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noonanjohnc's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, Abandonment, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Misogyny, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body horror, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infertility, Sexism, Drug use, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Mental illness, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Death of parent, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Confinement, Racism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, War, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking
bookynooknook's review
4.0
Graphic: Death, Transphobia, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Rape, Lesbophobia, Animal death, Sexual assault, Gore, and Pregnancy
scandalabra's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Murder, Transphobia, Sexual content, Hate crime, and Gun violence
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Cursing, and Drug use
theofanis's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Are you a leftist, are you a trans ally, do you want to be a trans ally, do you think you’re a trans ally, are you trans, are you genderqueer, are you part of the lgbtq community, do you want an inside look to a part of the trans experience?
READ THIS BOOK
I will be thinking about this book for the rest of my life. It’s terrifying and amazing and so impactful.
As a trans guy reading the pov of a fictional hot cool and strong trans guy with a similar background was awesome. And the trans female leads are so powerfully written.
It’s just such an amazing book and it’s gotta be my favorite fiction I’ve ever read.
Graphic: Genocide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Violence, Outing, Transphobia, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Body shaming, Confinement, Infertility, Cursing, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia
Minor: Child abuse, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Religious bigotry, Confinement, Deadnaming, and Cancer
smbd_the_reader's review
- 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
5.0
This book is very much over-the-top, spatterpunk-esque and horny and the author is well known to be a drama queen with more vile takes than one person should reasonably be capable of having.
As such, I cannot recommend reading this book to everyone and cannot really recommend buying it to, well, anyone.
If you want to read it and have any triggers whatsoever I'd recommend looking up a list (or several) first. This review contains mentions of rape and TERf rhetoric but nothing overly detailed.
That being said, I genuinely enjoyed this book.
I loved the complexity of the characters, the varying responses to trauma, the way different trans people were treated by their surroundings, the inner thoughts of the characters, internalized transphobia and all.
Gretchen-Felker is also absolutely amazing at writing gripping storylines and visceral imagery that completely entrance you, rarely has a book had this much of an emotional impact on me while reading.
The TERFs were very close to real life, minus the force of a society that would not approve of their more extreme antics. There’s a hint of exaggeration at times, though a lot of it is taken fairly directly from actual TERF talking points.
Which may seem unrealistic and over the top to some but really, that’s just TERFs, baby.
One thing that had me sort of taken aback was
What was not odd to me in the slightest is the attempted rape of Fran with the TERF in question then freaking out when she realized Fran has a penis and trying to paint herself as a victim. It’s so extremely on-brand that I almost had to laugh, in that “god they sure would, wouldn’t they?” way.
Overall the one thing that I'm not sure how to feel about is the ending. A lot of things were building up to, at best, a Pyrrhic victory at that point and while I am glad that so many survived there seemed to be some degree of plot armor involved which makes it at least somewhat less satisfying.
Graphic: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Violence, Medical content, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Sexism, and Transphobia
flags's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Torture, Suicide, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Gore, Violence, Drug use, War, Sexual harassment, Murder, Transphobia, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Body horror, Vomit, Outing, Misogyny, Hate crime, Sexism, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, Death, Classism, Body shaming, Medical content, Alcohol, Rape, Racism, and Child death
Moderate: Religious bigotry
breadwitchery's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Transphobia, Rape, Sexual content, Murder, Death, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Suicide, and Ableism
Minor: Religious bigotry, Cursing, Vomit, Drug use, Deadnaming, Outing, Self harm, Pregnancy, Racism, Pedophilia, Dysphoria, and Antisemitism
babybasil's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Transphobia, Violence, Classism, Deadnaming, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Drug use, Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Death, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Slavery
Moderate: Incest
nixieba25f's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child death, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, War, Ableism, Blood, Confinement, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Bullying, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Cultural appropriation
emmague89's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Grief, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Fatphobia, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Dysphoria, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Transphobia, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Self harm, Mass/school shootings, Gore, Genocide, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, War, Vomit, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Rape, Racial slurs, Racism, Pregnancy, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infertility, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, and Death of parent