Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom

28 reviews

bookish_afrolatina's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was a super short book and I listened to it on audiobook via the Libby app (library books ftw).

When I first picked this up, the only reference I had for a memoir steeped in magical realism was Carmen Maria Machado's In the Dream House. I realized very quickly that Fierce Femmes is a completely different thing! While this book is still full of fantastical elements and absurdities, it is a novel/faux memoir.

The main character is a trans girl who is the daughter of Chinese immigrants (in Canada, I believe) who live in a crooked house in a city called Gloom. Her parents are abusive so, although she feels guilty about leaving her sister, she knows running away will be for the best.

The MC is a self-described liar so we already know we have an unreliable narrator, which made this kind of intriguing. I loved the stories of connecting with other femmes in the pleasure district and the MC's journey of enforcing consent. It's a much needed discussion when others feel as though they are entitled to your body.

This novel includes:
transphobia, consent, sex work, drug use and abuse, found family, love, murder, revenge, adventure, and hot ghosts, among other things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Drug use, Murder, Hate crime, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Homophobia, Transphobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

yaoipaddle's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

Listened to the audiobook. It was just ok. A fun and quick listen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, Cursing, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Murder, Hate crime, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Medical content, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Body shaming

maddy9877's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality

Moderate: Transphobia and Violence

Minor: Sexual violence

sayer4180's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Self harm, and Sexual violence

joyful_patatas's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative reflective tense fast-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

3.0

I did sincerely enjoy the book, but felt like it was trying to cram many different aspects of trans issues in a limited amount of time. It definitely brights the reality in fiction in regards of the realities of trans people, but certain aspects were confusing as to whether which version of the story the narrator tells is the right one. It was probably the author's intention to have the narrator be unreliable in certain regards and have readers try and interpret the book, but I felt more confused rather than intrigued. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Rape, Transphobia, Homophobia, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Self harm, and Police brutality

espeon's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Self harm, and Police brutality

Moderate: Addiction and Sexual violence

becksusername's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This was such a beautiful memoir/novel

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Hate crime, Murder, and Police brutality

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Adult/minor relationship

alliemikennareads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars is a trans memoir with a unique and engaging format. It has a fantastical nature that really adds to the overall feel of the book. Sometimes it was a little hard to follow as an audiobook but it has a good flow generally. Overall, I enjoyed getting to hear this story! It did remind me that I’m still not huge on memoirs except celebrity ones, but I’m glad I expanded my horizons and am not disappointed I chose this to pick up.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, and Suicidal thoughts

suzyreadsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, Self harm, Death, Murder, and Body shaming

Moderate: Gore, Fatphobia, Addiction, Sexual violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Deadnaming

simple_alien's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• 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

Magical and bada**. A must read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Transphobia, Murder, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Addiction, Body shaming, Body horror, and Blood