Book Talk Review; Pat

I am in awe

“Pat” - a unisex slur commonly aimed at persons appearing to exist somewhere in the middle of the gender binary, as it could refer to either Patrick or Patricia 
 
Twelve-year-old Patrick has a secret. He doesn't want to be Patrick at all. He wants to be Patricia. And at sunrise on his thirteenth birthday, Patrick hatches a plan to change everything forever. All he has to do is survive the day.

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Wow.

I’ve had hours to process this story and that is still the only thing that comes to mind. I cried from beginning to end. (Who here is shocked?) It’s a Seth King book, no one should be.

This book is too short for me to really give you a run down. It’s about a boy who has felt displaced from himself his entire life. It’s about him taking the steps to change that, to finally rise above it all and become who he was always meant to be.

This book is somber. It will make your chest tighten with emotion, it will make your eyes leak, it will make your breath catch. It’s also filled with hope. So much hope and cheerfulness because Patricia rises above all the bullshit. After rocky start after rocky start she learns who she really is and that gives the reader so much hope.

Though I cannot and will never understand the pain Patricia and people like her face on a daily basis I do understand the loneliness of not belonging. Of feeling outside of yourself.

I’m doing this differently this go around y’all. Normally I save the quotes for the end, but the impact of this one is different. “Life comes with no guarantees, and it is so fucking hard sometimes. All we can do is go down fighting and know that even when we’re on the floor, we gave out all the love we could on the way down.” 
 
That quote is everything. I felt it in every single part of me. For someone like me, who has more bad days than good. Who once struggled daily to feel safe, this is everything. Because it is the truth.

What Seth did with this story wasn’t just telling the life of a once uncertain boy eventually finding a place in this world and coming out a strong and confident woman. But one of salvation, forgiveness, and hope that will cling to the reader long after they’ve finished.

I’m in awe of this story. Every single word is beautiful.

-Abri