I have to applaud this concept - Hinori comes from a culture that is devoid of gender roles where everyone is encouraged to find the "balance between Mother and Father". They come to odds with a group who has come to their planet for whom gender roles are extremely ingrained in their society - so much so that they will go so far as to subject those who do not fit their narrow definitions to hormone injections. When Hinori comes across Mateo, who defies the expectations of gender in his own culture, he finds his own world turned upside down while inspiring Mateo to stand up for himself as well.

I understand the author's choice to use "they" throughout the book, but it made it incredibly confusing. The challenge of using plural pronouns for singular antecedents means that those moments where the narrator was referring to a group in one sentence and an individual in the next were very difficult to parse. Additionally, I feel like the abuse that occurs here was sort of just glossed over and I have a very hard time with stories where individuals subjected to sexual exploitation or abuse of any kind are portrayed as enjoying it or coming to enjoy it later. It made it very difficult to appreciate the concept that was put forward here. ( )

Gender roles are integral to human society, have been for many millennia, so to even imagine a culture where they do not exist is difficult for us. Within the world of the Naha’i in this story, the author has succeeded in showing what such a world might look like, and I loved every discovering all the aspects of this alien society that became clear as the story progressed. One of the most significant signals of how different the Naha’i are, beyond the obvious descriptions of their rituals, is the way the narrator, a young Naha’i called Hinori, thinks. Even the pronouns they use are gender neutral since using “him” or “her” is considered deeply disrespectful. I loved that little detail which may seem small, but it is very telling and enabled me to truly see the world through Hinori’s eyes, being reminded with almost every sentence that theirs was not a human point of view. What an amazing achievement to create a world so different, yet consistent and, to me, perfectly beautiful!

For the Naha’i it is all about balance, and while, or so I learned, some people on their planet lean more toward one end of the spectrum than others, biologically they are, in our words, both male and female. The conflict in this story arises when they run into a society that has defined genders in the most rigid way, even prescribing pink and blue clothing. And when one of them, Mateo, wants to defy their definitions, he is in deep trouble. But he also has a chance to explore his true nature when he encounters Hinori, a young Naha’i on their Journey which is much like a coming-of-age ritual. When Mateo joins Hinori on their Journey neither of them have an easy time of it, but their adventures are filled not only with danger but also with joy.

If you like to discover alien cultures (as we can imagine them), if you enjoy reading about two young people who may come from vastly different backgrounds but discover how much they have in common, and f you’re looking for amazing read that will make you think, then you will probably like this free short story. I am totally blown away and think it deserves to be called extraordinary. ( )