This issue of Sugar and Heartstrings begins with an essay called “Walls,” in which the author, Amina Foxdye, gives a personal and honest account of her transition from male to female.
The writing in this piece is messy — there are spelling and grammatical errors and unnecessary repetition —but it’s also charming. She illustrates the entire book with little pencil drawings of squiggly lines, bubbles, and emotive cartoon cats. But in “Walls,” she also uses old student IDs and driver’s licenses that show her transition from Jake to Amina.
Unfortunately, the rest of the zine lacks focus. In the following sections — “Ravers” and “Monsters” — Foxdye is overly sentimental and rambling, and uses too many similes and metaphors. For example, “Monsters [mean words] come out” of her; she’s “shocked at the monsters;” she doesn’t always “know what to do with the monsters.” The zine would have been more effective had she stuck with her first theme and maybe one more that was related. (Chelsea Murray)
Zine, #4, Amina Foxdye, [email protected]