Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

51 reviews

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This is probably the most unique book I've read in awhile. It tells the story of Reese, Amy, and Katrina - Amy's new girlfriend. Reese and Amy are both transgender women and spent many years in a relationship, during which they lived together and planned to have a family. Things went astray when Amy made the decision to detransition and become Ames, living as a man instead. Things get even crazier when Ames gets his girlfriend pregnant unexpectedly and crazier still when he suggests Reese co-parent with him and Katrina. A lot of messiness ensues! 

I thought this book was overall, impressive. It is whip smart, funny, and often heartbreaking. It offers a window into a situation unlike anything I've ever read. The characters are complex and have diverse points of view and the dynamics between characters are incredibly interesting. The writing is beautiful and extremely smart - often a little too smart for me. 

The issues I have with it don't necessarily have to do with the quality of the book itself and more with me. I thought that the book was going to be faster paced, and that we were going to see more of the interesting throuple-but-not dynamic than we actually got to see. There is a lot of backstory, which was excellent and told me a lot about Reese and Amy/Ames as people, but not a lot of plot to work with in the present day, which became frustrating for me toward the end. Ultimately, I think that this book is great, and reads quickly despite the slower pacing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, and Pedophilia

scruffie's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Pregnancy and Racism

Minor: Suicide

dan2's review against another edition

emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

lizzie_r's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Let us hope Detransition, Baby is remembered as more than the first novel by a trans woman to be nominated for the formerly-titled Women Prize for Fiction.
Peters wields language, experience & fiction to a point that undoubtedly reminded me of the power of literature: seeing others more fully than one could in their own perspective. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia and Racism

Minor: Medical content and Abortion

emmah_reads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.0

This book is primarily an exploration of gender, identity, and motherhood from the perspectives of three women with different lived experiences. The plot is secondary to that (which I prefer, but explains why some people didn’t engage with the book).

Some weird comparisons between racism and transphobia which felt uncomfortable coming from a white author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion and Transphobia

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Racism

beaubaggins's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective 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

4.0

I didn’t expect to connect with this story as much as I did. The topic of detransitioning is one I have always strayed away from, just based on the assumptions and judgements I’ve experienced since beginning my transition. I didn’t expect to understand and relate to the story of someone who has detransitioned so much, but in fact my heart ached while reading every chapter because the words resonated so well with my own feelings, experiences, and insecurities as a trans person. I would recommend this book to anyone curious about understanding the decision to detransition and what it is like to be a trans person in the world navigating relationships, love, and family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Transphobia

Moderate: Abortion, Body shaming, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Minor: Deadnaming, Death, and Racism

beades93's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage and Transphobia

Moderate: Racism and Abortion

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Transphobia, Infidelity, Cursing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Medical content, Miscarriage, Racism, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, Suicide, Car accident, Murder, and Hate crime

Minor: Deadnaming, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Death, and Suicide attempt

purecomedy's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.75

Peters's style is honest, funny, touching without being sentimental, and at times quite cynical. Still, she describes her characters, even at their worse, with certain compassion.

This is a very character-driven book, which I'm usually not a big fan of, but I could barely put it down most of the time. To me, Detransition, Baby is a study in creating convincing characters and character dynamics that feel real and compelling to the reader. It was also great to see transgender women portrayed with depth, neither dehumanised by idealisation or demonisation. 

As for the plot, the novel is a sort of meditation on motherhood, womanhood, and family. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I think it can inspire a lot of interesting questions and discussions, even just for the person reading it alone. I definitely needed time to process it on my own and it prompted me to think (even) more about my own attitudes and approaches not just to motherhood, but also gender.

In short: I'm so glad I saw everyone talk about this book on Twitter and decided to buy it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Grief, Miscarriage, and Racism

Minor: Abortion

libbyhb's review against another edition

emotional funny 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

This book was so refreshing and engaging! A really impressive debut novel from Torrey Peters. It took me a little bit to feel connected to Reese and Ames, but then I was IN IT. They are both such beautifully constructed characters, and you could tell that they were fully grounded in reality even when they did and said things that felt over-the-top. Katrina, while clearly not being the Main Character, also felt so real and relatable. I loved following their struggle to make a family together, and the ways they were at once fully vulnerable and open with one another and holding back crucial feelings and information. And in the end,

I appreciated the way it was left uncertain, with some hope that they'll figure it out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, Infertility, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy