Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Detransition, Baby

2023 reread: I liked this better the second time around (though to be fair, I liked it a lot already)! I also found the audio to be a better format for this story for me personally.

I really enjoyed these characters and felt myself wanting to know what happens to them. There were a couple issues that kept me from tearing through this the way I wanted to. Sometimes the sentences felt really cluttered and became a sort of word salad; I don't know if this is a stylistic, intellectual choice or if it was just overwritten in places. The second is that the pacing felt very stop-start to me and just when I was getting into a groove, the narrative would shift. But overall I found this really interesting and will definitely pick up whatever Torrey Peters publishes next.

Content Warnings

caseythereader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Thank you to One World Books for the free advance copy of this book.

✨MINI REVIEW✨ [ @oneworldbooks #partner ]

Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. But then her girlfriend detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. When Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she's pregnant with his baby, Ames wonders if this is the chance he's been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family? (via Goodreads) 📚

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📚 This book is messy, beautiful and thoughtful. It's a deep exploration of the thousands of tiny things that add up to make gender, and what happens when your understanding of those building blocks shifts.

📚 It really showcases how fluid gender and sexuality are and the joy that can bring, but doesn't shy away from exactly how mentally and physically hard it can be to exist publicly as a trans person.

📚 I honestly can't think of one aspect of the idea of womanhood or the margins of queerness this book doesn't touch on - it has so much packed in and yet it remains compellingly readable.

📚 Also, it covers all this heavy, complicated stuff and is still very funny!

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📚 I am almost certain DETRANSITION, BABY will be polarizing. On the surface, before reading it, it seems to be endorsing the idea of detransitioning and that transness is a choice - much like the idea of being an ex-gay. Keep in mind that I am a cis person, but I don't think it's doing that at all. The central tension of Ames' story is that he detransitioned but can never not be trans, even if it doesn't show outwardly. Please read it if you're in a place to do so - it's a wonderfully nuanced portrait of the complexity of trans life.

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Content warnings: biphobia, body shaming, child abuse, deadnaming, death, domestic abuse, drug use, emotional abuse, grief, hate crime, homophobia, infertility, infidelity, miscarriage , misogyny, physical abuse, self harm, sexism, sexual content, sexual violence, suicidal thoughts, suicide, toxic relationship, transphobia, and violence.

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