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bookscoffeehayley'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
This is a heavily character-driven book. The flaws, trauma, and personalities of the three main characters, Ames, Reese, and Katrina, are at the forefront of this novel in an unapologetic manner.
The trans representation in this book is realistic. So often in books where there are trans characters, they are represented as ‘Disney-fied’ versions of humans. Reese, specifically, opens a window into the life of a trans woman whose life isn’t always a perfect ending story. Reese is a character whom I was rooting for, getting angry with, sympathizing with, throughout the entire novel. One of my favorite characters I’ve read about this year.
Something that made this audiobook feel clunky to me was the shifting of time periods in the middle of chapters. These chapters are quite long and throughout them, there would be shifts in time periods and shifts of point of view. There were also sections of long tangents that felt to distract from the main message or plot of the chapter. Maybe because I read this book via an audiobook it was often confusing? I think the plot may have been relayed more cohesively with broken-up chapters. I also think a reread of this book in a physical format would help my reading experience a ton!
I definitely recommend reading this book for members of the LGTBQ+ community and allies. It’s unlike any other book I’ve read with queer representation. I’m excited to read more from Torrey Peters in the future!
Graphic: Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
clem'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
Graphic: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Infertility, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Infidelity
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
psi_fi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Deadnaming, Mental illness, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Sexism
Minor: Abortion and Suicide attempt
ashmalcom'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
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
yavin_iv'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Infidelity
Moderate: Abortion, Drug use, Medical content, Blood, and Death
Minor: Addiction and Deadnaming
suzyreadsbooks's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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Forgot to ever put my review on here. :)
Thanks to One World & NetGalley for the e-copy!
I’d highly recommend for anyone looking for literary fiction with complex, nuanced discussions about gender identity, motherhood, sexuality, & white trans women!! It was everything I was hoping for and more.
Major TWs for: infertility, miscarriage, transphobia, suicide, domestic violence, misogyny, homophobia
Full review:
I can’t stop thinking about this smart, funny, emotional book. Some other descriptors: Tender! Nuanced! Sad! Hard! Intimate! Biting! Ow!
Reese, a white trans woman, her white detransitioned ex Ames, & his Chinese Jewish cis divorced boss Katrina attempt to build a family. Taking place during Katrina’s pregnancy & in flashbacks, I was always intrigued to find out where the book would go next. The book was driven by the compelling unfurling of Reese & Ames’ pasts.
These are messy, imperfect, exasperating characters. They’re also lovable people trying to understand what they want in the world. Some fav topics covered: Clashing ideas of womanhood & femininity. Masking hard feelings w intellectualism. The roles sex & kink can play in exploring gender identity.
Peters uses social comedy to slowly reveal the complexity of being a trans woman in the US, distinct from the tidy media narrative where transitioning magically fixes everything. DB fully turns gender on its head and reveals the difficulties AND joys of being trans.
There is full acknowledgment that these are singular experiences of two white trans women.
Peters: “It's important to talk about the fact that what I know, and what I'm writing about, is largely white trans women, and a culture that's largely inhabited by white people. (...) That actually provides me, as an artist, with freedom, because I can say bitchy things. And I feel comfortable being bitchy about things that happened inside of my own culture. (...) I need to make those demarcations. Not just because it's, politically, the right thing to do, it's important for the quality of the art, to be specific and to be incisive as to what's happening.”
I feel hopeful that readers will leave this story knowing they also have to pick up books by trans WOC, trans SWs, etc. Let’s hope the Big Five catch up.
Highly recommend going down the rabbit hole of Peters’ interviews. Some gems: DB serving as a “test case” for her future; cis people engaging in “gender play;” how trans people, not TERFs, own the concept of detransitioning.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Self harm, and Suicide