Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I am amazed by this story. I never knew there were more details to Brandon's life. Ever since I've finished this book, I've been going back to re-read certain parts of it. It was touching that the author dedicated the book to Brandon. To carry on Brandon's spirit, and for all the problems he tried to overcome, you should really read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: it was ok but gave no justice
Review: I am really interesting in the Brandon Teena story so when i came across this book i had to read it. It was much to my dismay that i found that it still left me confused and wondering. In my opinion, it was very badly written and didnt give the story justice. The wording was mostly non-professional and made it seems as if Ms. Jones was an amateur writer. The books didnt clear up any details i had already known. In my opinion, anyone who reads this book should do further research to give Brandon any kind of justice to his life what so ever. I am appalled by the fact that Ms. Jones made it clear that Brandon wished to be known as a he but Ms. Jones continued to call him a her, after Ms. Jones wrote about the rape. Ms. Jones wrote about the rape as if it were nothing. One moment it was about the rape, the next it would turn to the media. She gave no time for the reader to mourn or feel a proper amount of sympathy or rage concerning the violation that happened to Brandon. After finishing the book, i was very disappointed in the way Ms. Jones presented Brandon's tragic life.
Rating:
Summary: "Boys Don't Cry"
Review: I can't believe they made such a great movie from this book! I love to read all of Aphrodite Jones' books. If you want to watch the movie, you should definitely read this book, too.
Rating:
Summary: All She Wanted!
Review: I found this book very well written, we can get into the story right aways. I am glad they not just talking about the time she was in Falls City, in this book they talk about when Teena was young and her life in Lincoln, you can know her more by this book. You also know more about the people in her life, you know about the life of Lana Tiesdel, her sister, family...,about Tom Neissen, John Lotter, some friends of Teena Brandon, well you know a lot about Teena, her friends and her ennemies. In the end what trouble me is they said that maybe Lana was part in the crime to kill Brandon and also Philip Devine was asked to participate, I guess we will never know the real truth about what really happen when they kill Teena. What happen was a terrible crime, who should not happen, why killing Teena Brandon, because she want to be a guy? They plan to kill her, how can they think to get out of it eassily, police will know that was them, Teena had told them she been rape by Lotter and Neissen, so it's not hard to know who kill her? All that is weird and complicate. Also Lotter is on death row and not Neissen, why death penality still exist??? Just keep them in prison, I don't think they enjoyed being in prison, who will??? Lotter was a trouble kids, you read about his past and his trouble childhood, I don't say what he did was acceptable coz he was a trouble kid but being put to death is too much. That book is a really sad story but if you want to know more about Teena Brandon buy this book, it's a good and fast reading event if the book is big.
Rating: 
Summary: What about the other victims?
Review: I had heard this story in the media when it happened, but it was good to read a more in depth accouting of what surrounded the incident. I am an avid true crime reader, and while this story was well-told, it was at times slightly confusing due to the large number of characters that were introduced - many with similar names, like Lana, Linda, Lisa, Leslie (not the fault of the author). It also seemed like the author tried to attach a name to every single statement and incident. Instead of just saying, "a friend once saw..." another name would be introduced and I found myself filing these names in my brain thinking they would come up later in the story, or flipping back through the story trying to see how a certain person fit in.
At any rate, I think that many people were made to feel sorry for this unfortunate girl who was raped and murdered because of her transgenderism. What the story actually showed me was Teena Brandon was nothing more than a lazy, common crook who took advantage of every person who tried to befriend her. She had many friends who didn't care if she was male or female, and she stole from every one of them instead of just getting a job and supporting herself. Granted, that's no reason to be killed, but I felt far more sympathy for Lisa and Phillip, who truly were just innocent bystanders who ended up dead for no reason. Very little time was spent on the injustice of their deaths.
Rating: 
Summary: Even the title gives me pause..
Review: I have not read this book and just based on the title, i can honestly say that I will not ever read it. Brandon Teena died because of his gender issues and this author cannot honor his memory in the least by titling her book "All SHE Wanted". I think Aphrodite Jones missed the whole point while doing her investigation. And sadly,, tht message has been given to the American Public.
Rating:
Summary: Narrative Identity Crisis
Review: It is unfortunate that, upon reading this book, one will automatically-- perhaps even subconciously-- compare it to the movie that tells the same story. Though they both chronicle the life and death of the same person, comparing them is like comparing the Book of John to the Passion of the Christ.
This in mind, I did my very best to approach the book objectively. To both my surprise and dismay, it worked. The narrative style departed enough from the movie to develop the author's distinct voice. However, that voice seemed to have been going through puberty because the narrative is scattered and vacant.
