I wrote an essay that discusses this book: https://xanwest.wordpress.com/2017/03... 
 Quotes from the essay: 
 "I fell so hard for A Boy Called Cin by Cecil Wilde because it felt like it held my experience more closely than any other trans romance I'd read, that it was written for me as a non-binary trans reader. Part of that was because there wasn't a cis love interest. It shaped the book, on a really deep level. That said, I've loved other romances where both main characters are trans and/or non-binary. (Three I would recommend are Defying Convention, Long Macchiatos and Monsters, and Documenting Light, which I'm in the middle of reading.) 
 "This book felt different. It cracked something open for me as a writer, taught me something about what trans and non-binary-centered romance could be. I had a similar experience reading Nevada, in the way that it felt so deeply trans-centered and written for a trans audience. It taught me something so important about writing trans stories. But it wasn't in a genre that I am actually writing, and genre is meaningful. A Boy Called Cin taught me something really important about writing trans romance. 
 "It took these classic romance tropes like May/December romance and billionaire romance, and showed what they might be like if they were trans and non-binary centered. Showed what a romance arc might look like if the cis gaze wasn't part of it, except in the ways that trans and/or non-binary people internalize it and need to unlearn it. It showed the critical importance of deeply consensual negotiated sex for trans and/or non-binary people, how central that needed to be in order for both characters to feel seen and respected in their genders. It didn't just center two trans and/or non-binary characters; I loved the way even the secondary characters were pretty much almost all trans." 
 "For me, one of the most amazing things that can happen in sex and in kink is to have my partner see my gender and hold space for me to be who I am. And it's incredibly tender for me to do that for my trans and/or non-binary partners. I've written story after story about this experience from all ends of it, and even titled my erotica collection Show Yourself To Me: Queer Kink Erotica because this experience of being seen and held in who you are during sex and kink is one of the things closest to my heart. I wrote erotica stories about trans and/or non-binary characters having this experience partly so that I could read them, so I could hold that kind of possibility out for myself. It was the only way I knew to access that kind of hopeful framework that centered people like me, in our own desire and our own need to be seen and honored as who we are. That kind of recognition is rare enough in life; it's even more rare in fiction. 
 There was something so intense and beautiful about getting to read an entire love story that included those experiences of recognition in a larger romance arc. It made me cry, to watch Tom get to have that for the first time after years of not having it in his sex life. To watch Cin get to offer that, and be held and honored in return by Tom. It felt like it had cracked scars open, and they were getting the light and air they needed to begin to heal. It made me feel less alone." 
 A brief review: 
 This is seriously beautiful, radical, trans and non-binary centered romance that blows me away. Cis gaze is only in the book as far as the non-binary character has internalized it, and that's gently and firmly challenged by the trans love interest. 
 I was breathless and verklempt reading A Boy Called Cin. It hits so many notes at once in a very lovely way, and feels very firmly written for trans &/or non-binary readers. 
 If you were hoping for a billionaire romance that centers trans and/or non-binary people getting their financial dreams come true, this book is for you. 
 If you swoon for May/December romance, and want a trans and/or non-binary one, this book is here for you. (I also rec Coffee Boy for this, by the way.) 
 I love it most for the way its so deeply trans & non-binary centered, for the fabulous sexual negotiation that's deeply trans and non-binary. and especially for Cin. I fell so damn hard for Cin right along with Tom, his grumpiness, his certainty about the importance of boundaries & consent, the way he really saw Tom. 
 I know that this book will be read by many as fantasy wish fulfillment for Cin (the whole billionaire thing). And it definitely is that. But for me, as a genderqueer reader, Cin is a fantasy of a dream lover who sees your gender & holds space for you to be who you are. It happens during sex, as well, which feels like such a gift to me personally. I just swooned for the ways sex is working in this book. 
 I am very grateful that A Boy Named Cin exists in the world. This is a trans m/nb romance that really touched my heart and gave me so many feels. It gave me comfort on a day when I needed it, and created a pocket of space that could really hold my gender. I needed that more than I knew. 
 A Boy Called Cin gives me so much hope for the kinds of trans and/or non-binary romance books that are possible. 
 Trigger Warnings (view spoiler)[ Cin's parents are awful and transphobic. There are references to Tom's previous sexual experiences feeling misgendering and disrespectful. There are descriptions of dysphoria. Tom struggles with internalized cissexism. (hide spoiler)]