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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
usually i’m not a fan of heavy satire as it never feels like it’s actually utilized to offer any sort of significant commentary but this book is most definitely an exception! such sharp and clever writing and the format works so well in capturing the way online spaces/behaviors seep into and affect off-line ones.
slow-paced
emotional
hopeful
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
Thank you to Catapult for the gifted copy!
Benedict Nguyễn’s Hot Girls with Balls is a wild, satirical dive into the messy, brilliant, and precarious lives of Six and Green—two Asian American trans women who happen to be professional volleyball players, celebrities, and lovers on rival teams. Written in a kinetic blend of lyricism, online chatter, and sharp social commentary, this book refuses to separate the intimacy of a relationship from the spectacle of being consumed online. It’s as much about spiking a ball as it is about surviving transmisogyny, racial violence, and the exhausting demand to be visible, consumable, and perfect.
Six and Green’s romance feels both tender and combustible. Six is restless, haunted by questions of authenticity and by a body that never seems to feel like enough. Green is polished, brand-savvy, and secretly insecure about her girlfriend’s greater online traction. Their love is sustaining, but also tested constantly—by jealousy, by trolls, by the reality that their careers keep them apart as much as they bind them together. Around them swirl friends, rivals, and an audience that believes it’s entitled to every private thought or kiss, a dynamic Nguyễn skewers with biting precision.
What startled me most, though, wasn’t just the satire—it was the intimacy. The novel asks what it means to love, grieve, and dream under the glare of relentless visibility, when even mourning is monetized and every slip can be weaponized. Beneath the spectacle lies resilience: spite as fuel, tenderness as rebellion, joy as survival. The book is outrageous, deeply political, and sometimes a little on the nose—but honestly, so is trans girl humor. I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but I was floored by how much heart was threaded through the irony.
Hot Girls with Balls won’t be for everyone, but for me, it was a sharp, defiant reminder that trans women’s lives are never just metaphors or headlines—they are love stories, survival stories, and yes, sports stories, too.
📖 Read this if you love: biting satire, queer sports fiction, messy and tender trans love stories, and sharp critiques of influencer culture.
🔑 Key Themes: Transfeminine Visibility and Survival, The Politics of Grief and Performance, Anti-Asian Racism and Transmisogyny, Celebrity Culture and Commodification.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Murder, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
reflective
tense
medium-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
Though the writing sometimes feels like it could be more polished (forgiveable especially as a debut novel that intentionally leverages the chaos of online interactions), I enjoyed this. It's a funny, but also a poignant and incisive riff on the sports romance and reality TV subgenres that explores, among other things, the complexities of being both perceived and invisible as a trans person.
I was so excited for this book but wasn't sure what to expect. The concept was interesting and the online-speak added to the story while highlighting the toxicity of the internet. However, the constant renaming of real social media platforms (twitter is flitter, instagram is instagraph, etc) quickly became obnoxious. The deep entrenchment in online culture almost made me stop reading; I like it as a plot device, but not as so much of the story. Stories about navigating what other people/the world think(s) hardly ever hit with me, because I do not care about the opinions of the faceless masses.
Now, yes, I know that being a publicly known trans person means you must be aware of how you are viewed, so you can be as safe as possible while also advocating for trans rights and humanizing yourself to skeptics (if you want), so the story is by no means unrealistic. The author pulled no punches when it came to hateful or fetishistic comments.
As the book went on, I was able to understand the ebb and flow of online-speak alongside the reality of Six and Green's story, but the initial thrust into this format was jarring, to say the least. Though I clearly had my issues with this book, it's an important story that I haven't seen much of in fiction, and I am glad I read it.
Now, yes, I know that being a publicly known trans person means you must be aware of how you are viewed, so you can be as safe as possible while also advocating for trans rights and humanizing yourself to skeptics (if you want), so the story is by no means unrealistic. The author pulled no punches when it came to hateful or fetishistic comments.
As the book went on, I was able to understand the ebb and flow of online-speak alongside the reality of Six and Green's story, but the initial thrust into this format was jarring, to say the least. Though I clearly had my issues with this book, it's an important story that I haven't seen much of in fiction, and I am glad I read it.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
To be honest, I picked this up almost entirely because of the title and cover, but the premise also sounded really interesting to me. A satire that's about two trans women on men's pro volleyball teams? Yeah, that sounds really up my alley. Unfortunately, I expected this to be wackier than it was? Maybe that's my fault, but the words "outrageous and deeply serious satire" put some expectations in my mind that probably didn't belong to be there.
This book is about social media and trans women. Green and Six are influencers as well as pro volleyball players, and they spend a lot of time talking about the content they make. It *is* satirical, but I wouldn't call it outrageous. Within the text there are long stretches of comments that would be under Six and Green's posts/livestreams. It's everything you'd expect, from transphobia to support to fetishization to parasocial behavior. And that idea worked for me for a little while, but it's done so frequently that it really wore down on me. Which I think is the point since this is what it would be like to be a trans influencer, so I can't really fault it, but it felt like it just went on a little too long at points, especially towards the end.
This book is about social media and trans women. Green and Six are influencers as well as pro volleyball players, and they spend a lot of time talking about the content they make. It *is* satirical, but I wouldn't call it outrageous. Within the text there are long stretches of comments that would be under Six and Green's posts/livestreams. It's everything you'd expect, from transphobia to support to fetishization to parasocial behavior. And that idea worked for me for a little while, but it's done so frequently that it really wore down on me. Which I think is the point since this is what it would be like to be a trans influencer, so I can't really fault it, but it felt like it just went on a little too long at points, especially towards the end.
Wasn’t a fan of the writing style, the book felt like a chore to read
emotional
funny
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
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I was so looking forward to this book for months and I wish it had lived up to the hype. It was just… fine? I hate how the author handled covid, felt both minimizing and like not very creative (covis instead of covid but everything else is the same?).