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What We Left Behind: An Emotional Young Adult Novel

by Robin Talley

Love, distance, and changing identities

Regular price $15.90 USD
Regular price $24.85 USD Sale price $15.90 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

Love, distance, and changing identities

Toni and Gretchen begin college convinced their relationship can withstand being apart: Toni at Harvard, Gretchen at NYU. But their first year away from home brings different kinds of change. Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, finds a sense of belonging among transgender upperclassmen, while Gretchen has to reckon with who she is beyond the couple they have been. Their relationship becomes the point where long distance, personal growth, and gender identity meet, raising a question the novel leaves for the couple to face: whether they have grown apart or can remain together. The story centers on the challenges of sustaining a relationship as each person’s sense of self shifts.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teens and young adults interested in LGBTQ+ fiction, including stories with a genderqueer protagonist.
  • Readers interested in relationships tested by distance and the transition to college.
  • Readers looking for fiction about identity and finding a sense of belonging.

Themes

Gender identityLong-distance relationshipsCollege transitionBelongingPersonal growth

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

From the critically acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves comes an emotional, empowering story of what happens when love may not be enough to conquer all

Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. When they separate for their first year at college--Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU--they're sure they'll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, theirs is bound to stay rock-solid.

The reality of being apart, though, is very different than they expected. Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, meets a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, but Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship.

As distance and Toni's shifting gender identity begin to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide--have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together?
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