What is your opinion?
Tutti Frutti: LGBTIQA+
"This was certainly an interesting read. A thought-provoking story that made me realize the struggles LGBTQ+ individuals had to go through. Throughout reading this story, I was deeply moved by the characters' struggles. I felt for the characters and was easily able to relate to them. The characters are very well-written and believable. I was able to understand the pain they went through when they felt trapped in their bodies. I like how the story was portrayed; it gave me a different perspective. Definitely a story worth reading—one with an incredible message. Loved your work!"
Christmas turned upside-down
"What a beautiful story! I loved every carefully crafted chapter. The promise of the opening poem - by the definitely unconventional e e cummings - filled after a series of ups and downs. The flawed messages of narrow-eyed Christianity contrasted to the teaching of love and joy that Jesus gave us. The story is set in Australia: Sydney, kangaroos, chips, the cater-corner seasons. The themes are universal. Children not quite at home with gender assignments, seeking happiness in little revolts against parental urging until the inevitable rift develops. How sad; to love your opinions more than your own children. A gem of a story, well worth re-reading to catch facets unseen at first glance. My only real criticism: a few trivial errors in punctuation, a few lines of dialog that read awkward. Forgiven for the grace and beauty and purity of the story. I loved it."
Tutti Frutti
"Very enjoyable reading. Would recommend to anyone with an open mind who loves to read."
Tutti Frutti
"I feel like the summary could be expanded on to draw people into read the story more, maybe tell us more about the characters or the setting. Good descriptions, you can envision the holiday decorations and clothing, and Hollis’ mother’s nails. You can also sense the longing Hollis has to be themselves’ even at their early age. You can sense the dysphoria they feel with their long hair and clothing, and the rhyme their mother makes them repeat countless times. I feel attached and can understand the characters struggles especially wanting to be their true selves and society saying they can’t be because of ‘Rules’ society laid out centuries ago. I also relate to the quote: If only identity was that simple to change. I understand the fear in not being able to tell people because of judgement or not understanding. Sometimes it feels easier to hide to please people even if you yourself are miserable in the end. I agree that gender shouldn’t be as easily determined as ‘Holding a baby upside down and judging it based on its parts, because often it is more complicated than that. While the world is a cruel place, if everyone attempted to fit in the world would never evolve, grow or change and if we stopped exploring many things would be left undiscovered. Can’t image getting grounded for cutting your hair, it’s just hair, it grows back. I do agree with the sentiment that children are often given little bodily autonomy even though their body is theirs. Parents style their hair and dress them how they want not how they want. I’ve not heard the line ‘God does not make gender mistakes.’ Although I can image the church and pastors using it against trans people to guilt trip them. I think this could be a fully-fledged book if it told us the story of what happened every year, every Christmas. You could become more connected to the characters, learn more about them but what we did get to see intrigued me."
