This was a great collection of personal stories by non-binary writers who describe how being non-binary has impacted their lives and relationships with family and friends. A great collection for anyone that is looking to learn more about what it means to be non-binary as well as anyone who is currently dealing with the struggles that often comes with living in the world as who you are meant to be.

"What does it mean to be non-binary in the 21st century?" is the first question on the back of the book, and it tries to answer this by sharing the stories of non-binary people all over the world. By doing so, there are more than 20 essays in this book that contain insight, eye-opening events, and stories from non-binary people and how it interacts with different aspects of their lives.

The reason I picked this book was because it was the first time I heard of it. Of course, there are non-fiction books looking at gender and gender rolls in der general, as well as non-fiction books about what non-binary is. However, a book that shares different stories from non-binary people all over the world? Nope.

This is why I feel that this book is important and I am glad to be able to write that "Non-Binary Lives" keeps its promise. The stories are split into four sections: cultural context, communities, the life course, and bodies, health and wellbeing. In each section various people tell stories how their non-binary identity interacts with that aspect, this ranges to a Jewish NB person who struggles with some part of their family but has found an accepting place in religion, to a disabled person who gets repeatedly mis-gendered during medical emergencies and when their health is more important they don't have "time" for their gender and the struggle this creates.

Almost every story that you can imagine is in this book, autistic NB folks, fat NB folks, NB who know their privilege of "passing" and move on, to people struggling for acceptance within their own family. At the same time, there is no "normal" story, which shows that the non-binary community is very diverse and even within it, gender means something different to every person. It is hard to define and place a finger on.

So I began to wonder, if it would be able to relate for someone who is non-binary as well. Some aspects are relatable while at the same time, there are parts I could simply not follow at all. One person discovers their gender via sexual freedom, as someone who is asexual that was a big "day and night" moment for me. The same way an AMAB person is not going to relate to the story of someone giving birth either, but the more the merrier! It really depends on the person you are and your own experience of gender.

Though I must admit that what I found lacking was the voice of the "quiet" non-binary person. Every author is special in their own regard and do something great and amazing. This made it a somewhat intimidating read because someone who is non-binary or genderqueer and just goes about their daily business and maybe to pride when they have time, does not find a story that reflects them.

Nevertheless, "Non-Binary Lives" feels like a must read for everyone in the queer community who wants to learn more about what it means to be non-binary and how it interacts with different aspects of your life. It gives more insight than any piece of literature I had read before and shares stories from all over the world.

Really interesting collection of essays, packed with the kinds of contradictions that remind you that even among people who share an identity, there's no single experience shared by all.

Non-Binary Lives is a diverse collection of personal narratives that encompasses a huge variety of perspectives, reminding readers that there are endless ways to be non-binary. There are so many identities and intersections in this book: age (including coming out at different ages), health, neurodiversity, sexuality, body size, family size (including pregnancy and parenthood), gender identity, gender assigned at birth, race, nationality, class, faith. 

I especially loved Fred Langridge's essay "Non-Binary Experience in a Liberal Faith Community," about being a member of the Quaker community. And Lucy/Luc Nicholas's essay "Am I Allowed To Be Non-Binary, Too?" hit me right in the gut. 

Cis readers will learn a great deal from this collection. There are some surprising perspectives in here, and so much to think about, even if you aren't cis. Trans and non-binary readers, you will feel seen. Is impostor syndrome hitting you hard? Read. This. Book.

We often have language for what we are NOT before we have language for what we ARE. Non-Binary Lives is the kind of book that helps give readers language for - and celebrates - who they are.

This was a really diverse set of essays written by non-binary individuals. So many important and intersecting identities were represented. Some of the essays were more 'readable' than others. I enjoyed the second half of the book more than the first. I particularly loved hearing the perspectives of the writers who were religious.

I really appreciated reading these accounts because it gives a great perspective of how NB people navigate their lives in different cultures and intersections.

Non-Binary Lives was such an enjoyable read! I'll be honest, it was so full and wordy that it did take me a while to complete, but I'm very glad I did. The essays were well written as well as captivating. I find that personal accounts on gender are much more exciting then the technical jargon we see in other lgbtq non-fiction. As someone who is non-binary I found that not only did this give many different perspectives, but the editors were focused on making it as inclusive as possible.

My favorite essay was "The Soft Line In Between" by Jespa Jacob Smith. They speak of the difference in languages and gendered words, as well as finding kinship with other queer and non-binary folks.

This is definitely something I'm going to advocate for in my libraries collection, as it is an important subject and could really give people new perspectives!

