Reviews with content warning for Infertility - Detransition, Baby

a lot and frankly a lot of slurs, and if that is going to upset you I might recommend you skip this one.

With that being said this is a book about two terrible people who engage in self-destructive behavior that shows little indication of changing by the end of the book, Reese throws herself into abusive relationships seeking validation,
while Ames seeks to disassociate themselves because the pain of being present is too much for them to bear.

As a queer individual myself it is interesting to see queer characters who they themselves are not allies as counterintuitive as it is it does happen, Reese in particular is downright hateful of those around her, of those in her community and those of adjacenting communities, and quite frankly anyone who might treat her decently, I suspect that she believes everyone to be as hateful as she is which is what causes her to have such disdain in them which at times can be very difficult to read.

But overall it's very well written and an interesting view into a very different perspective.

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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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pkc's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative slow-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

4.0

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maeverose's review against another edition

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Maybe I’ll revisit this someday?

It just wasn’t really what I was expecting. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting. The main characters are very messy people who make questionable decisions, which on one hand is nice to see because it allows trans people to be messy and human just like everyone else without the expectation of perfect representation, but on the other hand, I don’t really care to read about Reese’s questionable sex life for a huge chunk of the book (well, the beginning at least). I feel like all I know about her is she’s trans, has terrible taste in men and little self worth. I also (as a childfree person) really didn’t like how the characters were going about the whole parenting thing. I stopped somewhere in the middle of chapter two, but the way Katrina was like ‘I’m only having the baby if I have a co parent’ made me feel like she didn’t actually want a baby and should probably just get the abortion. As well as Ames using the pregnancy seemingly just as an excuse to kind of get back together with Reese in a way. It bothers me so much seeing people become parents for stupid reasons, and the characters in this book were all way too messy to care for a child, and two of them didn’t even seem like they wanted to.

I have no objective issues with the book, it’s just not for me.

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sorcha's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad

3.75

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effievee's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative reflective sad fast-paced

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

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