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queerbookworm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
So yeah, good book even though I personally just didn't feel very good while listening to it.
Graphic: Pregnancy, Transphobia, and Infidelity
Moderate: Dysphoria, Homophobia, Infertility, Grief, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Outing
Minor: Abortion, Hate crime, Alcohol, Violence, and Child death
malayapapaya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Outing, Toxic relationship, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Self harm, Transphobia, Cursing, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Car accident, Blood, Deadnaming, Abortion, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Infertility
reutermiriam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Transphobia, Abortion, Miscarriage, Violence, Misogyny, and Suicide
thewordsdevourer'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
4.25
peters incisively and grippingly examines motherhood, the trans experience, gender, identity politics, sex and sex work in this book, stripping layer upon layer of complexity thats enmeshed in a dash of political correctness, making her characters bare all, voicing taboos and things that are oft unspoken - representational politics be damned - to exhilarating effect. indeed, there were moments that simply stupefied me of how good this book is. and i learned a lot abt transness, this book having depicted in a humane sense many terms i merely know of but have never truly understood in depth.
meanwhile, the characters (and esp reese) are a hot mess - in a sense that theyre all each deep in a certain level of shit - specifically life shit - and trying to navigate thru a surprise pregnancy in different ways, each forced to face their own issues in the process. the ability to make readers empathize w/ characters who they sometimes also want to throttle is certainly a hallmark of a great writer, but peters, imo, goes above and beyond here. this esp pertains to ames/amy, whose story connects w/ me in a visceral way; we couldnt be more different, but her story deeply affects me in a way fiction rarely ever does, reading it was def sth else. it's indeed a lil baffling that her accidental outing plotline's suddenly dropped near the end: whatever happens after katrina's advice-seeking w/ reese and her friends? whats ames' reaction upon finding out the company supposedly knowing her secret?
and the book's last 15% and ending are less stellar than the rest, imo. the former feels awkward to me, like the author's trying to tie it all up but ends up veering into a slightly strange territory. i also wish we heard more from ames aside from that bit near the end. as for the ending, it does annoy me w/ how vague and slightly ~kumbaya~ it is, its tone a lil jarring w/ the book's irreverent tone.
even so, this is an undeniably thought-provoking, impactful, and even humorous novel, one that reads like a queer classic, and an amazing and welcoming addition to mainstream trans lit.
Graphic: Hate crime, Infidelity, Dysphoria, Outing, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Violence
Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Abortion
charlottemmeline'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 violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Lesbophobia, Grief, Homophobia, Suicide, Rape, Racism, Physical abuse, Abortion, Transphobia, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Outing, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Mental illness
culown's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Abortion, Violence, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt
mprinton's review against another edition
4.0
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Abortion, Suicide, Transphobia, Outing, and Violence
jessthanthree'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
4.5
Graphic: Transphobia, Outing, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Drug use, Abortion, Racism, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Grief, Death, and Suicide
Minor: Deadnaming, Mental illness, and Car accident
rachaelmaris's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Outing, Transphobia, Sexual content, Violence, and Miscarriage
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Pregnancy
Minor: Blood
indiatorrez's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
it definitely took me awhile to really settle into the story and it wasn't until the last 75ish pages that i realized how invested i was.
beautiful and heartbreaking, provocative and well-written.
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicide, Transphobia, Self harm, Violence, and Suicide attempt