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True Biz by Sara Novic Book Review

Reasons For Reading This Book:

True Biz by Sara Novic was chosen by Diana as the July book of the month for The Readheads podcast book club. I did not read the jacket of the book before beginning it so I only knew what she said in the episode prior to reading it. 

Content of This Book:

February is the hearing headmistress of the school and tells her story as a the daughter of deaf parents. During this school year she is faced with a number of challenges from the district’s administration, new students, and legacy students along with her personal relationship with her mother and wife. February comes from a family of generational deafness and is the talk of the school as a legacy student. With his first sibling on the way, Austin is awaiting the news of whether or not they too will be deaf. Charlie is the daughter of divorced parents who have differing views on their daughter’s deafness. After failing school after school, Charlie's last hope is River Valley School for the Deaf. In addition to life at a new school and finally learning ALS__ is having repeated issued with her coclear implant and once again her and her parents do not agree on how to move forward with it.

What I Liked About This Book:

I have been saying for a while now that I want to learn ASL. The informational pages between chapters helped me to learn some ASL, the history of the language, and deaf history. This is something that is not taught in public or private schools in my experience so it was very fascinating to read and learn. The inclusion of different types of informational pages added uniqueness to the book. The author used informational pages like Wikipedia pages and ASL like posters. I have read books where the author or characters in the book were deaf in the past and in those books they focused on deafness as a disability and how to inform the hearing on how to treat and accommodate those who are deaf. This book was the complete opposite where the word disability was not used. Deafness was seen as a disability through this book but it was not a main focus in the same way it was presented in other books I’ve read. The book focused more on the life of the characters. I loved getting to read about deaf society and what is seen as important within the society. The varying narrators provided an all-encompassing view of deafness and the different places people hold within their society. It felt as though each of the narrators received equal amount of chapters providing equal character development. Each of the characters had a plot point that interested me which kept me interested in the book as a whole. To describe the level of detail this author wrote in, I could see and feel Charlie leaned up against the speakers listening to the rock music in the bar. I have only driven through Ohio, but I know someone from there and from what I know from them, the narrators depicted Ohio accurately.

What I Disliked About This Book:

Because of the opening of the book I knew that the plot was headed in a certain direction but I had no idea where it was going until one particular scene where I figured out the possibilities of the ending. Some of the plot points at the end of the book turned me off and left me really frustrated. I felt as though some of the things the students were doing was completely out of character from the characters I had come to know from the rest of the book. I also feel as though the ending was rushed and not as thought out as the beginning and middle of the book.

Would I Recommend This Book?

Overall I really enjoyed this book and learned so much about the deaf community. Even though I was not a fan of the latter half of the book, I still enjoyed me time reading it and recommend it. This book was a good choice for a book club book because there were so many different topics and aspects of the book that made for great discussion. If you are thinking about reading this book I would tell you to do so.


Check out my book reviews for 2023!!

Horse by Geraldine Brooks  
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
Hester by Laurie Pico Albanese
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Environmental and Sustainability Book Reviews 2022
Self-Improvement Book Reviews 2022
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Not All Diamonds and Rosé by Dave Quinn
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham 
Girls With Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman
Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton
The Summer Series by Jenny Han
A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard
The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives by Brian Moylan
Verity by Colleen Hoover
All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart 
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Majesty: American Royals 2 by Kathrine McGree
Every Last Secret by A.R. Torre

Check out my book reviews for 2021!!

2021 Book Rankings

Beach Read By Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Educated by Tara Westover
The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 
The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins 
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins 
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Klara and the Sun 
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
American Duchess by Karen Harper 
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Girl With No Job by Claudia Oshry
Down the Habit Hole by Holly Madison Book Review
My Story by Elizabeth Smart
Layla by Colleen Hoover

Check out my book reviews for 2020!!

Check out my book reviews for 2019!!

Check out my book reviews from 2018!!


Don't forget to stay up to date on my blog by following my social media accounts!
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