ARC Review: Can't Take That Away by Steven Salvatore

Title: Can't Take That Away

Author: Steven Salvatore

Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Rating: 4/5 Stars
Hardcover, 288 Pages
Publication Date: March 9th, 2021

Summary: An empowering and emotional debut about a genderqueer teen who finds the courage to stand up and speak out for equality when they are discriminated against by their high school administration. Carey Parker dreams of being a diva, and bringing the house down with song. They can hit every note of all the top pop and Broadway hits. But despite their talent, emotional scars from an incident with a homophobic classmate and their grandmother's spiraling dementia make it harder and harder for Carey to find their voice. Then Carey meets Cris, a singer/guitarist who makes Carey feel seen for the first time in their life. With the rush of a promising new romantic relationship, Carey finds the confidence to audition for the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the school musical, setting off a chain reaction of prejudice by Carey's tormentor and others in the school. It's up to Carey, Cris, and their friends to defend their rights--and they refuse to be silenced. Told in alternating chapters with identifying pronouns, debut author Steven Salvatore's Can't Take That Away conducts a powerful, uplifting anthem, a swoony romance, and an affirmation of self-identity that will ignite the activist in all of us.
 

I received an advanced copy of CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, and I'm really glad that I did, because this ended up being such a sweet, powerful story that I tore through. If this one isn't on your TBR already, you should definitely think about adding it! So without further ado, let's get into my review!

As the summary explains, Carey is a genderqueer teen who has big dreams of becoming a diva one day, just like the greats -- specifically their idol, Mariah Carey. But along the way, there are a whole bunch of issues that they have to deal with -- the rockiness of a new relationship, their grandmother's dementia, and the increasingly homophobic incidents happening at school. And it seems to get ten times worse when Carey auditions for the role of Elphaba -- often a female-presenting role -- in the school production of Wicked. Even though Carey smashes it out of the park and gets the role, not everyone is on board with it. So while trying to chase their dreams, Carey and their friends have to team up to fight the queerphobia taking place in their high school's hallways, demanding their right to be seen and respected alongside everyone else.

Like I said, I really enjoyed reading this book. Carey's dynamic with Monroe and Joey was so sweet, and I loved seeing them all together spending time and making goofy memories as best friends. I absolutely loved Mr. Kelly -- he reminded me a lot of an English teacher that I had many years ago (with Emily and Amber, actually!), and he became my mentor and a safe person that I could always talk to about anything going on, so seeing that Carey had someone like that in their corner was very heartwarming for me as well.

This book also really tackles a variety of important topics that are crucial to discuss. Not only is Carey fighting for their right to be a part of the spring musical, but they also are fighting for their right to be respected as a genderqueer student in their learning environment -- as well as fighting for the rights of the other LGBGTQ+ students who also want to feel safe and respected while getting their education. Watching them fight that power was nothing short of inspiring.

(Spoilers in this paragraph, so skip to the next paragraph to avoid them!) The one thing that I was a bit confused about with this book is exactly what happened with Cris and Max's sister. Like Monroe and Joey frequently point out, he doesn't really explain himself. I guess I just didn't really ship Cris and Carey together because of the fact that Cris got caught, didn't really explain much of anything to Carey, and then they're this on-again, off-again thing for awhile where they both don't really seem to discuss any of their problems together and then everything turns out for them okay in the end. I think it would've been great to see that dynamic fleshed out more between the two of them, and them addressing their issues concretely and fully explaining everything to each other. I understand them not doing it throughout the book to create conflict and a point of tension, but at the end, I was expecting them to have it out and for Cris to finally have to own up to everything and be honest and for both of them to acknowledge how they've been treating each other and how that isn't healthy for a relationship, but then that never ended up happening. But that's the only thing about the book that I wasn't super keen on -- the rest was great!

Overall, I really liked reading CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY, and I'd definitely recommend it for anyone looking to pick up a fresh new read that contains equal parts humor, realness, and power. I never get tired of watching a group of brave teenagers fighting to enact change while demanding to be heard. And Carey's narrative voice was really great -- I enjoyed getting to watch them move through this rollercoaster and seeing their strength as they fought for their right to respect. I feel moved and empowered after finishing this book, for sure!