Scan barcode
thevampiremars's review against another edition
- 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
Exceptionally well-written, until the ending where it felt like the brakes were slammed; it faltered then just kind of stopped, and not in a satisfyingly unsatisfying way. Still, I liked it a lot.
Graphic: Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Stalking, Pregnancy, Outing, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Incest, Infertility, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Car accident, Murder, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and Classism
shirtypantser's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.75
The premise is stupid (I don't say that lightly), the two trans characters are unlikeable and one is unredeemable. Racism, sexism both present on a regular basis in this. Author went pretty deep on fetishes but didn't quite pull off the point I think they were going for. I'm horrified this book is out there representing the trans fem community. This book gives the impression it was written by someone that doesn't actually like or much respect trans women.
Graphic: Racism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Ableism, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Classism
sarah_eggleton's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Transphobia, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, and Outing
confusedchameleon's review against another edition
- 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
All of these above facts are true, and all are credit to this book and its author's writing skill, however the thing about this book that really absorbed me in thought and left me there was its portrayal of motherhood. The perspectives the novel's feminine dyad - Reese and Katrina - have on motherhood left me thinking for a long time, and presented some ideas on trans parenting and the desire to be a parent that I haven't seen explored before.
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Suicide and Transphobia
Minor: Miscarriage
mmatti300's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Outing
amymcphrsn's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Transphobia and Pregnancy
Moderate: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Outing
Minor: Misogyny and Violence
elerireads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There wasn't a huge amount of plot to speak of. The premise was essentially just a good catalyst to expose and illustrate a bunch of tricky issues related to how we define womanhood and what the trans perspective has to add. Of course, a lot of it revolved around motherhood in particular. This meant that mostly this book consisted of long passages of abstract discussion of gender and the trans community. Some of it was in discussions between characters but a lot of it was just characters' long internal monologues. This runs the risk of being irritatingly preachy and veering into 'well if it's got no plot and is pretty much just a bunch of essays about transness and motherhood, then why not just make it that and ditch the pretence of being a novel at all?' territory for me. Obviously I can't really speak to its authenticity, but for what my opinion is worth I think it managed to avoid that irritating preachiness because it was actually believable. I was convinced that these characters would actually spend that much time thinking and talking about gender, and that they were realistic representations of (a part of) the trans community. Basically it felt like a realistic portrayal, aimed at an LGBT+ audience rather than 'educating' a cis audience etc.
Unfortunately, the character who didn't quite seem realistic was Katrina, upon whom what little plot there was hinged. I thought her initial assessment - that Ames just wanted to use her as a vessel for a child for his ex - was a valid and entirely justified interpretation of what he was asking, and this was just never satisfactorily refuted. Then she had a chat with her mum and just like that changed her mind and decided she was actually ok with the idea of bringing up a child with a woman she had never met! Then, when she finds out Reese had been having sex with her friend's husband, she flips out. But not really because of the morality of sleeping with a married man, oh no, it's because he had HIV!?! Honestly I think I must have missed something here because I genuinely don't understand why that would bother her. She's supposed to be all educated about HIV because her friend had talked to her about it a lot, so she would know he was undetectable, and it's not like she was sleeping with Reese. Was it some fear of somehow passing it on to the child? So confused.
Another issue I had is that the whole book is just dripping with misogyny. A lot of it is internalised, which I kind of get. There's the whole weird bit where Reese manages to find it gender-affirming to be hit and made to feel small by a man, which is awful but I understand. On the other hand, utter disdain and contempt for cis women is a constant feature and is not really excusable. It's clear Reese is supposed to be deeply flawed, and she herself acknowledges in some places that she has underestimated them or hadn't thought of some element or other, i.e. I don't think the author is actually endorsing that viewpoint. However, it's very jarring given the kind of enlightened, thoughtful way the characters approach pretty much everything else, and so much of the way cis women were portrayed reminded me of exactly the way arsehole misogynistic men talk about women that I don't think it can all be explained away by "it's from the perspective of a flawed character". Torrey Peters could really do better here.
Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide
grainjordan's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Outing, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
septemberdark's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
ceilidhwilliams's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria