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None of the Above
None of the Above
None of the Above
Audiobook7 hours

None of the Above

Written by I. W. Gregorio

Narrated by Caitlin Davies

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

A groundbreaking story about a teenage girl who discovers she's intersex . . . and what happens when her secret is revealed to the entire school. Incredibly compelling and sensitively told, None of the Above is a thought-provoking novel that explores what it means to be a boy, a girl, or something in between.

What if everything you knew about yourself changed in an instant?

When Kristin Lattimer is voted homecoming queen, it seems like another piece of her ideal life has fallen into place. She's a champion hurdler with a full scholarship to college and she's madly in love with her boyfriend. In fact, she's decided that she's ready to take things to the next level with him.

But Kristin's first time isn't the perfect moment she's planned—something is very wrong. A visit to the doctor reveals the truth: Kristin is intersex, which means that though she outwardly looks like a girl, she has male chromosomes, not to mention boy "parts."

Dealing with her body is difficult enough, but when her diagnosis is leaked to the whole school, Kristin's entire identity is thrown into question. As her world unravels, can she come to terms with her new self?

LanguageEnglish
PublisherBalzer Bray
Release dateApr 7, 2015
ISBN9780062398031
Author

I. W. Gregorio

I. W. Gregorio is a practicing surgeon by day, masked avenging YA writer by night. After getting her MD, she did her residency at Stanford, where she met the intersex patient who inspired None of the Above, her debut novel. She is also a founding member of the We Need Diverse Books team. A recovering ice hockey player, she lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and two children.

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Reviews for None of the Above

Rating: 3.9121211212121207 out of 5 stars
4/5

165 ratings17 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What made me give 5 stars to this book is its incredible topic. I think everybody should read it to learn more about people born intersex. The author really knows the subject and that's what a big plus for me. The plot was predictable, high school drama and the outcome of Kristin's love life is quite obvious, nonetheless the book was amazing. I loved it!