This is a smart and thoughtful book of persona. narratives from a variety of nonbinary people. This is the most diverse collection on the subject I've seen, with people from Borneo, Ghana, UK, Canada, Germany, Malta, Sweden. Other contributors are of Nicaraguan and Colombian descent and Vietnamese-Australian. Various religions are represented as well: Quaker, Pagan, Jewish, Interfaith, and not everyone is able-bodied, with writers who live with chronic illness, are hard of hearing, and autistic.

Part of what makes this collection so powerful is how universal the stories are, even though the contributors are from all over the globe literally as well as figuratively. Many people wrote about safety and vulnerability, and the decision to be visible or masked. Many wrote about not feeling queer enough, and the struggle to find their places in the queer community.

Being non-binary is to exist in a liminal space, but many people wrote on the joy and freedom that space allows.
"Not every story ends badly. I find that more people rise to the occasion than I ever anticipate, and that gives me hope." (contributor LJ)

This is a wonderful collection of self-acceptance and hope, even in the pits of despair, We are not alone, we matter.

I am struggling to find the words for a review, the emotional reaction I had to this book is very difficult to put into more sophisticated terms than keysmashing (ajfjfbssjdj) and screaming (aaaahhh).
After already reviewing the wonderful "Trans and Autistic", this is the second account I'm reading this year of intersectionality and overlapping identities.
The editors have done a great job compiling amazingly touching essays on diverse topics within questions for gender and intersecting identities.
They recognise that the selection was of course limited to a certain extent through the language requirements etc but does a great job in showing a realistic snapshot of all kinds of different intersecting identities that are usually forgotten in the societal/media image of non-binary people (thin, able-bodied, white, perfectly androgynous).
I completely unashamedly confess I cried a little while reading this book. I highlighted my favourite sections in pink but they turned out to be too many sections to pick one poignant quote to summarise the book. Especially because all of the stories are incredibly unique (and yet relatable for so many people for so many reasons).
I hope this becomes a bestseller or whatever the equivalent for non-binary non-fiction is that certainly deserves a bigger market.
I also want to mention that the royalties go to charity so after receiving this for free on Netgalley I guess I just have to buy my own copy when it comes out to further the good cause.

This book is a collection of writings by nonbinary people, about their lives as nonbinary and how their identities intersect. It is a very moving book, definitely worth a read. I am nonbinary, which made it a particularly emotional read for me, but I think everyone, cis or trans, binary or nonbinary, should read this book.

The pieces of writing are all very personal, it really feels like you're getting to understand the writers and their identities and lives. Some of the pieces occasionally take on a more informative tone, which, given that this book is talking about topics that not everyone knows much about, is helpful. I know there was some information about queer history and feminism that I didn't know much about, despite being both queer and a feminist myself. Each piece of writing shows a different person's journey to their identity. There are so many different ways to be nonbinary, and so many ways to figure out that you are nonbinary, and I think this book does a really good job of showing that.

I particularly liked that the writers are a very diverse group. There are stories that talk about religion, disability, being a person of colour, and how those things affect the person's identity and story. One of them, focusing on disability, really moved me, because it rang very true to my own experience. This is a good book to read both to learn about other people but also to see yourself in the writing as well. Older nonbinary people have voices in this book, which is incredibly important because it often gets seen as a phase, just teenagers 'trying to be special'.

I found the chapter about a nonbinary child, written by a nonbinary parent, particularly moving.

There is a nuanced discussion about definitions and language at the start of the book, which I really appreciated, because different people use different terms in different ways. Even the word nonbinary can mean different things to different people!

There are also cartoons at the start of each chapter, which I loved!

Ultimately, this is a wonderful book, and I really do think everyone should read it. Because the writings are split up into chapters, roughly grouped into themes, it would be easy to dip in and out if you didn't want to read it in one sitting (although it's engaging enough to read it all through at once!).

Non-Binary Lives is an anthology of stories, thoughts and perspectives from non-binary people across the world. The book opens with an introduction, giving definitions and discussing the main terms and ideas presented in the book before leading into the collection of articles.

This book presents stories from a wide range of non-binary people from different countries, cultures, religions and backgrounds. The reader is given a great insight into the issues that non-binary people face, as well as how gender identity is viewed and treated in different countries and cultures.

I enjoyed reading this anthology and feel that my ideas and horizons have been broadened. Unfortunately, I will not be purchasing a copy of this book as it is not suitable for my library collection.

An interesting collection of essays by and about non-binary persons. From wikipedia:
Non-binary is a spectrum of gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine — ‌identities that are outside the gender binary.

Most of the authors are living and working in the UK, though a few were from other countries. My impression is that most are therapists and / or gender study students or professional academics.

While a few of the essays proved to be overly jargonistic or borderline offensive (one railed against the “ableist, capitalist, patriarchal, white supremist, cisgenderist dominant society” and another kept mentioning “toxic gender binary notions”), most were well-written and explored aspects of the non-binary gender concept that were new to me. Many examined the intersectionality of being non-binary within different cultures or religions as experienced by (for example) a Vietnamese Confucianist, a Jewish feminist, a Quaker, and an Hispanic. One essay explored the effect of motherhood (via the traditional biological pathway) on someone who self-identified as non-binary.

I was naively surprised by the references to infighting between differently gendered groups. Said one author: “…the phenomenon of self-identified transsexual folk who are vehemently opposed to non-binary as a concept as they feel it undermines the realness of their own identities. The vitriol they express is nearly as bad as the right-wing opponents of ‘gender ideology’ who are freaking out about the end of gender and gender roles.” Another bemoaned the fact that as a non-binary person, they were no longer able to benefit from the many women-only groups and privileges they had been enjoying. They had been happy to be part of women’s theater companies who were “dedicated to presenting lesser-told stories” as compared to the more “mainstream” companies, “dedicated to working their way through the safe Western dramatic canon of plays by dead cishet white dudes,” and were now unhappy to be automatically lumped in with the outsiders.

I’ve been fascinated with the concept of gender and gender fluidity ever since reading Gender Mosaic by Daphna Joel and Luba Vikhanski, and I enjoyed many of the essays in this book. They forced me to examine my own perceptions and actions: Why do I care what gender a person is? Or whom they prefer as a sexual partner? And yet I notice that if I can’t tell at a glance, I spend time trying to figure it out. For some reason I feel I need to know. Does this mean I treat people differently based on gender or simply that I have a great need to keep things categorized in my head? I have no idea!

I do know that I am greatly in favor of more inclusion in society, but not at the expense of other groups. Let’s hear more stories and give more opportunities to previously unrepresented groups — but why is it necessary to exclude people simply because some perceive them to have been part of a “privileged” group? Today’s white, cishet, men should not have to suffer because in the past *some* white, cishet, men benefited at the expense of other groups. And why on Earth would we want to belittle the great works of the past simply because their creators were white men when there were others at the time who did not have the same opportunities? Shakespeare’s plays are still amazing as are the works of Mozart, Rembrandt, and Sir Isaac Newton. Let’s work on making the world a place where we can have more greatness, not less.

I hate identity politics, and I’m happy to say that most of this book was focused more on individual experiences and perceptions than on politics. Worth a read if you’re curious about the concept.

I thought this book was a fantastic and very important read. I find it supremely important to read stories and listen to the perspectives of those different from and that challenge our own perceptions and views. And while I identify as queer, I am very much cis, and this book did just that. This book is a collection of essays from non-binary authors. In addition to telling their stories of being non-binary in a world that really likes it’s binaries, they also consider the intersectionality of race, faith, class, age, sexuality and more. I fully believe this book should find a home in every library. As the world expands its understanding of gender, it’s important to hear from those who identify as non-binary.

Important things I came away from this book with:

- As limited as the English language is, when we discuss gender and identity, it’s far more malleable and free of gender constraints than other languages. Authors whose first language was Spanish or German and others, expressed how they felt excluded and unseen in such binary and gendered languages.

- Simply adding a third gender box to tick doesn’t always cover it. There needs to be more gender freedom across the board and we need to get rid of traditional ideas of what masculinity and femininity mean and how they present. Too many people feel that they do not present non-binary enough for onlookers. It is not anyone’s place but the individual to determine what qualifies as “enough”. Let humans wear, say and play how they wish, and as long as it doesn’t harm others, it’s no one else’s business to say they are “enough” or not.

- No one is perfect, not even LGBTQ+ folks. A theme I was saddened to see repeated over and over was the backlash the authors received from the LGBTQ communities they had been a part of when they came out as non-binary or genderqueer. That by expressing their true selves, a lot lost friends in the community.

Everyone should read this book. Hopefully in doing so, we can gain a greater understanding and gentleness for one another as human beings just trying to live our lives as happily as possible.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈/5

I read this book as a free digital ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am afraid I thought much of this book - the pseudo science aside - was self indulgent nonsense. I started it with an open mind, but it quickly became apparent to me that these are what they call "first world problems" and that the stories within the book are perfect examples of victim literature. Dreadful, unreadable crap.

Non-Binary Lives is a collection of personal essays by non-binary people on elements of their lives and identities. As a whole, the anthology considers the range of experiences of being non-binary in the modern day, and how gender identity intersects with race, class, disability, faith, sexuality, and more. The writers come from various backgrounds and the book shows a real range of narratives, showing that there isn't one way to be non-binary nor is there a typical non-binary person. The pieces are short and numerous, making it easy to keep reading, and the author bios after each essay allow you to connect the writer to their other work easily.

This is an important collection, both in bringing these stories together to be shared and opening up a range of experiences to show people—regardless of their gender—how varied non-binary lives are and expose them to different points of view.