Something Like Gravity

“As beautiful as it is breathtaking.” —BuzzFeed
“Will give you all the feels.” —Charlotte Magazine

For fans of Love, Simon and Eleanor & Park, a “tender, beautifully told” (Julie Buxbaum, New York Times bestselling author of Tell Me Three Things) novel about a transgender boy who falls in love for the first time—and how first love changes us all—from New York Times bestselling author Amber Smith.

Chris and Maia aren’t off to a great start.

A near-fatal car accident first brings them together, and their next encounters don’t fare much better. Chris’s good intentions backfire. Maia’s temper gets the best of her. But they’re neighbors, at least for the summer, and despite their best efforts, they just can’t seem to stay away from each other.

The path forward isn’t easy. Chris has come out as transgender, but he’s still processing a frightening assault he survived the year before. Maia is grieving the loss of her older sister and trying to find her place in the world without her. Falling in love was the last thing on either of their minds.

But would it be so bad if it happened anyway?

BUY THE BOOK

Published Jul 7, 2020

400 pages

Average rating: 7.5

4 RATINGS

|

Community Reviews

Cyn's Workshop
Aug 20, 2025
10/10 stars
Originally published on Cyn's Workshop

Something Like Gravity is a remarkable story that follows two characters trying to navigate their new lives in different ways. For Chris, he is a trans man who is trying to navigate his newfound acceptance of his identity the affect it has had on those around him. However, due to the hatred and bigotry that he has faced leading to an assault that landed him in the hospital, Chris has moved in with his aunt miles away from home. This is a genuine issue and the way the author does not shy away from the brutality of the scene while also not just giving it to the reader initially, allowing some build-up creates an impact on the reader. The scene inserts itself suddenly, and yet the flow to it, the buildup and the context connect with the reader. This is something that unfortunately happens every day, where brutality and assault like the one Chris endures makes the news, and the way Smith brings it to young readers allows the reader to understand and empathize with Chris while also bringing light to the issue. The way Chris operates the way he grows his sense of trust and identity; it is all done so well in the novel to the point that the reader can grasp who Chris is as a person.

For Maia, her world has turned upside down because her sister died suddenly of an undiagnosed health issue. Her life was always living in her sister’s shadow, and she was content with that until she was not. That is the part of the story that breaks her because she does not ‘know how to navigate this new world without her sister overshadowing. She does not know how to be Maia without her; she never had an identity of her own. Maia spends the earlier parts of the novel trying to connect with who her sister was. For Maia, her journey is all about navigating through her anger and her grief.

The story brings these two characters together so that together they find the acceptance, love, and inner peace they need. Through each other, they can look inside themselves and find the peace that they need. It is an empowering message to readers no matter what situation they are going through. That is why Something Like Gravity is such a compelling read, it resonates with the reader and makes for in a genuinely compelling read.

See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn

See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.