Reviews with content warning for Death - Detransition, Baby

Very messy, vulnerable and harsh. The characters are deeply flawed, unlikable at times and terrible at others. It arises many questions and reflections about traditional family, gender roles, race and what all of that means for the characters. It doesn't shy away from the bad and at times, it calls the characters out for their whiteness, cisness, heteronormativity, hypocrisy, etc creating a space for intersectionality that was interesting to read.

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captainroz's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny 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

5.0

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erint251's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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lily1304's review against another edition

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Definitely sad-funny, like a lot of novels about queer life. I really felt empathy for Reese, Ames, and Katrina, even if they each make some ridiculous decisions. Reese especially is kind of a loveable anti-hero, and her self-sabotage is familiar and painful.

Maybe this is an ignorant cis take but I didn't understand why

Ames couldn't be nonbinary? It sounds like masculinity was a kind of coping mechanism for Ames and not really who he is, and the end of the story seems to imply he's going to transition back again. But I was struck by the characters' fear when Ames was a trans woman who occasionally dressed in men's clothes. No one cares when I dress in men's clothes. I was like, "let her live!"

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202claire's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative 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

4.0

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travelseatsreads's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective tense 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

Detransition, Baby is a book which will inevitably polarize people. Just like its title, its contents are at times quite challenging. Even at its least provocative there will be someone reading somewhere shrieking in horror at what they just read. It is in that challenging nature of the book that I adore how brave Torrey Peters was in telling a story of gender, of mother & fatherhood, of queerness and overwhelmingly of the prejudice and trauma that everyone carries around regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.

It would have been easy and hugely less controversial for Peters to make these 3 women flawless and likeable but rather than take the easy route she showed how deeply flawed and damaged all three of them were in their own ways. There are chunks of the book that reek of misogyny. There are violent, graphic and demeaning sex scenes. There are deeply prejudiced thoughts thrown about on occasion. There are sections where you will think what the actual f*** is wrong with them. And then there are sections full of love, tenderness, fulfillment and a deep yet brutal level of understanding and self awareness. Peters shies away from the fluffy rainbow coloured persona often provided and delves deep into what can be at times an absolute tangle of beautiful destruction.

Towards the last few chapters I longed to know just that little bit more about Reese and her backstory, her character was so full and intriguing I wanted to know more about where all that angst and inner turmoil came from. That and some other lingering questions kept me from that last star.

Overall, while this will not be a book for everyone, I think everyone should at least attempt to read it with an open mind and glean from it what they can.
What Peters showed effortlessly throughout the book is that none of it is easy, being trans, being queer or indeed immersing yourself into those worlds as a straight cis female. It's complicated and I loved Detransition, Baby for that honesty and rawness.

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