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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A book club read. This was hard work to get through, just so long for no reason in many parts. Language not super accessible which took away from the story. Overall story was interesting and good though.
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
A provocative, raw, and beautiful debut. I was worried all the narrative strings wouldn’t connect back to our protagonists. The characters were realistic and well thought out. At times when I wasn’t enjoying the book, it’s because I wasn’t enjoying the actions of the characters
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Detransition, Baby was one of the books I got in a queer-themed mystery package, all the way back in June. And I really wanted to like it. We definitely need more books by, for, and about trans people. Torrey Peters deserves recognition for that alone.
But I just couldn't like this book. It took me over a month to finish because I'm a completionist - I hate DNFing books - but every time I sat down to continue reading, it felt like a chore.
There wasn't a single character that I found likeable - which, of course, isn't a reason for a 1-star review on its own, since a well-written piece of fiction about awful, unlikeable characters can be entertaining too. Sadly, the writing style did not match my preferences, and that combined with the fact that all three of the main characters are just the kinds of people I find absolutely insufferable both in real life and fiction meant that I found zero pleasure in this book.
Some highlights:
- Reese is the epitome of that catty and vulgar attention whore type who likes to present themselves as some queer authority among others. We've all met them, there's at least one of those people in every queer space. Every time she was the main narrator, I imagined myself putting a hand over her mouth, leaning in real close, and softly whispering, Just shut the fuck up, girl.
- I know that a character's thoughts aren't necessarily the author's own opinions, so I'm not going to make judgments on Peters herself, but: holy misogyny Batman. It's amazing how a character can simultaneously preach about her journey into femininity and be a reductionist, misogynistic asshole. Reese's ultimate confirmation of being a woman is being frail enough to get hit by a Manly Man With Too Much Testosterone. There's several (very vulgar, which I personally don't like but understand that it's a preference) paragraphs about how she enjoys being treated like shit by the men she sleeps with (not in a "safe, consensual kink" kind of way either), and then another few paragraphs about how excited she feels when she thinks, for a moment, that her lover may actually hit her this time - because, you understand, the fact that he wants to hit her means that he's, like, fully accepted her as a woman. I mean, holy fuck. I feel like I sort of understand what these passages were trying to say about misogyny and a certain kind of men, but the way it was written MISSED THE MARK, HARD.
- oh, there's a throwaway line about how only "radical feminists, especially those who hate trans women" would have a problem with the above.
- at least twice, it is mentioned (I think as a part of Reese's narration) that hey, if cis women really don't want to have kids, why don't they all get hysterectomies since that's such a widely available procedure? It's such a fucking stupid take that I can't even be (too) mad. The actual availability aside, that's a pretty damn invasive procedure.
- I think the intention of this book was to explore femininity and motherhood, but what it actually did was basically reduce women to motherhood, and cis women specifically to walking wombs. Yikes.
- Ames is a whole other kind of insufferable: pretentious af. 85% of the time he talks like he's citing a gender studies textbook. He doesn't have conversations; he monologues (if that's even a verb).
- yes, I know people like that in real life. That is exactly why I couldn't stand Ames.
- at first, I thought Ames was a badly written character because of his pushing his idea of having this odd family on both Reese and Katrina without really consulting them about it. Like, the way he went about it was just so damn stupid. After some thought (and finishing the book), I rescind my initial assessment: this doesn't make him a badly written character. Considering his circumstances and experiences, I can accept that it may be plausible that someone would go about it the same way in real life as well. I still find it stupid, but at least it's realistic.
- he also tells Reese all about Katrina, including some pretty private details, without giving a shit whether or not Katrina would want him to share all of that on her behalf. That too is both realistic and kinda makes me despise him.
- there's a multiple page long, graphic description of sex between two minors. Like, okay, I get that losing their virginity was an important part of Ames'/Amy's self-discovery, but did we really need such a detailed (and when I say detailed, I mean DETAILED) description of a fifteen year old having sex? Really?
- not nearly on the same level as the above, but at one point, we get to see Ames at work, and he pitches... a Flash-based website to some high profile client. I had to take a second look at when this book was written/released. A whole new website, no legacy code or anything, based on Flash in 2020s. Girl.
- I found Katrina to be the least insufferable one... until she dragged Reese to an MLM meeting.
All in all, props to Peters for writing and publishing this book just because of the topic, but personally I doubt that I'll read her future books or recommend Detransition, Baby to anyone.
