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kimananda's review
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
eemms's review
4.0
What a great read! All mystery novels should be bookends for the story of a woman's gender transition.
On the surface level it's a murder mystery that feels very realistic, set in a small city in the Hudson valley. The setting and the characters all feel real and it's easy to just dump into and get swept along. Emma's transition, too, feels realistic both her conviction and her fears. How it's so hard to take that first step, but one's it's taken (or once someone pushes you), some things just feel inevitable.
At a deeper level there's some really interesting themes about identity, secrecy, what you hide and why, and who you let see what sides of you. The vulnerability that comes with telling a whole truth is real, and sometimes you're not ready to tell it, and sometimes you don't want to hear it.
I wish there were a whole series of these books.
cw: forced outing
content note, queers who are too young to remember 2002 may be surprised by the language (Emma self identifies as transexual and uses 'tranny' a few times). None of it felt bad to me, but for someone who didn't grow up with that language being what was not only acceptable but affirming, it might be surprising at first.
On the surface level it's a murder mystery that feels very realistic, set in a small city in the Hudson valley. The setting and the characters all feel real and it's easy to just dump into and get swept along. Emma's transition, too, feels realistic both her conviction and her fears. How it's so hard to take that first step, but one's it's taken (or once someone pushes you), some things just feel inevitable.
At a deeper level there's some really interesting themes about identity, secrecy, what you hide and why, and who you let see what sides of you. The vulnerability that comes with telling a whole truth is real, and sometimes you're not ready to tell it, and sometimes you don't want to hear it.
I wish there were a whole series of these books.
cw: forced outing
content note, queers who are too young to remember 2002 may be surprised by the language (Emma self identifies as transexual and uses 'tranny' a few times). None of it felt bad to me, but for someone who didn't grow up with that language being what was not only acceptable but affirming, it might be surprising at first.
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