Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

54 reviews

sophiebv's review

adventurous emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Pregnancy, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual violence, Outing, Miscarriage, Suicide, and Self harm

Minor: Drug use and Forced institutionalization

erint251's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Outing, Dysphoria, and Hate crime

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Homophobia, Abortion, Death, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Eating disorder and Death of parent

karolinaz's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexism, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

lixard's review against another edition

challenging funny slow-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

i may finally understand those who rate a book highly even with conflicting feelings of it. there are parts of this book i think about basically every day which just speaks to how well peters is able to bring to light things that all women experience but never truly realize. the biggest one is the conversation, through reese's (and iris's) toxic and abusive relationships as a way of affirming their gender? i thought about that one for hours and had a long discussion with my roommate about it... and i don't think i'll ever stop thinking about it.
another is the conversation between reese & katrina about how race and gender and class intersect with motherhood, that women are not all given the same assumption of/decision for motherhood.
oh! and i loved the elephant metaphor, the wim hof method, the sex and the city problem, etc. just so much thought put into how each of the characters see the world. good on ya.

i have nothing else to add except that i wished we knew what happened to their little trio family :(

without further ado some quotes that i had to steal off goodreads because my hold expired before i wrote them down: 

 “She’s suggested, in the way that naive cis people do, with a hint of self-congratulation at their own broad-mindedness, that it seems like trans people are starting to be everywhere, that maybe gender doesn’t matter that much. In his reply, he can’t help but let loose an old defensiveness on this topic. “I think it’s the opposite,” he says too sharply. “The whole reason transsexuals transition is because gender matters so incredibly much.” 

 “Yes and no. Some days I still love you and some days I don’t.”
Reese waited, sensing there was more. So he let her have as much of the truth as he could bear. “But the days I don’t love you…I have to work hard to make those days happen. The days I do require nothing of me.” 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Self harm, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Transphobia, Homophobia, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Abortion and Deadnaming

oliviareese's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexism, Physical abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Deadnaming, Grief, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Abortion, Body shaming, Hate crime, Outing, Violence, Dysphoria, Infertility, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Lesbophobia

lydiaie's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Outing, Transphobia, Violence, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Addiction, Grief, Physical abuse, and Suicide

thanmayi's review

medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

 This book isn't written for the comfort of cis women and that's something that a lot of people in these reviews seem to be missing.

This book is so beautifully written and is unapologetically trans, it looks at the darkest parts of being a trans woman, transitioning and detransitioning. I don't think I will ever be able to do this book justice when I talk about it. What I will say is that this is an important book, one that everyone needs to read at least once in their life. 

I will emphasize going through the content warnings because this book has a lot of heavy content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Deadnaming, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Pregnancy

My only issue with this book however was the entire cheating plot

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective 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

3.0

This is probably the most unique book I've read in awhile. It tells the story of Reese, Amy, and Katrina - Amy's new girlfriend. Reese and Amy are both transgender women and spent many years in a relationship, during which they lived together and planned to have a family. Things went astray when Amy made the decision to detransition and become Ames, living as a man instead. Things get even crazier when Ames gets his girlfriend pregnant unexpectedly and crazier still when he suggests Reese co-parent with him and Katrina. A lot of messiness ensues! 

I thought this book was overall, impressive. It is whip smart, funny, and often heartbreaking. It offers a window into a situation unlike anything I've ever read. The characters are complex and have diverse points of view and the dynamics between characters are incredibly interesting. The writing is beautiful and extremely smart - often a little too smart for me. 

The issues I have with it don't necessarily have to do with the quality of the book itself and more with me. I thought that the book was going to be faster paced, and that we were going to see more of the interesting throuple-but-not dynamic than we actually got to see. There is a lot of backstory, which was excellent and told me a lot about Reese and Amy/Ames as people, but not a lot of plot to work with in the present day, which became frustrating for me toward the end. Ultimately, I think that this book is great, and reads quickly despite the slower pacing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, and Pedophilia

allwaysbecoming's review

challenging dark funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

I originally picked up this book because friends told me it was funny, but it's much more intense than I anticipated in all powerful ways. The novel focuses on queerness, parenting, and the complexity of relationships. I loved the way Peters expands the meaning of family outside of the heteronormative structures and the way it allows for the true depth of the lives of trans women. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts

rswindle1990's review

challenging emotional reflective 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Pregnancy, Outing, and Miscarriage