But I just couldn't like this book. It took me over a month to finish because I'm a completionist - I hate DNFing books - but every time I sat down to continue reading, it felt like a chore.
There wasn't a single character that I found likeable - which, of course, isn't a reason for a 1-star review on its own, since a well-written piece of fiction about awful, unlikeable characters can be entertaining too. Sadly, the writing style did not match my preferences, and that combined with the fact that all three of the main characters are just the kinds of people I find absolutely insufferable both in real life and fiction meant that I found zero pleasure in this book.
Some highlights:
- Reese is the epitome of that catty and vulgar attention whore type who likes to present themselves as some queer authority among others. We've all met them, there's at least one of those people in every queer space. Every time she was the main narrator, I imagined myself putting a hand over her mouth, leaning in real close, and softly whispering, Just shut the fuck up, girl.
- I know that a character's thoughts aren't necessarily the author's own opinions, so I'm not going to make judgments on Peters herself, but: holy misogyny Batman. It's amazing how a character can simultaneously preach about her journey into femininity and be a reductionist, misogynistic asshole. Reese's ultimate confirmation of being a woman is being frail enough to get hit by a Manly Man With Too Much Testosterone. There's several (very vulgar, which I personally don't like but understand that it's a preference) paragraphs about how she enjoys being treated like shit by the men she sleeps with (not in a "safe, consensual kink" kind of way either), and then another few paragraphs about how excited she feels when she thinks, for a moment, that her lover may actually hit her this time - because, you understand, the fact that he wants to hit her means that he's, like, fully accepted her as a woman. I mean, holy fuck. I feel like I sort of understand what these passages were trying to say about misogyny and a certain kind of men, but the way it was written MISSED THE MARK, HARD.
- oh, there's a throwaway line about how only "radical feminists, especially those who hate trans women" would have a problem with the above.
- at least twice, it is mentioned (I think as a part of Reese's narration) that hey, if cis women really don't want to have kids, why don't they all get hysterectomies since that's such a widely available procedure? It's such a fucking stupid take that I can't even be (too) mad. The actual availability aside, that's a pretty damn invasive procedure.
- I think the intention of this book was to explore femininity and motherhood, but what it actually did was basically reduce women to motherhood, and cis women specifically to walking wombs. Yikes.
- Ames is a whole other kind of insufferable: pretentious af. 85% of the time he talks like he's citing a gender studies textbook. He doesn't have conversations; he monologues (if that's even a verb).
- yes, I know people like that in real life. That is exactly why I couldn't stand Ames.
- at first, I thought Ames was a badly written character because of his pushing his idea of having this odd family on both Reese and Katrina without really consulting them about it. Like, the way he went about it was just so damn stupid. After some thought (and finishing the book), I rescind my initial assessment: this doesn't make him a badly written character. Considering his circumstances and experiences, I can accept that it may be plausible that someone would go about it the same way in real life as well. I still find it stupid, but at least it's realistic.
- he also tells Reese all about Katrina, including some pretty private details, without giving a shit whether or not Katrina would want him to share all of that on her behalf. That too is both realistic and kinda makes me despise him.
- there's a multiple page long, graphic description of sex between two minors. Like, okay, I get that losing their virginity was an important part of Ames'/Amy's self-discovery, but did we really need such a detailed (and when I say detailed, I mean DETAILED) description of a fifteen year old having sex? Really?
- not nearly on the same level as the above, but at one point, we get to see Ames at work, and he pitches... a Flash-based website to some high profile client. I had to take a second look at when this book was written/released. A whole new website, no legacy code or anything, based on Flash in 2020s. Girl.
- I found Katrina to be the least insufferable one... until she dragged Reese to an MLM meeting.
All in all, props to Peters for writing and publishing this book just because of the topic, but personally I doubt that I'll read her future books or recommend Detransition, Baby to anyone.
Yeah, this wasn’t it for me.
Somehow this book felt both anti-queer and anti woman. I tried really hard to finish it but I could NOT. I tried looking at it as me not knowing the perspective of a trans girl and read a few more chapters but…ultimately didn’t finish it.
Somehow this book felt both anti-queer and anti woman. I tried really hard to finish it but I could NOT. I tried looking at it as me not knowing the perspective of a trans girl and read a few more chapters but…ultimately didn’t finish it.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Pregnancy
Minor: Abortion