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ali_bali_bee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Outing
fieldofhats's review against another edition
So, this is a lit fic novel. The prose are unnervingly and unnecessarily flowery at times, and there’s very little plot. The characterization is over-simplified in a way that’s made to look dramatic and realistic. For example, Reese liked being with Stanley because her perception of womanhood was contingent on the abuse that women face and thus felt affirmed being abused. If I was being kind I might say that this fucked-up view is representative of the weight and unyielding pressure of the patriarchy, and that its a brilliant look into the dark side of what it means to be a woman. But I have absolutely no love for lit fic and how it deals with topics like this, so I’m not going to be kind.
Reese is also simply unlikeable. I didn’t get far enough into the story, but I didn’t find Katrina to be very likable either. The only sympathetic character is Ames — and in a story about queerness, I think it’s extremely disingenuous to center a cis, detransitioned man in a story that is supposed to be about queerness.
And yes, I know that’s the point. I know that none of these characters are meant to be likable. But I also don’t care. I need at least one character to be a decent person, and we already established why the character Peters chose was problematic.
And as a minor note, the constant use of the word “transsexual” and the utter avoidance of “transgender” was unnerving and peculiar. It should have been my first clue to stop reading.
I thought perhaps that I would enjoy this novel because it’s about trans people by a trans author (as a trans fem person myself, I was naturally interested) — but I was sorely mistaken. Don’t get me wrong, the book isn’t bad because it’s trans. The book is bad because it does all the things that makes lit fic unbearable. There are better fiction novels about trans characters. Don’t bother with this one.
It’s pride month. Don’t read books that aren’t worth your time.
Reese is also simply unlikeable. I didn’t get far enough into the story, but I didn’t find Katrina to be very likable either. The only sympathetic character is Ames — and in a story about queerness, I think it’s extremely disingenuous to center a cis, detransitioned man in a story that is supposed to be about queerness.
And yes, I know that’s the point. I know that none of these characters are meant to be likable. But I also don’t care. I need at least one character to be a decent person, and we already established why the character Peters chose was problematic.
And as a minor note, the constant use of the word “transsexual” and the utter avoidance of “transgender” was unnerving and peculiar. It should have been my first clue to stop reading.
I thought perhaps that I would enjoy this novel because it’s about trans people by a trans author (as a trans fem person myself, I was naturally interested) — but I was sorely mistaken. Don’t get me wrong, the book isn’t bad because it’s trans. The book is bad because it does all the things that makes lit fic unbearable. There are better fiction novels about trans characters. Don’t bother with this one.
It’s pride month. Don’t read books that aren’t worth your time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Transphobia
Moderate: Gaslighting
clarkg's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
5.0
The empathy, gravity, and humor with which Torrey Peters treats her characters is what made this book remarkable to me. Writing about queer family for a mixed audience is an unenviable task and Peters does so with a tremendous amount of grace. I have never read anything that so beautifully (and painfully) captures the tension between our desires, the people we have decided might help us fulfill them, and the struggle to imagine a future for which there is no clear framework. This book came to me at the exact moment I needed it and I suspect many readers will feel the same.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage, Infertility, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, and Misogyny
Moderate: Physical abuse, Cursing, Hate crime, Grief, Infidelity, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Outing, Abortion, Homophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Police brutality
beansandrice's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I'm glad this book exists, but it definitely isn't for everyone. The overlapping realities of trans lives and reproductive rights are incredibly complicated, and Detransition, Baby doesn't shy away from this complexity. This book isn't at all about providing answers, but I'll be thinking back to it a lot with these topics nevertheless. In the end, Detransition, Baby is about capturing a certain kind of trans experience, and Torrey Peters undeniably succeeds at this.
It does still have a few rough edges, especially how it left me wanting in its various conversations around ethnicity and race. Admittedly, I almost DNF'd it because the many explicit sex scenes were almost too much for me. I don't regret finishing it though. I saw myself so much in these characters, despite the fact that they're very different kinds of trans people compared to myself.
Don't expect perfection, expect a journey.
