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Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom
32 reviews
joyful_patatas'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
3.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Police brutality, and Sexual harassment
orchidd'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
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, and Abandonment
chonkooch'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
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol
podanotherjessi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Police brutality, Grief, and Murder
emfass'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
Haunting, heartbreaking, powerful, hopeful, full of magical realism and the power of trans femininity. I read it on audiobook and would love to revisit it in hard copy form.
Many many quotes I loved that I forgot to capture as I was voraciously listening, but one I did write down:
"That's the difference between love and hunger. Hunger is a story you get stuck in. Love's the story that takes you somewhere new."
I'm so grateful to the Bad Bitch Book Club's LGBTQIA+ subgroup for picking this one, I don't know if I would have heard about it or read it otherwise!
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Self harm, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Sexual assault is a definite undercurrent, and is threatened or implied many times, but I can't recall if any instances happened explicitly on-page.shaunashares's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault and Police brutality
plantbasedbride'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
Kai Cheng Thom has found a unique literary voice through which to share her lived experience, and I am endlessly grateful that she has chosen to share it with the world. Thom’s work is poetic yet blunt, dreamlike yet firmly rooted in reality.
“Little cocoon apartment, I love how you rattle and shake in the wind. You are mine like nothing has ever been before. Someday you'll tear open, and I'll fly out with the wings I have grown inside you. Still shimmering. Still wet.”
I highly recommend!
Moderate: Death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Medical content
stephaniekane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom is, first and foremost, not a memoir, and I don't appreciate being misled by the title. Putting that initial annoyance aside, Thom has created a mythical world filled with poetic language and poetic justice, flowing in between prose, poetry, dialogue, and epistolary segments (in the play the epistolary segments would be direct address, I have the whole thing planned out). With locations like the City of Gloom and the Street of Miracles, it takes place everywhere and nowhere, providing a universality and allowing the reader to insert their city (or an imaginary city of their choice) in the places she describes. At times, this felt a little juvenile because so much inspiration is derived from the tropes of fairytales, and I do feel like the reading level of the book is most appropriate for YA readers, although it does deal with mature subject matter, such as self harm, sexual assault, and the ongoing systemic injustice that is the murder of trans women of color.
At the end of the day, this is a book by and for trans girls, specifically trans girls of color, and that's incredible and honestly off the top of my head I don't think I've read anything by a trans writer before in my life, and that's embarrassing for me and for the literary world, but this is my first step to remedying that gap. Thom writes the most badass, beautiful, and complex trans characters, and I (a cis woman), felt so connected to the narrator's desire to create her own narrative, break out of the box society has put her in, and just figure out who she is. It is a coming of age story, after all. So, while the book wasn't for me, I still appreciate it for what it is and what it can be.
Graphic: Transphobia and Violence
Minor: Self harm and Sexual assault
claudibonini's review against another edition
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Violence
simonamiller's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Self harm, Sexual assault, Violence, Police brutality, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Transphobia