I will reread it, and I while I would absolutely recommend it to everyone, I do not think I will reread it.

I was lucky enough to receive a copy of this memoir through NetGalley. In reading the introduction from N.D. Stevenson, I felt that same sort of longing for role models and strong support systems, those secret quests to find myself in something else, somewhere else. Kobabe’s art is charming and I can really relate to eir experiences in a way that makes me feel seen. The art itself also invokes a sense of nostalgia for me.

The journey to figuring out your identity can be a challenging one–especially when you lack the words that would best describe you. The journey of self-discovery is so personal and intimate, with each being entirely unique in this world. Kobabe’s memoir gives us such an intimate look into part of eir journey in self-discovery. Kobabe’s memoir touches on gender identity and exploration, sexual orientation, and the expectations we place on ourselves.

I think Kobabe really touched on support systems and the lack of support or understanding nonbinary or transgender people might face. In eir comic, one that really struck me eir family member initially saw the “trend” of “FTM trans and genderqueer young people” as misogyny. While this family member does love em and wants to see em happy, her words still have an impact, as many people can possibly relate.

This memoir is touching, extremely touching. Reading Kobabe’s book feels like reading the words of a friend. I enjoyed “Gender Queer” immensely and I hope that you will have a happy time reading!

A powerful graphic novel and story! Gender Queer follows the author on eir journey of discovering themselves, eir sexuality, and eir gender. Even if this story is not your story, there are a lot of things that you might find relatable, from first OBGYN exams, to trying to figure out crushes and dating, to learning how to express yourself through what you wear.

This was a fast read, and an important one too, for both people trying to understand the nonbinary concept and for people going through these things themselves. The art was cute and got the point across. It made me feel a lot throughout it! To watch anyone, whether in person or via a memoir, grow up and develop into the person they want to become is vulnerable for both the author and the reader, and I thought Kobabe did a beautiful job of that.

Thanks to Netgalley and Oni Press for the e-ARC!

This book does not meet my collection policy for the ages I serve as a librarian (11-14).

BUT

This is a lovely exploration of the author's journey towards an understanding of self. I believe older teens and adults of all ages would benefit from a reading of this book.

I read Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer in a single gulp today, unable to tear myself away from the narrative and from Kobabe's journey of self-understanding. I so appreciate the memoir's honesty and vulnerability, which invited me to understand from the inside a "gender nonbinary, bisexual, aromantic, mostly asexual" (256) identity, an identity that is not my own. Kobabe's identity is a work in progress (as is true for all of us), and the last words of the memoir are poignant: "Next time. Next time I will come out" (243).

Kobabe's sibling is the colorist for the comics, and the book is wonderfully vibrant, in a palette of jewel tones.

This book is an important addition to high school libraries.

Thank you for the ARC of Gender Queer!

Wow. I could not put this down. I was in awe of Maia's story and the simplicity with which e was able to breakdown the most daunting of concepts of gender ideology for anyone to understand and supporting em's journey. I feel weird using "journey" in this sense but we follow em through conversations with loved ones (the section on pronouns being helpful, and forgiving) to defining em's sense of fashion and discovering products to help em present emself how e wants to be seen by others to give em the confidence needed.

I'll be honest, this book was not on my radar until it made a large group of people I fundamentally disagree with on everything ridiculously angry. This book helped me better understand individuals who reside somewhere along the gender spectrum and how they want to be best be supported - at the most basic level. It's an important book, not just for people with friends or family members who identify like Maia, but for people who truly want to understand gender from the point of view of someone trying to live their life truly as themselves.

I've already recommended this book to people and I finished it about 15 minutes ago.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

A memoir about an artist’s journey to discovering eir sexuality and gender identity. Maia Kobabe’s autobiographical comic is emotional and candid beyond belief, encouraging readers to reflect on their own experiences and become comfortable in their identities.

Spoilers ahead.

Gender Queer is one of the most important books I’ve ever read. Confused doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about who I am. This was the first book that…validated that? It was so refreshing to read (and see) how Maia grappled with eir gender identity. E went through several labels before finding ones that sort of fit. But even those labels didn’t? And though I get how painful that is, I also liked that there wasn’t something definitive there. I think labels help to understand who you are but they can also feel a little constricting–at least for me. Anyway, there were so many things mentioned in the comics that made me feel less alone like preferring to keep my hair short and getting annoyed with waxing/shaving. Kobabe mentions how e wished gender wasn’t a thing. That was super relatable too and I’ve never found such a succinct way to articulate that thought.

"I don’t want to be a girl. I don’t want to be a boy either. I just want to be myself."


Gender Queer absolutely MUST be required reading for all younglings. It’s a nuanced exploration of self-identity and I feel so lucky to have read this now when my brain is still malleable and open-minded. There’s something in this book for everyone.

This was a beautiful graphic memoir that really highlights the way we view gender in society and the needleless pressure we put on children to conform to one gender. The graphics were wonderful and I felt like we really understood the journey Maia had been on.

A perfect 1st POV of what it is like to grow up having to question and hide your sexuality and the journey that can ensue from discovering it. I think this is a great graphic novel to help young people who are going through this same journey.

I was recommended this Memoir by a friend but sadly my library didn't have a copy. I was delighted when I saw the Deluxe edition on NG and when I was approved.. ecstatic! I have devoured this book in just a few short hours and it has almost made me cry with joy and euphoria. I had a feeling this would be a rather hard hitting memoir but I wasn't expecting it to be so relatable to my own experiences with gender. Maia has been brutally honest about eir experience and I can never express my full gratitude for this honesty and the hope it has given me. Thank you Maia.

Maia Kobabe (e/em/eir) didn't think ey would ever write a graphic novel based on eir life - but here it is in all it's glory. This autobiographical memoir lets us journey with Maia into eir chilhood, and through moments in life full of confusion, realisation and discovery in it's unfiltered, uncompromising authenticity.

"These realisations were like gifts I gave myself."

This story flowed beautifully, each key moment being remembered with striking detail with beautiful reflections - from discovering that different sexualities are possible, to the different ways of coming out, to the pride and beautiful content that comes with self-actualisation.

Aside from this, ey provide stunning discourse on the universal magic of reading, the profound impact of a supportive family and the strange assumptions and expectations placed on women and AFAB people.

The visual style was striking, evoking emotions, nostalgia and familiarity - which gave the entire story such a distinct voice. It felt like the reader and the author having a conversation, one of those ones that goes on for hours until the early hours of the morning where you bare your soul to a valued friend. It was so easy to read, not only because of the seamless story but the accessible format and font.

Something ey said resonated with me somewhere deep - "I don't want to be a girl. I don't want to be a boy. I just want to be myself." - and this is the main thing I took from this book, a celebrating of the validating, clarifying experience that comes from simply allowing yourself to be yourself. Because there isn't a wrong way to be yourself.

Whether you're looking for more understanding about other people, trying to figure it out yourself or just looking for some beautifully human to read - this is one I will read over and over again.

I have been wanting to read this book ever since I saw that B&N was being unjustly sued for carrying it in stores. Gender Queer is an important, timeless memoir with a heartfelt story and great art. I was extremely moved by eir's open and honest journey regarding eir sexuality and gender identity and I think more people need to read this!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of the deluxe edition!