They seem to have general social anxiety as well as the anxiety about being in the closet and their gender dysphoria. One of the only things that worked well in the novel was Riley’s anxiety. In my experience, unless a gender non-conforming person requests specific pronouns like “xe” or “zhe,” “they” is a good default, so that’s what I’m using here. Author Jeff Garvin intentionally doesn’t use pronouns for Riley – a silly and unrealistic gimmick. While I usually steer clear of spoilers, in this case I can’t talk about the myriad issues without spoiling the plot. The more I think about it the more annoyed I get, so let’s do this so I move on to better stories. I’ve been trying to formulate this review for two days now.

Riley must make a choice: walk away from what the blog has created-a lifeline, new friends, a cause to believe in-or stand up, come out, and risk everything.” (via Goodreads) My Thoughts But just as Riley’s starting to settle in at school-even developing feelings for a mysterious outcast-the blog goes viral, and an unnamed commenter discovers Riley’s real identity, threatening exposure. On the advice of a therapist, Riley starts an anonymous blog to vent those pent-up feelings and tell the truth of what it’s REALLY like to be a gender fluid teenager. And between starting a new school and having a congressman father running for reelection in uber-conservative Orange County, the pressure-media and otherwise-is building up in Riley’s so-called “normal” life. The thing is…Riley isn’t exactly out yet. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl.

“ Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock.

The symptoms of being human