In her introduction, Jones tells us that her narrative has been pieced together from police reports and interviews with those involved. As I read this book, it became apparent that Jones took much of the exposition nearly verbatim from these reports and interviews. The narrative voice runs the gambit from colloquial to formal. What's worse, the author seems to have put some effort into a paragraph or two every few chapters which shows us she has the ability to write well, she just isn't using it. I read this whole book hoping that Brandon Teena would find peace and the narrative would find its voice. Unfortunately, neither did.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This book is excellent in portraying Teena Brandon's life before she decided to transform herself into Brandon--something you don't get in "The Teena Brandon Story" documentary. You can follow the problems Teena went through struggling with her sexual identity crisis, starting with her own family problems and the ensuing life of petty crime. As Brandon, he had the misfortune of linking up with the wrong people in the wrong town. Given the volatile nature of small-town life with deadend jobs and domestic violence, combining a F2M individual and these ignorant rednecks was an explosive, ill-fated mixture.However, what disturbs me in this book is the writer's obvious affection for Lana Tisdel and her mother, two people whom I feel were linked to Brandon's murder. They may not have pulled the trigger, but those two lowlifes were as much to blame for Brandon's murder as the two men. Apparently Aphrodite Jones felt the only way she could get information for her book about Brandon was to cater to those two women, which I find appalling. She goes so far as to gush on how beautiful Lana is, when photos revealed Lana to be an plain, average-looking Midwestern white female. Not surprisingly, a good percentage of photos in the book are contributed by Lana and her family. This is where I do not feel it is an entirely truthful book because of this favortism towards Lana and her mother. "Boys Don't Cry" correctly depicted Lana and her mother for what they really were--two white trash losers.
Read this book to learn more about Teena's life as a whole, but to get a true insight of the main players, I highly recommend "Boys Don't Cry."
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This book made me realize that even in this day and age, people still suffer for their sexual freedom. Aphrodite Jones does an excellent job portraying the feelings and thoughts of those involved. Jones also makes us see that Brandon Teena wasn't perfect, but no reason is good enough to brutalize and murder someone. This book makes me want to go see the movie!
Rating:
Summary: Was This a Hate Crime?
Review: This book was the first I read by Aphrodite Jones. I remembered the story of Teena Brandon, a teenage girl who posed as the male "Brandon" and became a victim in a triple homicide. I saw a television documentary on the subject and saw Aphrodite Jones discussing it on a talk show. When I found this book, I thought it would be interesting. For the most part, it was, however, I think Jones could have done a better job writing it. At times it is confusing because there are so many names (including Brandon's endless parade of girlfriends). Some of the people Jones includes in the story seem to have very limited impact. I think Jones should have left out some of these people to make the story less tangled. Teena Brandon had a short, but very complicated life. It would be hard to write her story without spinning in circles. Still, at one point Jones has "Brandon" telling his girlfriend he is a hermaphrodite, another time he claims he is a man, then he tells the same girlfriend he is going to have a sex change operation...It's difficult to keep track of who knew what when. The author also tends to jump around a lot. The organization of the book is: first, a description of the homicides; second, background information on Teena Brandon; third backgrounds of all the main people of the story; fourth, a description of Teena Brandon's rape and investigation; fifth, the investigation of the murders and trials. Background on Brandon, of course, is very important; however, the backgrounds on some of the other people I thought was a little too detailed. Some background on these people is vital, however, some of them were covered so thoroughly I thought it diverted the reader from the story at hand. Readers want to know more about "Brandon" and not so much about John Lotter's childhood. I think this 318-page book could be cut down to 250 pages and be even more effective because of the absence of so much clutter. There is also more spelling errors in this book than I'm used to. Still, I thought Jones did a good job describing the rape investigation (or lack thereof), the sarcastic and cruel questions Brandon had to answer when giving information about her rape to the investigators, and the trials of Tom Nissan and John Lotter, including the Transexual Menace activist group's attempt to co-opt the event. In the end, it is hard to find sympathy for any of the people involved in the murders. Most of them do not come off well in this book. Jones may, of course, be emphasizing the negative parts of all the characters to make for better reading. Even "Brandon" is not presented as the innocent victim as I thought. Her deception regarding her sexual identity, her lies, her stealing, and her choice of company may have had as much to do with her tragic end as her lifestyle. I don't think Brandon's death was a hate crime. I think it was about two mentally disturbed young men who wanted to get back at someone who deceived them and then (in their idiotic state) chose murder as a way to get out of a rape charge. That is what I came away with after reading this book.
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