Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Tyttö, nainen, toinen by Bernardine Evaristo

220 reviews

hannahbailey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved this! What a cracking book, I can't believe I didn't read this sooner.

Generally I prefer not to read character-vignette novels written in third-person. But this novel just goes to show that when done well, I can really enjoy them! I loved the distinct voice of each character and how they would be name-dropped in one chapter only to be the main character of the next one. It built such an interesting and creative narrative without leaving me feeling I didn't know enough about them–which is usually the case for me with character-vignettes.

Surprised to see some reviews stating the character dialogue and mix of poetry/prose was hard to believe and unrealistic. I completely disagree! The inner dialogue of the female characters was relatable and familiar. I enjoyed the exploration of womanhood and motherhood and how this intersects with race in Britain. It was an interesting and sobering read.

It was almost 5 stars, but there was a part where the character overcomes drug addiction by sheer willpower–they literally stay at home for a week without any form of support and somehow recovers? This didn't feel realistic to me especially given the vulnerability and young age of the character. That said, this was one of the chapters that really stood out to me in its exploration of body/gender dysphoria and trans joy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism

sylvia_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

To be honest, I was not expecting to like this book as much as I did. I read it as part of a university-wide project where we could get the book cheap through the university and go to activities around it, but I don’t think I would have otherwise picked it up. 
But I am glad I did! Because this was a very good book. I loved how every story was interconnected and it really made me think about gender/race issues I’d never even considered before. 
The only small gripe I have about this book is that I feel like the younger characters are not always taken as seriously by the narrative as the older characters, but that might just be because I personally identify more with them and hence feel these things more strongly. 
Overall, I’m very glad I own this book now because I will definitely want to reread it some day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Grief

Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, and Pregnancy

theheartisanarrow's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.5

wound up enjoying this one more once i switched to the audiobook bc the lack of punctuation and capitalisation (which i know was a choice and i kinda get it, but still) made it so hard for me to read.

it reads a bit like non-fiction in a good way, as these intertwined slice-of-life type short stories felt heart-wrenchingly authentic, like peering into the real lives and (often harsh) realities of so many people

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Rape

Moderate: Child death and Transphobia

Minor: Self harm and Suicide

ye_li's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Slavery and War

lilacwhisker's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring sad 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

5.0

Absolutely loved this book!! The writing style can be a little difficult to get at first (there’s no periods or quotation marks) but after you get used to it it’s great. Very emotional and often hilarious.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Police brutality

claired01's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring reflective

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Transphobia

kennie's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was truly a beautiful book to listen to. It was thought-provoking but also incredibly funny and relatable at times. The way that the author chose to discuss themes of relationships, struggle, race, and womanhood was truly masterful. It was so interesting to read characters that have thoughts and characteristics that I honestly disagree with while also still being able to appreciate where those perspectives came from, because of the in-depth personal background of each character.  It almost forces the reader to think about what is a moral hard stop when it comes to disagreeing with someone. "Can I truly want to be someone's friend if they still harbor homophobic tendencies?" "Do I want to interact with someone who has no care for the wellbeing of others?" It shows you that you will never truly agree with every single thing someone thinks, that you will have to deal with the fact that you disagree. The only minor critique I have is that some of the stories towards the end of the middle began to get repetitive, I still believe they were important because they eventually tied into the world of this book, but something about them became slightly monotonous. But once again, this book was truly beautiful, I would recommend it to just about anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Rape, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Drug use and Alcohol

nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing 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

4.0

So good! Loved the way this one played with girl 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Xenophobia

Minor: Transphobia

maia_224's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Overall, I liked this book. I loved Evaristo's lack of punctuation and capital letters, I thought it was perfect for the novel - it was unique. Some of the characters were very loveable and the diverse set of stories you read are so diverse and refreshing. However, I found there were too many characters, making it quite confusing and sad because there were some characters I wanted more of. But overall, this book is brilliant and very unique.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Sexual assault

Moderate: Transphobia

warkshay's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

It was slow to digest at first. But once the stories started weaving, which they did so intricately, it was impossible to put down!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Transphobia