Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Detransition, Baby

the exploration of womanhood, motherhood, gender expression and queerness;
The imperfectness of the characters so that the reader knew that no one person’s identity is monolithic. It is entirely one’s own;
The idea that we can create our own family
The exploration of why the characters are the way that they are (especially Ames).

What I didn’t like:

Others have mentioned the clumsiness of race within this, and how the inclusion of Katrina being the one major character of color might be a metaphor for how the white trans experience isn’t the only one. It doesn’t work for me fir so many reasons, but the first one being that whenever she brings race up it feels like someone who hasn’t actually experienced being a minority, and because any attempts at relating with Katrina by Reese/Ames are shut down.
Some of the writing, as beautiful as it is, was over the top for me. I was sometimes waiting to get to the end of a chapter and I hate feeling like that.

What I found challenging:

Reese said things about womanhood and the need to feel delicate (particularly when she was with Stanley and the Cowboy) that I wholeheartedly couldn’t relate to, but have to admit that at some point in my own life defined my own perception of what it means to be woman and the need for men to view me as someone worthy of being taken care of/defended etc. I think it’s easy for people (especially those looking for an excuse to hate this book) to use it as a way to accuse people like Reese, at worse, of cosplaying womanhood, when that’s not what’s happening.
Ames’, before their transition to Amy, misogyny and further internalized misogyny was hard to read, mostly because I grieved for that character.

Content Warnings

sorcha's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad

3.75

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megelizabeth's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

2.5

The positive thing I have to say about this book is that it's interesting. It's slow and it took me a while to get through, but it contains a lot of great observations, conversations, and themes, and definitely made me think more deeply about a plethora of aspects of the trans experience. Of course, it looks a lot also at the detrans experience, and gives a really compelling insight into what detransition can mean in reality.

However, I did struggle with this book because it's very much character-driven and I really didn't connect to or particularly like any of the main characters. I'm sure they're supposed to be viewed through a critical lens, but that knowledge didn't help me during the many insufferable parts, the plot and the themes not being enough to make me appreciate the characters also. I also can't not mention the fact that this book contains a graphic depiction of underage sex, which there's literally no reason or excuse for; the points being made about the character involved could easily have been done so without including this. To a lesser, but still frustrating, degree, there's also an odd comment about hysterectomies being 'widely available', which again was maybe supposed to be viewed critically, but surely didn't come off that way.

Content Warnings

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-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

2.5

While interesting, I really struggled to get into this book. In part, I think it was the way it was written — the back and forth between characters and time periods made the book feel choppy and disconnected. The entire time I was reading, I never fell into the story. It just felt like I was reading — not experiencing it. The insights about being trans were the highlight for me. I felt deep sorrow for the characters who wanted so deeply to be themselves in ways society or biology would not allow.

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lily_peach's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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cmcrockford's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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