It does still have a few rough edges, especially how it left me wanting in its various conversations around ethnicity and race. Admittedly, I almost DNF'd it because the many explicit sex scenes were almost too much for me. I don't regret finishing it though. I saw myself so much in these characters, despite the fact that they're very different kinds of trans people compared to myself.
Don't expect perfection, expect a journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Transphobia, Infidelity, and Hate crime
Moderate: Outing, Abortion, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Racism, Deadnaming, and Physical abuse
emmyborden's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Suicide attempt
hazelbynature's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Grief, Hate crime, Outing, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Deadnaming, Gore, Miscarriage, Dysphoria, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
lareinamags's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Dysphoria, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Outing, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Transphobia, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Suicide
shortstackz's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Parenthood looks and means something different to everyone, and Detransition, Baby dives into what that might look like to a cis woman, a trans woman, and a former trans woman. We take a dual viewpoint from Reese, a trans woman, and Ames, a former trans woman. Exploring how their experience of gender has shaped their views of parenthood. The dual timeline simultaneously covers the years across Reese and Amy's romantic relationship, and the weeks following Ames discovering he has gotten Katrina pregnant. I lov d that the story centered on the hopes and dreams of trans women without saying away from their struggles.
I am a cis woman, of white and Asian decent, which is the lens I was reading this through. Ames brought an interesting discussion of gender and gave me a better understanding of gender dysphoria and maybe the reasons someone would choose to live as their birth gender. The dual timeline of Reese and Ames brings so much light to the daily joys of trans life, which I think will help a lot of cis readers to grow alongside Katrina. I think this would have been strengthened from including vignets or interludes from Katrina's perspective, which could have shown how she was navigating her own journey through parental identity. Katrina makes choices. Those choices are, interesting? I have no idea how she jumps to them other than plot.
The characters of Reese and Ames are so well developed that the lack of development in Katrina stands out as our main cast of 3. Peters prose is witty, funny, and easy to read. There are fun pop culture references thrown in throughout the pages, and I loved the nuanced gender conversations that occured. I wish Katrina's motivations were more clear to the reader, not front and center but in vignettes scattered throughout.
I am a cis woman, of white and Asian decent, which is the lens I was reading this through. Ames brought an interesting discussion of gender and gave me a better understanding of gender dysphoria and maybe the reasons someone would choose to live as their birth gender. The dual timeline of Reese and Ames brings so much light to the daily joys of trans life, which I think will help a lot of cis readers to grow alongside Katrina. I think this would have been strengthened from including vignets or interludes from Katrina's perspective, which could have shown how she was navigating her own journey through parental identity. Katrina makes choices. Those choices are, interesting? I have no idea how she jumps to them other than plot.
The characters of Reese and Ames are so well developed that the lack of development in Katrina stands out as our main cast of 3. Peters prose is witty, funny, and easy to read. There are fun pop culture references thrown in throughout the pages, and I loved the nuanced gender conversations that occured. I wish Katrina's motivations were more clear to the reader, not front and center but in vignettes scattered throughout.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Deadnaming, and Transphobia
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Ableism, Drug use, and Gaslighting
rumade's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
3.5
Potential parenthood explored from a totally new angle through 3 characters, each flawed in their own special way. I found it really captivating, and had massive amounts of empathy for the characters, but the end felt a little rushed. The nature of the actual ending may really piss some people off too. I really liked that there's no clear "good" character or "bad" one.
One thing I really didn't like about the book is that for a story about trans people, it really trod the line of the gender binary. Ames, the character who detransitioned, at no point explores whether he may actually be non-binary of more gender fluid, despite never having committed to bottom surgery, and clearly having complicated feelings about gender. It also seemed very bizarre to me that at no point did Katrina solidly consider being a single mother, or even moving back in with her own mother or divorced friends and living that way. You were willing to consider sharing your baby with your baby daddy's ex but not raising a kid alone or with other family or friends???
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing
Moderate: Miscarriage, Transphobia, and Physical abuse
Minor: Addiction, Hate crime, Infertility, Abortion, Car accident, Death, and Domestic abuse
planning2read's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Transphobia
Moderate: Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse