Reviews with content warning for Addiction - Detransition, Baby

Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

16 reviews

elia_z's review

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challenging funny inspiring medium-paced

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? Yes

4.5

Trans excellence 👏

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rumade's review

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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???

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lovegriefandgender's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

It's tough being trans. As I was reading Detransition, Baby a 16-year old trans girl was murdered in London, and unable to articulate so much rush of feeling I turned hungrily, savagely back to the pages of the book. It seems to be a place, being trans, of endless longing and therefore endless loss, where we are summoned to question our own pain and circular motions and regret and suffering against any other group who had experienced any of those things. I don't think we're brave. Not really. I think we live in an interrogated space, a grey space, where no future can be known as fact. Then we have to ask what we want: motherhood? Career? Love? Sex? Most of us would be happy just to have something meaningful to say. Yeah. This is where we live.

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rionstorm's review

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emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.75

I really wanted to like this, but it kind of just feels like watching my least favourite kind of trans people do things that make me sad on loop with no resolution or change. I don't think I liked a single character in it? There were a few moments that made me go Wow! because they hit on something very real and true about being trans, but there were more moments that just equated being trans to being exactly the miserable caricature cis people think of us as? I am sad that I didn't like it. Also please I beg, enough with the weird "transfems in opposition to transmascs" / "transmascs have it so easy" / "transmascs and transfems arent REALLY friends" narrative? So not realistic and so not helpful.

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mischka's review

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dark emotional funny reflective tense 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

4.5

This book is a wild ride! The author has some kinds of people in certain queer circles down to a T. Other parts of how they go trough (queer and non-queer) life is completely unknown to me, but that's part of where the fun comes in. Exploring the world through the characters lenses is intriguing. For me personally there was a little to much focus on sex and Kinderwunsch, but well, the second one is basically in the title so. I knew what I was getting into.

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mayan03's review

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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thepermageek's review

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challenging emotional sad tense fast-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

5.0

First off, I need to just come out & say it:
There are no heroes in this book.

Every single character is super flawed (like all humans really). Which is one of the reasons I loved it! Another reason is that it accurately depicts life for city-dwelling trans people (and in particular trans women) in the 21st century.

For instance, some of the settings include picnics in the park, queer dance parties, funerals, & sex workers' clients' apartments.

FYI there are some pretty rough moments in the book depicting violence & internalized transphobic narratives so if yr trans probably best to read it when yr in a good (enough) headspace.

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