Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Detransition, Baby

The empathy, gravity, and humor with which Torrey Peters treats her characters is what made this book remarkable to me. Writing about queer family for a mixed audience is an unenviable task and Peters does so with a tremendous amount of grace. I have never read anything that so beautifully (and painfully) captures the tension between our desires, the people we have decided might help us fulfill them, and the struggle to imagine a future for which there is no clear framework. This book came to me at the exact moment I needed it and I suspect many readers will feel the same.

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mikk16's review against another edition

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4.0

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wynplus1's review against another edition

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So this book was on my TBR list for a long time and I was really hopeful about it. The writing is great and how Peters' writes her relationships and dialogue is very natural. I can't stand the characters unfortunately.
I love complicated characters. I can get behind characters who are morally gray and who don't always make the best decisions. But reading this book, it feels like there's almost NOTHING likeable about our primary cast. They felt very human and real, but real in that way where I'd never want to meet these people. Reese in particular is insufferable and I just kept coming back to this thought process of "why should I care?" whenever anything would happen to her or to the other two leads. I honestly felt angry half the time I was reading and wasn't having fun at all.

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beansandrice's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

I'm glad this book exists, but it definitely isn't for everyone. The overlapping realities of trans lives and reproductive rights are incredibly complicated, and Detransition, Baby doesn't shy away from this complexity. This book isn't at all about providing answers, but I'll be thinking back to it a lot with these topics nevertheless. In the end, Detransition, Baby is about capturing a certain kind of trans experience, and Torrey Peters undeniably succeeds at this.

It does still have a few rough edges, especially how it left me wanting in its various conversations around ethnicity and race. Admittedly, I almost DNF'd it because the many explicit sex scenes were almost too much for me. I don't regret finishing it though. I saw myself so much in these characters, despite the fact that they're very different kinds of trans people compared to myself.

Don't expect perfection, expect a journey.

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katbotelho's review against another edition

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challenging 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

2.75

I dunno this just wasn't really my thing I wasn’t expecting as much sexual content as there was so i wasn’t prepared for that. Also just made me feel really sad hearing abt Ames and Reese’s experiences.

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hollzballz's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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emmyborden's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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