A wonderfully raw and emotional memoir, which explores gender and identity whilst growing up in America. Such a heartwarming and heartbreaking read! I loved the closeness George had with his family and how they were all there for each other through so many tough times. A brilliant read for anyone but fans of The Black Flamingo will definitely enjoy this.

I've heard so much love for this book from early reviewers and people from places it was published first, so I knew I had to read it when I could, hence my excitement when I saw it on Netgalley and got approved.

This is a fantastic memoir about a black, queer persons life, starting from their first traumatic experience as a child, travelling through their youth and realising they had to wear a mask to fit in and be liked, up until adult years. I'm really not sure why I first thought it was going to be in the form of verse, though.

Although heartbreaking that a child at an early age felt they weren't normal because of who they were, ultimately it's also got a lot of hope embedded within each telling of tales around growing up and finding who you are, and that who you are is important.

I absolutely loved this memoir, especially because it's funny as well as truthful, so has a nice balance, which I think gives the desired effect as it's aimed at YA. You want the truth, but you don't want to be put off of... well.. life, and living your truth. The family pictures featured inside were so lovely too.

The chapter that was a letter to George's little brother was such a beautiful thing to read. It brought tears to my eyes and was such an uplifting, kind letter. This was followed by a beautiful chapter on George's nanny, which made me feel even more emotion because she shares the same first name as my nanny! The beautiful messages just kept coming with the chapter on George's cousin, Hope, and the letter to their mum.

I also loved that George still found comfort in prayer despite feeling so isolated for much of their life and that they still felt that faith was for anyone. So often, religion and sexuality butt heads, but it was just so nice to see it harmonious.

This memoir covered so much: sexuality, black identity, growing up, death, assault, oppression, brotherhood, family, acceptance (in many forms) and much more. It was more than I expected and so much really spoke to me on a personal level. This was phenomenal and everyone should read it, even if you don't fall under the lgbtqia+ umbrella, it's worth a read for sure.

A stunning and emotional memoir centring what it is like to be young, queer and Black in America. Johnson's writing is personal and open, delving into the nuances of family and identity with honesty and frankness. While this is written for teens, I would recommend it for anyone as an important read.

‘Love who you want to love and do it unapologetically.’

It feels a little weird to review an ARC of a book that was published ten months ago. On the other hand, I’m so glad that this book will also be published in Europe (GB), and I was honored I could read it as an ARC.

Because there are already so many reviews, I want to highlight one thing. In the first chapter, George M. Johnson mentions how society thinks about gender, even before birth.
‘Gender is one of the biggest projections placed into children at birth...I often wonder what this world would look like if people were simply told: ‘You are having a baby with a penis or a vagina or other genitalia.’

A couple of months ago, I read ‘The Prophets by Robert Jones jr.’, and part of his story was the queer African history where, in his story, children didn’t have a gender at birth. They all grew up gender-neutral and got to chose their gender later on, male, female, both, or none of the above. And that’s exactly what George M. Johnson points out:
‘What if parents let their child explore their own gender instead of pushing them down one of the only two roads society tells us exist?’

My sons had a vacuum cleaner, a kitchen, dolls, cars, trains, etc. But still, they’ve always been boys to me, from the moment they were born. And I’m quite sure now they both identify as male (15 and 18), but what if they hadn’t? This memoir is not only important for Black queer kids but also for the rest of us, parents, people who’d want to be a parent, teachers, and so on, to understand how we’re so used to label everyone in society and what that does to our kids. For me, this story is food for thought.

Finally, I want to scream out how beautiful this cover is!!!

All Boys Aren't Blue is a memoir about growing up black and queer, from childhood to teenage years to college. Using short essays to structure the book, George M. Johnson covers topics like family, masculinity, sexuality, sex, consent, gender, and being Black in a way which focuses on individual experience but also draws out advice and powerful statements for people dealing with similar things.

Described as a YA memoir, the book is particularly aimed at teenagers also navigating these issues, but is a powerful read for anybody. The style is very conversational, which works well and makes it easy to get drawn into Johnson's life. It seems perhaps obvious that there needs to be more books like this, using the memoir to share experiences that might not always get told, but aimed more at teenagers who need to hear these things not always from a fictional perspective.

I've wanted this book for a very long time and when I saw it available on NetGalley, I was so excited.

This book did not disappoint, it was beautiful and moving. This is such an important memoir to read, not just for those who identify with Johnson, but for everyone to understand their difficulties.

Johnson explores his identity through stories of his growing up as a queer, black boy in the USA, and each story he told shows how it shaped him into the person he is today and shows young people that they are not alone in their identity.

Definitely a book that should be read by everyone!

Now to get my hands on a physical copy so it can look great on my shelf...!

All Boys Aren't Blue is a beautifully poignant memoir, exploring the intersectionality between the black and queer idenities of the author.

This was my first foray into non fiction (i know, i know) and it was a great place to start. It is basically the authors story, of both their trauma and joy, and as a medical student I love hearing peoples life stories and this is basically what this was. I also loved the points the author made towards dismantling toxic masculalinty and the systematic racism black people face. At times harrowing and heartbreaking, this was a very powerful memoir that will stick with me for a long time to come.

I'm not really sure how to rate non-fiction, as I don't really have anything to compar eit too, but i'm giving it 5 stars to help support the author and hopefully get this book into more peoples hands!!

“When people ask me how I got into activism, I often say, “The first person you are ever an activist for is yourself.” If I wasn’t gonna fight for me, who else was?”
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What a truly magnetic and wonderful memoir. A must read for all, especially those in the LGBTQIAP+ community. A raw look into what it was like growing up ‘different’ in a world that you felt and knew wasn’t ready for you yet.
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With their heart fully on their sleeve, George M. Johnson tells their story from childhood to present day, growing up in both the Black community and the LGBTQIAP+ community, the ups, the terrible downs and all that’s in between. I wanna start by thanking George for being so open with their story, and for all they will be doing for young people in our community that are currently feeling lost and as if they don’t belong.
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One of the main things for me that stuck out in this memoir is that even though George grew up in a family that was pretty immersed in the LGBTQIAP+ way of life with a surprising amount of the family falling into the community, George still didn’t feel fully comfortable to be the their true self until later in life, which is a stark reminder that even though some of those closest to you may accept you wholly, there’s that feeling deep down that the world will not, and that is heart breaking and worryingly relatable. I truly do hope the world moves in a better way, but knowing people like George are in it, its nice to feel we are in good hands moving forward.
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A massive thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for the eARC! I truly adored this booik with every ounce of my heart!

This is one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. It managed to transport me into a life completely different from my own. It was honest, emotional, hopeful and informative. The hype is justly deserved.

I thought this was really disappointing. Normally I like this sort of thing but it was slow, written without any great skill and seemed to focus on the wrong things. So much about facets of his life were presented in really broad context at length whilst never delivering on details, for example the induction into the fraternity and his "feminine" behaviours. He talks about growing up in a family with lots of diversity in gender and sexuality, yet never explains why he felt that he couldn't come out until he was 25. Are these experiences transferable to other young people? There's a lot of privilege here. To use the title All Boys Aren't Blue implies elements of gender non-conformance, but this is a cis-man's memoir. I hated the "as you'll learn later" that kept cropping up - structure better! I'm surprised this was published by Penguin, it felt self-published.

All Boys Aren’t Blue is a collection of personal essays from Johnson’s childhood, adolescence and college life. It walks us through their various experiences which helped shape them to be who they are now. It is directed specifically at the queer black community and anyone who is struggling with their identity. It was so powerful and so full of hope that I had tears in my eyes almost the entire time I was reading it. I would say this is a must read for anyone looking to learn and understand about the struggles and prejudices that the black queer community lives through everyday.
No rating as I feel inadequate to rate someone’s life experiences.