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was such a great read!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow what an intense subject. I love all the feelings I got from this read. I loved it!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I feel like this is a very interesting topic. it's sad to see/hear about how insensitive some people are. It puts a perspective of how so much of what others think of us matters. It's an eye opener & definitely educational about the kinds of people in this world. I would say I enjoyed it over all.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    If you’re wondering whether this will contain gender ideology, it does not. It is very well-written with a believable teenager’s view of the world. It should be made into a movie!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Krissy is eighteen when she finds out that she is intersex, meaning she was born and raised as a girl, but still has some boy parts. She is struggling with this abrupt diagnosis and how to tell her boyfriend when her trust is broken and the entire school finds out. The romance plot line of this book was a little obvious and typical, but the medical scenes and overall information made it a wonderfully diverse book that is incredibly needed.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a really educational read, but it was really hard connecting to the main character and the plot the author chose to illustrate intersexuality.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I thought the ending was very rushed, I didn't even know it ended until the credits started and I feel the romance very forced, it wasn't needed. It's not the best YA I've read but kudos for the representation
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very educational and overall positive book, not just for intersex or young people.
    At times it's difficult to read because of the amount of bullying, misgendering, homophobic and transphobic slurs, especially if you have experienced it yourself.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    As a straight, white, cisgender female, I cannot speak with any authority about the "authenticity" of this story, but I found it complex and interesting and heartbreaking. I hope more YA novels deal with transgender, genderqueer, or intersex teens to generate conversation and questions, as this has done. I'm very glad I read this book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this book so much! Such an important story for anyone to read. It's such a heartbreaking story and yet uplifting at the same time. I definitely felt for the main character and often found myself wondering how I would react if it were me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Kristin is a normal, popular and athletic teen with a boyfriend who she decides to have sex with on prom night. However, things go horribly wrong, and after a visit to the doctor, Kristin discovers that she is intersex. After confiding this to her best friends, word spreads through school, where she is both humiliated and supported. Her journey to understand and accept her situation makes this a compelling read.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: A provocative, engaging novel that left me thinking for days afterward.Opening Sentence: Dawn is my favorite time of day.The Review:Kristen has got it all figured out. Despite the gaping hole left by her mother’s death from cancer years ago, she’s managing to recover and thrive. She’s a beautiful, popular all-American girl with a scholarship for track and an amazing boyfriend – so amazing, in fact, that she’s ready to take it to the next level with him. But something goes painfully awry that leads her to go get checked by a doctor, where she discovers she’s intersex.Though she has the appearance of a girl, her chromosones are male, and she’ll never be able to have her own children. Before she’s even given a chance to process it, the school finds out, and she is left doubting her own identity as a stream of hateful comments and nasty rumors cause her to hide in her home. Suddenly, Kristen is losing everything – her track scholarship, her boyfriend, her every friendship.The whole concept of being intersex was a super complex one, and I thought that the author (a surgeon) managed to convey well. She truly showed every angle, in a way that was thought-provoking and interesting. I hadn’t known much about this before, and now I feel fully informed in the subject, because she covered all the bases. She allows us to empathize with Kristin and her sudden discovery, and watch as it affects her. I liked how although she showed that being intersex was not without its risks (bullying, hate crimes, depression, possible cancer risk), she also proved that those who were could lead perfectly normal lives.Kristin was an awesome character. She had just the right mix of strength and all of those vulnerable emotions that made her relatable. I truly connected to her and how she was feeling, and felt her pain and awkwardness at the whole situation. She started out doubting everything she ever knew about herself, and for awhile, she hated her stomach, her running style, everything she had been so proud of before. As time went on and she forged new friendships, she grew stronger and began to accept herself as a real girl, no matter her chromosones. The love story was also super cute and I loved the message the author conveyed with it.Altogether? I really enjoyed this book. I flew through it super quickly. It was incredibly unique and addressed something that’s never been addressed in a YA book before. The characters were complex, interesting, and relatable. Kristin’s voice was believable and I really enjoyed her character. There were multiple storylines going on in this book at the same time – her mother’s death and how it affected her, her relationship with the love interest, her self-pity, her accepting herself, her father-daughter relationship, her friendships . . . I enjoyed them all. I definitely think that this novel has made me more aware of the problems that intersex people face in bullying and hate crimes, and just intersex in general. Reading this book, I felt that the author themselves could have had this condition, the emotions felt so raw and real. I would recommend this, for sure!Notable Scene:He turned to me, pointing his index finger at my mouth. “You stay away from me, you hear?”“Oh, no, are you breaking up with your boyfriend, Sammy? Maybe I can make it up to you tonight.” Bruce gave Sam the goose and Sam elbowed him in the neck. “Ooh, come on, baby . . . “His friends walked toward the gym, and as Sam turned to follow, I grabbed at his arm again. This time, when he pulled away, a thread of his sweater caught in his fingernail. He rounded on me. I could feel the muscles in his arm spasm.“Sam, please. . . ” I begged. “Let me explain.”“What the fuck is there to explain?” Sam said. His eyes were bright, like there were tears hovering in his eyes. He leaned in, and I allowed myself to hope that he was going to listen. But instead he just whispered, “I thought I loved you, you fucking man-whore. And you’ve been lying to me. I have nothing to say to you. Ever. Again.”FTC Advisory: Balzar+Bray/HarperTeen provided me with a copy of None of the Above. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Things are going well for Kristin during her senior year -- she has two solid friends, a dreamy boyfriend, is interested in life and school, and she runs. She and her father are coping with her mother's death from cancer several years ago.Then she discovers everything she knew about herself is not what she thought, and everything changes.When she and her longtime boyfriend finally try to have sex, it's painful. Kristin is smart enough to go to a doctor to see what's wrong. She's surprised to discover she's intersex, with organs of both genders.So at an age when most people are discovering themselves, Kristin is doing so, but starting from scratch. Everything she has thought about herself she now questions.So do other people when the entire school finds out.Debut author Gregorio, who is a doctor, handles Kristin's situation with kindness and from more than one angle. Regular teen complications of finding the right boy, dealing with scorn and discovering who you can really rely on are woven into the novel seamlessly.Because Gregorio writes honestly about sexual matters, but with great taste, this is on the older end of YA fiction. But it is a novel I have recommended for every high school library.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I wanted to read None of the Above because it was a unique mix of medical issues and the emotional impacts that I crave. I haven't read much about intersex main character so was hoping to get a new experience and a portion of what someone dealing with these intense and huge personal identity crisis might be feeling like. Kristin aka Krissy seems like an every day teenager for the first part when we get to know her. She has some family emotional issues since her mother passed away from cervical cancer, but she's for the most part let time heal that pain. She has two best friends, and a boyfriend who seems sweet and attentive to her. But I knew what was looming over her head from the synopsis, so it was nice to get a feel of who she was inside before everything was thrown into question. It is definitely in the category of things that you never expect to hear from your doctor. When things went upside down on her they really got bad quickly. It really seemed like it separated who was actually her friends from everything else. I felt bad for her because she was so confused and torn up over her diagnosis that she had a hard time even wanting or feeling like she should defend herself. It really broke my heart even seeing one of her best friends having such a hard time with it and turning against her and as well as the boyfriend that had seemed so attentive and not being on her side. Of course, there are some misunderstanding about who said or did what, and what was perceived as ill intent that really just was lies that covered up mistakes that should have came out in the open sooner. But that showed more growth in Krissy. She had to figure out who she was, who she wanted to be and how being intersex fit into that. Maybe it is just that I am so far removed from high school but I really don't see how its such a big deal to others. then again maybe I also understand what the condition involves and I am emotionally connected to the character but I mean as a boyfriend I can understand why he would freak out at first but I mean I don't think it's really any reason to turn your back on someone. But I guess if you aren't secure with who you are, then you can't be with someone that isn't cut and dry and that is part of the male immaturity. I did like that Krissy realized people who have been friendly even before the diagnosis but maybe she was just too busy and caught up in track, her friends, her school work that she didn't even notice the opportunities for other bonds and friendships to be made. I like that even though she was in shock and depressed for a while, and made some decisions hastily, that she still considered what others told her. Even if it took a while for her to follow through. She eventually went to some counseling sessions that helped her sort things out a bit from an unbiased person as well as realizing she couldn't just keep hiding from the world. That it was okay to try new things, or go out and be with a new set of people. That she had to look around and see who was still on her side and not push them away. I liked the subtle romance that forms in it but that it never took a front seat, that the issues as well as the family and friendships had to get worked on, as well as her character growth. I enjoyed the way that it ended and I would read another book with Krissy or by Gregario. Bottom Line: Timely topic that explores the life of an intersex teen and the issues of gender.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I'm glad this book exists in the world. It is the story of a young girl who finds out that she is intersex. She struggles with questions many of us would struggle with, but in a very believable teenage way. For a topic that doesn't have a whole lot of literature, this is a welcome addition.