Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

262 reviews

aliciae08's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

I just finished Detransition, Baby, and I’m still sussing out my thoughts.

The conclusion I’ve come up with is complicated—as it should be, as the characters are complicated. 

What I loved:

• the exploration of womanhood, motherhood, gender expression and queerness;
• The imperfectness of the characters so that the reader knew that no one person’s identity is monolithic. It is entirely one’s own;
• The idea that we can create our own family
• The exploration of why the characters are the way that they are (especially Ames).  

What I didn’t like:

• Others have mentioned the clumsiness of race within this, and how the inclusion of Katrina being the one major character of color might be a metaphor for how the white trans experience isn’t the only one.  It doesn’t work for me fir so many reasons, but the first one being that whenever she brings race up it feels like someone who hasn’t actually experienced being a minority, and because any attempts at relating with Katrina by Reese/Ames are shut down.  
• Some of the writing, as beautiful as it is, was over the top for me.  I was sometimes waiting to get to the end of a chapter and I hate feeling like that. 

What I found challenging:

• Reese said things about womanhood and the need to feel delicate (particularly when she was with Stanley and the Cowboy) that I wholeheartedly couldn’t relate to, but have to admit that at some point in my own life defined my own perception of what it means to be woman and the need for men to view me as someone worthy of being taken care of/defended etc. I think it’s easy for people (especially those looking for an excuse to hate this book) to use it as a way to accuse people like Reese, at worse, of cosplaying womanhood, when that’s not what’s happening. 
• Ames’, before their transition to Amy, misogyny and further internalized misogyny was hard to read, mostly because I grieved for that character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Misogyny, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Dysphoria, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Pregnancy

sorcha's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Outing

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Dysphoria, Blood, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Suicide, Abortion, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, and Transphobia

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.

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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. 

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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

lily_peach's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia, Racism, Outing, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Body shaming

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

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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

m1923's review against another edition

emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide

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. 

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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 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide

atoft's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny 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

4.0

Detransition, Baby is more of a character study than a plot heavy book. It took me a little while to get into the right headspace in terms of not expecting lots of forward momentum to the story. But it was worth it, as the book features incredibly rich, complex characters with detailed inner lives. We are given plenty of opportunity to see the inner workings of each of the three main characters, getting an idea of their thoughts and spending time in flashback chapters to understand what's led them to their current point in life. Though they each come with very different perspectives, their motivations, wants and needs are always clear, and we can empathise with them in spite of their flaws.

The book grapples with issues of trans culture, queer history and trauma, motherhood, and family. It doesn't shy away from bold opinions or raw details in pursuit of being more accessible or "palatable". At the same time, the book doesn't feel too heavy thanks to a brisk pace, easy writing style, and plenty of lighter moments. The author has also made the wise choice to

leave the book with an ambiguous ending

, which gives us the opportunity to draw our own conclusions based on everything we've come to understand of its characters.

Detransition, Baby was a really worthwhile read. It uses a seemingly unlikely premise as an authentic and insightful window into a trans experience.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Transphobia

Moderate: Abortion and Suicide