Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Detransition, Baby

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

54 reviews

fieldofhats's review against another edition

So, this is a lit fic novel. The prose are unnervingly and unnecessarily flowery at times, and there’s very little plot. The characterization is over-simplified in a way that’s made to look dramatic and realistic. For example, Reese liked being with Stanley because her perception of womanhood was contingent on the abuse that women face and thus felt affirmed being abused. If I was being kind I might say that this fucked-up view is representative of the weight and unyielding pressure of the patriarchy, and that its a brilliant look into the dark side of what it means to be a woman. But I have absolutely no love for lit fic and how it deals with topics like this, so I’m not going to be kind.

Reese is also simply unlikeable. I didn’t get far enough into the story, but I didn’t find Katrina to be very likable either. The only sympathetic character is Ames — and in a story about queerness, I think it’s extremely disingenuous to center a cis, detransitioned man in a story that is supposed to be about queerness.

And yes, I know that’s the point. I know that none of these characters are meant to be likable. But I also don’t care. I need at least one character to be a decent person, and we already established why the character Peters chose was problematic.

And as a minor note, the constant use of the word “transsexual” and the utter avoidance of “transgender” was unnerving and peculiar. It should have been my first clue to stop reading.

I thought perhaps that I would enjoy this novel because it’s about trans people by a trans author (as a trans fem person myself, I was naturally interested) — but I was sorely mistaken. Don’t get me wrong, the book isn’t bad because it’s trans. The book is bad because it does all the things that makes lit fic unbearable. There are better fiction novels about trans characters. Don’t bother with this one.

It’s pride month. Don’t read books that aren’t worth your time.

Content Warnings

beesbutreal's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny informative reflective sad tense 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

4.5

Content Warnings

hazelbynature's review against another edition

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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

4.0

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sundayfever's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was an incredible read. A book written for trans people, not to explain trans people to the world. Deeply flawed but loveable characters who make mistakes and hurt each other, but with an undercurrent of love.

Content Warnings

teganbeesebooks's review against another edition

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emotional informative sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

fisheyedfish's review against another edition

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emotional funny informative slow-paced

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

3.0

DNF
Even halfway through it still felt like a slog. I found myself caring more about the present story but annoyed by the constant flashbacks.
As a nonbinary person, I was annoyed that the author kept the characters very binary. They were either a man or a woman with no allowance for something in between or discussion of gender as a spectrum. I read Ames/Amy as a genderfluid person but the author and the other characters wanted to shove them in a box.

Content Warnings