Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Detransition, Baby

I have to admit I struggled a bit with this book, from my lens as a rather vanilla cishet woman. But wow, the author drew me into each person’s story, especially Reese’s. They each had such intricately drawn layers to their experiences of friendship, romance, womanhood, potential parenthood.

Parts of this book made me laugh out loud (that essential oils party was one!), and yet the author did not flinch in showing the uglier sides of life for trans women, including violence against Reese and a painfully awkward outing of Ames.

No doubt, this is a heavier read than most, but a thread of hope carries through.

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laurajw's review

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challenging dark emotional informative slow-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

I did enjoy this book however, I felt like there were moments where I just wanted to stop and put it down. It felt like it plodded along at a slower pace than I enjoy reading. I found it insightful about queerness and gender and gender identify and expression yet felt it fell flat on addressing my the intersectionality of race, queerness, and gender.

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kelseyleighpgh's review

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challenging emotional inspiring reflective 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

This book is an absolute masterpiece. These characters and all they face will live on in my head for years to come. Torrey Peters has achieved a rare balance of poetic, descriptive writing while being grounded and accessible.

I’ve learned so much from this book and have much to reflect on about women in the broadest definition of the word and what it means to live as a woman - especially trans - in this moment in time.

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