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librarylapin's review
4.0
This book was a heartbreaking memoir about Joy Ladin's transition and the cruelty she faced from society, her family, and herself. As a poet Ladin adds beautiful metaphor and depth to her writing. This book made me angry but that is how I know it was well written. This book is brave and painful.
choirqueer's review
5.0
Joy Ladin's exploration of self, religion, family, and community resonated deeply for me. As a transgender Jew myself, I felt like the way she processes her experiences comes from a place inside that I can deeply relate to, but would have a hard time explaining to someone who isn't Jewish, and I love how she used this memoir as a way to reflect what it's like to be wired that way.
mirichasha's review
4.0
I enjoyed it but it took a while for me to get through, what with school and being tired. It was a very effective and beautifully written look into gender dysphoria, and Joy's descriptions of her belief in God actually helped me see into that world as well.
pturnbull's review
4.0
This is the first memoir written by a transgender person that helped me truly understand why this could be a necessary step in someone's life. I read Chaz Bono's book and two by Jennifer Boylan, but neither of those authors brought me to awareness of the compelling need to shift gender and the trauma of gender dysphoria. Joy Ladin expressed the deep pain of an existence lived in the wrong gender and the horrible psychological impact of existing in the wrong body. Those reviewers who state that the book describes deep pain are correct, but they neglect to mention the strengthened spiritual connection that Joy developed with G-d as she questioned the fact of her existence in prayer. She fully explores the terrible personal cost of her decision to transition; yet, again, it was not really a decision. It was a choice between the annihilation of her being and transition. The revelation that G-d was lovingly waiting for her to become her true self was gained over years of prayer and faithfulness. Yes, the book is dense. But it's one that will help the reader expand his or her heart. How sad it must be for people who "believe" in only binary constructs of gender and sexual orientation, because they miss the beauty of creation, the complexity of our creator, and knowledge of the compassionate love of G-d for all his/her children.
theknightswhosaybook's review
5.0
(4.5) It's strange how this book could sometimes be so cheesy when it was mostly brutally, relentlessly real, but it's also all about discrepancies and discordance, so maybe that makes sense. I really enjoyed it. Joy Ladin's writing always tears me apart.
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