A E Dooland

Right. I've been letting myself down review wise. So, let's see if I can put anything here.

The story is about Min Lee, a worker at Frost International located in Sydney Australia. Working as a marketer in the diamond division. Somewhat unexpectedly, Min is made a program lead on a secret project with a small team. Highly confidential. Very stressful.

Meanwhile Min's boyfriend, Henry Lee (no relation, Lee's a popular Korean name), works in the HR department at Frost International. Has a psychology degree. Is very patient and understanding. Apparently visits Korea a lot, and while there, visits Min's mother. Min's mother keeps pressuring Min to marry Henry (not that Henry has actually proposed or anything). Henry and Min date, every once in a while see each other at the office, and even less often, about once every three weeks or so, have unfun, disagreeable sex. Because Min feels it's expected to do so.

Min has one friendly acquaintance/friend at the office. One Sarah. Sarah's always trying to drag the workaholic Min out for drinks and the like, but Min is always busy. Too busy.

Not too busy, though, to occasionally paint. And upload paintings to DeviantArt. And interact with users through comments and private messages. Which is important to this story on several levels.

One night, feeling inspired, Min paints. Uploads picture. Min doesn't normally paint people, but did this time. Titling it something like "self-portrait". Goes to sleep. Wakes up to hundreds of comments and notes. Most from women gushing over the painting. Both in how much they like the painting and how handsome and attractive the man is in the painting. Flirting with Min. Since it is Min, right? What with labeling it with the title given.

Course, Min's somewhat confused. Looks at profile picture. Realizes/remembers had, at some moment of this or that, removed gender indications. Min keeps almost deleting the painting, taking it down. Doesn't like how it appears to be misleading people. For Min is in the body of a woman, not that of a man.

A certain amount of mounting tension builds from having uploaded that painting. And then, Min uploads a new profile picture. Clearly showing that Min is a woman. A picture taken by a coworker when a group were out celebrating the end of a project. The picture shows How tall Min is, how serious. Against the backdrop of drinking/drunk coworkers. Oddly the positive comments continue.

And then Min leaves a little earlier than normal. Waits at a crosswalk. Hears two high school aged girls giggling behind her. Looks back at them. Notices they are gazing at her. Min feels quite uncomfortable. Much more so when they start loudly saying things. Then one bubbly chatty one finally bounces over and demands to know if it actually is Min Lee. The artist. Apparently (1) Min uses own name on DeviantArt page; (2) the two schoolgirls had used the internet to track down Min Lee.

One thing leads to another and Min Lee finds herself in a super expensive restaurant with her young female stalker. Who talks a mile a minute. About everything.

I haven't yet noted that Min Lee almost always dresses up. Wears nice jewelry. Make-up. Skirt or dress. Almost never pants. With massive high heels Attempting to look very feminine. Unless at home alone, when she wears comfortable clothing. Which is important on two levels. One, Min hates having to look feminine and drag on the bra and skirt and all that. Two, Bre, the schoolgirl stalker, makes a comment that drives Min to flee the restaurant. A comment about how the super tall woman doesn't look . . . right in the outfit she is wearing.

So, while highly stressed at work, and while being stalked by a bubbly schoolgirl, Min begins to seriously think about how she might really be a he. And, after certain interactions, maybe is attracted to women. I mean, Min accidentally kissed another woman while drunk. Found it quite pleasurable. Much more so than anything she gets from Henry.

The story unfolds. Lives, careers, relationships shift, tense, explode, come together. A quite good story. Several times I thought Min might be too depressing to continue to follow, but I'm glad I did. And, oddly, I came to really like Bre. Despite her baggage, bubbliness, flightiness.

Other than side characters, this is the first transgender novel I've read. First with a lead transgender lead character. I'd recommend the book. Apparently there are other things by this author, well, not apparently, I've seen them, but none up on GoodReads. They are all over on a blog. Including a sequel to Under the Skin. I found it difficult to try to read in that setting, so I hope the sequel finds it's way to published status at some point.… (lisätietoja)