Coming Out (Empowering You) by Kezia Endsley

Coming Out (Empowering You) Reviews

• 
  Alex Nonymous

  Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Coming Out: Insight and Tips for Teenagers in exchange for an honest review.
  
  While I enjoyed its focus on making sure you're in a safe space before coming out, queer mental health, support resources, healthy relationships, and safe sex, I really wish Coming Out either included tips for more types of queer or made sure to target itself as a book for teens with same-sex attraction.
  
  The book uses the LGBTQAI+ version of the acronym over and over again and also has a section where they define a lot of sexualities and gender identity, but almost all of the information is geared towards gay, lesbian, or bi teens and every single one of the personal stories advertised is about someone realizing they have some form of same sex attraction. I'm not saying I expected this to represent every single identity, but when a book starts off by defining every letter of LGBTQAI+ and even some identities not included in the acronym and then only gives advice, statistics, and accounts for a small, specific sect of that identity, it's kind of a let down.
• 
  Ruth

  *Braces self for this to get challenged next*
  An excellent guide for queer and questioning teens
• 
  Twilight Gilles

  Coming Out is succinct, warm, and almost like having a conversation with a trusted friend. It is easily accessible throughout the YA age-range. I do wish the stories and examples would have addressed a more variety of scenarios.
• 
  Denise

  No rating because I read this book because there was a request to remove it from my library.
• 
  Hunter Pardue

  I read this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is the book I needed when I was a teen. Endsley gives readers a chance to learn facts while giving anecdotal examples of others journeys to coming out. Readers will learn the process of coming out is not a one time event, but a journey to accepting the love they deserve. I recommend parents to read with their teens to show parental support and allow teens to ask questions.
• 
  Mark

  This book uses out dated terms. For a book in 2021, homosexuality should not be a starting term unless discussing history. Plus, it seemed to only focus on the LGB side of coming out as the T is way different. As Someone on the B side and T side. There are vast differences when coming out with an orientation versus gender identity, not in the cis het norm. Also, not enough is done to cover abuse/kick out. As someone who dealt with abuse from family (queer was never outright a reason but it possibly couldn't help) looking to a trusted relative? Like okay. Or find a shelter? Okay, shelters are so overflowing that when I was kicked out of the home all shelter (not just LGBT ones) in my state will full unless some were very few and far between halfway houses that had their own rules on sobriety minums. And going to counseling can be helpful I am not going to play that down but it does not address the minority group factor a young person might be in in relation to their therapist making education on that minority group a young person's job to how can therapy tools be applied enough when in an abusive environment? Because I know what it was like trying to better myself in abuse, it got me more abuse. Basically, the whole quick paragraph on dealing with abuse is not even remotely close to dealing with the reality that many LGBT+ youth face still and while yes there are inclusive families in my experience, I've met only a handful of those to the rest of mistreated/abused/kicked out queer folk. And this just comes to sexual orientation. To cover the trans mistreatment/abuse/etc is another chapter on it own.
  
  While yes there is the feel-good side, a lot of that is not addressing the nature that is being queer, especially in America and especially now as right-wing talking points/naiz points rise to become anti-anything not 1950-style existence: white cis and straight.