Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

115 reviews

who_dat_beasht's review against another edition

tense slow-paced

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

this strongly brought up the feeling you get of wanting to shove a fork in your brain after you get a text from a friend saying “well I did the thing 😭😂”, and “the thing” is something they complain about doing every single second of waking life, they proceed to send you multiple drawn out paragraphs/voice notes, it just goes on and on, and they’ll never learn, and actually you don’t know why you’re friends, because they’re a horrible person, but then again so are you, and what would you do without them?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Cursing, Homophobia, Grief, Transphobia, Outing, Toxic friendship, Hate crime, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy

zeus_strider's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I find it hard to describe this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it but wouldn't recommend lightly.

This book uses the word

"transsexual"

a lot and frankly a lot of slurs, and if that is going to upset you I might recommend you skip this one.

With that being said this is a book about two terrible people who engage in self-destructive behavior that shows little indication of changing by the end of the book, Reese throws herself into abusive relationships seeking validation, 
while Ames seeks to disassociate themselves because the pain of being present is too much for them to bear.

As a queer individual myself it is interesting to see queer characters who they themselves are not allies as counterintuitive as it is it does happen, Reese in particular is downright hateful of those around her, of those in her community and those of adjacenting communities, and quite frankly anyone who might treat her decently, I suspect that she believes everyone to be as hateful as she is which is what causes her to have such disdain in them which at times can be very difficult to read. 

But overall it's very well written and an interesting view into a very different perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Infertility, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Abortion, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Outing, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Self harm

Moderate: Cultural appropriation and Suicide attempt

Minor: Suicide

atuin's review against another edition

challenging dark funny 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

A fascinating exploration of trans identity and relationships. This book focuses heavily on deeply flawed characters (especially Reese). Every character does deeply frustrating actions that nevertheless feel perfectly in character. There is discussion on how characters feel they must conform to certain stereotypes in order to validate their own gender identity, and the harm it does to them and the people they are close to. The ambiguous ending is indicative of the fact the book has no true answers to the many problems found within, and we, like the characters, have no choice but to try to figure out what solution is most fitting with the characters. 

In particular, Reese became frustrating with her self destructive behavior and her refusal to learn from her mistakes, constantly doing the same thing over and over while refusing to accept responsibility. Even at the end she only felt bad about a mean letter, not the cheating or emotional abuse she committed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

One of the Main characters, Reese, cheats on her partner multiple times, and later on cheats again with a married man.

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

leahslitlibrary's review against another edition

Ames did not detransition because of violence, but because that violence lead him to believe he was only “dressing up” as a woman, and that felt very transphobic. This was really disappointing because I felt the book had so much going for it in the beginning.

Overall, I would give this book 2 stars, I enjoyed most of the book and it is very well written, but the ending was very ignorant and changed my opinion on this book as a whole.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Abortion, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Outing

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

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful 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

4.5

This was absolutely fantastic, a real tour-de-force and unapologetically full of trans joy and heartache. The characters felt so raw and real in a way that I haven't found in a book for a long time. I liked how messy and complex they were and how unconventional their decision to co-parent was. I know I'll be thinking about this one for a long time to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Mental illness, Outing, Suicide, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Violence

tome's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Car accident, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Outing, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Violence, Drug use, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Miscarriage, Self harm, and Toxic relationship

meowpie's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Go into this book with an open mind if you’re only used to cishet main characters because this book dives into the trans world & trans relationships. This book was very eye opening to some of the less talked about (at least in the cis world) struggles that trans individuals go through… physically, emotionally, mentally, socially, etc.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Infertility, Physical abuse, and Infidelity

Minor: Miscarriage and Abortion

squidknees's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Bullying, Gaslighting, Grief, Homophobia, Infertility, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Outing, Abortion, Classism, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Drug use, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail