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What it Feels Like For a Girl
What it Feels Like For a Girl
Paris Lees | 2021 | Biography, LGBTQ+
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I’m so glad I’ve read this book. This is the story of Byron: from the age of 13 he knew that he wanted to get away from his hometown of Hucknall in Nottinghamshire, where he was called a “poof” at school and beaten up.

Byron becomes a rent boy, meets new friends at a bar who, he discovers, want the same things out of life as him: he wants to be a woman, and he feels that is what he was supposed to have been.

“Hedonistic” is the word that describes Byron’s life at this time. Until, that is, it all comes tumbling down. One very stupid act lands Byron in jail. But it’s what he does with this time in jail that really counts. And he decides to turn his life around.

I loved this. I enjoyed reading it in the Hucknall vernacular (it reminded me of my dad’s accent in Lincolnshire)and the chapter headings were spot on (all titles from songs at that time). And I felt so much for the young Byron - sad that his family didn’t seem to understand or care for him (other than his grandmother); sad that he couldn’t live as he wanted to and had no guidance to keep him safe. In fact he was lucky that he didn’t end up murdered or overdosed. It’s such an emotional book.
Highly recommended.