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megelizabeth's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
2.5
The positive thing I have to say about this book is that it's interesting. It's slow and it took me a while to get through, but it contains a lot of great observations, conversations, and themes, and definitely made me think more deeply about a plethora of aspects of the trans experience. Of course, it looks a lot also at the detrans experience, and gives a really compelling insight into what detransition can mean in reality.
However, I did struggle with this book because it's very much character-driven and I really didn't connect to or particularly like any of the main characters. I'm sure they're supposed to be viewed through a critical lens, but that knowledge didn't help me during the many insufferable parts, the plot and the themes not being enough to make me appreciate the characters also. I also can't not mention the fact that this book contains a graphic depiction of underage sex, which there's literally no reason or excuse for; the points being made about the character involved could easily have been done so without including this. To a lesser, but still frustrating, degree, there's also an odd comment about hysterectomies being 'widely available', which again was maybe supposed to be viewed critically, but surely didn't come off that way.
However, I did struggle with this book because it's very much character-driven and I really didn't connect to or particularly like any of the main characters. I'm sure they're supposed to be viewed through a critical lens, but that knowledge didn't help me during the many insufferable parts, the plot and the themes not being enough to make me appreciate the characters also. I also can't not mention the fact that this book contains a graphic depiction of underage sex, which there's literally no reason or excuse for; the points being made about the character involved could easily have been done so without including this. To a lesser, but still frustrating, degree, there's also an odd comment about hysterectomies being 'widely available', which again was maybe supposed to be viewed critically, but surely didn't come off that way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Violence, and Transphobia
Moderate: Abortion, Infidelity, Homophobia, Blood, Drug use, and Death
Minor: Racism and Suicide
kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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? Yes
2.5
While interesting, I really struggled to get into this book. In part, I think it was the way it was written — the back and forth between characters and time periods made the book feel choppy and disconnected. The entire time I was reading, I never fell into the story. It just felt like I was reading — not experiencing it. The insights about being trans were the highlight for me. I felt deep sorrow for the characters who wanted so deeply to be themselves in ways society or biology would not allow.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Medical content, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Transphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Homophobia, Abandonment, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Pregnancy, Death, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Outing, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Abortion, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Sexism
amy_park's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Thought provoking, enjoyable read! I thought the first few pages packed a punch which gripped me from the start. This novel follows 3 perspectives exploring motherhood, sexuality, identity and many more themes. I was emotionally invested in all three characters and enjoyed finding out more about the backgrounds of the characters especially Reese and Ames.
I havn't come across the theme of detransitioning before and it really opened my eyes to the struggles of gender and what that might mean for different people. I loved learning about the white trangender issues and found the discussion on motherhood as a trangender woman compared to a cis woman, really thought provoking. The discussion on the inequality of parenthood and society's expectations on gender was also fantastic. A wonderful book exploring themes which are not typically written or spoken about! Would definelty recommend.
I havn't come across the theme of detransitioning before and it really opened my eyes to the struggles of gender and what that might mean for different people. I loved learning about the white trangender issues and found the discussion on motherhood as a trangender woman compared to a cis woman, really thought provoking. The discussion on the inequality of parenthood and society's expectations on gender was also fantastic. A wonderful book exploring themes which are not typically written or spoken about! Would definelty recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage
Moderate: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Abortion
bookwormbi's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Whatever I feel about this book, it is a fascinating read. I have a counter argument for every opinion I have about the book, which makes it very difficult to boil down my thoughts into something that makes sense. To me, this book is what happens when a white trans woman is terrified of writing the trans equivalent of Girls, and then, inevitably, writes the trans equivalent of Girls. This is most obvious in the book’s treatment of race and identity politics. It took me a moment to figure out whether Peters was a self aware antiracist white writer writing white characters who were clumsy about race, or if she herself was clumsy about race. (Spoiler alert: it’s the latter.) Katrina is the mouthpiece for the racial considerations that Reese and Ames sidestep, but it just got exhausting to listen to her constantly fighting with clueless white people. To be clear, the concerns Katrina brings up are important and I appreciate Peters’s attempt to bring a different perspective into her chronicle of Ames and Reese’s privileged experience of transness, but as a person of color, it hurt my heart to imagine Katrina having this fight with Ames and Reese for the rest of her life. At no point does the narrative acknowledge the emotional labor Katrina is putting into this whole experience not just as a woman, but as a woman of color. Reese and Ames then marshal their trans experiences against her, and it just turns into this very futile game of oppression Olympics in which Peters, try as she might to detach herself from the outcome, ultimately lands her sympathies with the white women.
I got the impression that much of what I disliked about Detransition, Baby was Peters’s attempt to be write a story that could ostensibly be for all trans women from a very narrow perspective, instead of owning that narrowness. The best parts of the book—the Sex and the City Problem, the juvenile elephants, the journeys of Reese and Ames’s transitions and detransition and the dissolution of their relationship—were the parts where Peters wrote as a white trans woman for white trans women. In the wider book landscape, there are very few trans stories, and even less stories about trans women, and I understand Peters’s desire to try to universalize her experience a little bit. To her credit, she rarely tries to speak for trans women of color (although she certainly speaks for cis women of color via Katrina), and much of the discussion about race and racism seems to be a well-intentioned attempt to telegraph her awareness of her privilege, so people don’t say things like what I’m saying right now. To be frank, I wish this book could be the trans version of one of the thousands of TV shows that centers cishet white men and doesn’t trouble itself to think about anybody else. Peters is not the first queer or trans writer whose anxiety over whether or not Twitter would call them racist I could feel through the page. I’m tired of it, frankly. I am a trans person of color, I know I am exactly who Peters is afraid of, and I understand why. I can see a version of this book that I dislike because there are no people of color in it and the characters’ racial insensitivities go unchallenged. But to be honest? I think I’d respect that version of the book a bit more.
I got the impression that much of what I disliked about Detransition, Baby was Peters’s attempt to be write a story that could ostensibly be for all trans women from a very narrow perspective, instead of owning that narrowness. The best parts of the book—the Sex and the City Problem, the juvenile elephants, the journeys of Reese and Ames’s transitions and detransition and the dissolution of their relationship—were the parts where Peters wrote as a white trans woman for white trans women. In the wider book landscape, there are very few trans stories, and even less stories about trans women, and I understand Peters’s desire to try to universalize her experience a little bit. To her credit, she rarely tries to speak for trans women of color (although she certainly speaks for cis women of color via Katrina), and much of the discussion about race and racism seems to be a well-intentioned attempt to telegraph her awareness of her privilege, so people don’t say things like what I’m saying right now. To be frank, I wish this book could be the trans version of one of the thousands of TV shows that centers cishet white men and doesn’t trouble itself to think about anybody else. Peters is not the first queer or trans writer whose anxiety over whether or not Twitter would call them racist I could feel through the page. I’m tired of it, frankly. I am a trans person of color, I know I am exactly who Peters is afraid of, and I understand why. I can see a version of this book that I dislike because there are no people of color in it and the characters’ racial insensitivities go unchallenged. But to be honest? I think I’d respect that version of the book a bit more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Transphobia
Minor: Racism
raalux's review
dark
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I'm wordless to describe how phenomenal this book is. It's funny, it's philosophical, it's dramatic, it's exceedingly queer. It's definitely the best book I've read in a while. It deconstructs so many things I've taken for granted as a cis woman, yet refuses to offer facile answers or solutions. Torrey Peters shows such insight into the psychology of womanhood as could rival the great classics. And the ending leaves you, again, with more questions than answers, but done in such a masterful way that I cannot be mad at her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Transphobia
lorenag5's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Deadnaming, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Outing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
maarigirl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
Minor: Suicide attempt, Racism, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, Outing, Infidelity, and Hate crime
cmcrockford's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Outing, Homophobia, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Death, Car accident, and Racial slurs
alixcallender's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
To me, the point of this book is not to proselytize or morally educate, but rather to present opinions and feelings and experiences that are messy and different from your own. This is an honest reflection of what it is to be a person, flawed and singular and wonderful.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Violence, Pregnancy, Infertility, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
Moderate: Abortion, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Grief, and Misogyny
Minor: Suicide
sofipitch's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.5
The book was really good, I adored the writing style. Any writing style that sounds like a person talking to me is deeply addictive, even more if the narrator is funny. The characters also felt like real people, and the decisions they made were not always the best, but that is what I enjoyed. I think they only thing I didn't quite believe is their relationship to each other, especially Katrina. I didn't see what Ames or Reese saw in her beyond her obvious role in the story. I liked a lot of the flashbacks and other musings more than I did the plot the book was named after (but this is also likely personal bc pregnancy is a bit squicky to me). I feel like I could read a book of Reese ordering take out and doing her laundry though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy
Minor: Suicide