Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

118 reviews

lemusk7's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infertility, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Miscarriage

annaofjesup's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Infertility, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Emotional abuse, and Hate crime

Moderate: Dysphoria, Grief, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Cursing, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Homophobia, and Miscarriage

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Outing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Grief, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Sexual content, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Miscarriage, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Deadnaming, Drug use, Classism, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Abortion, Racism, Death, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Animal death, Car accident, Murder, Eating disorder, Rape, War, Colonisation, Ableism, and Incest

friendofdorothea's review

challenging slow-paced

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

2.75

I feel bad rating this book so low because it is written by a trans author through such a big publishing company. But it was really bad, and I would have DNF'd if I didn't find an audiobook because the book kept jumping to random moments in time or rants that had no correlation to the plot of the book. There was way too many words and there needed to be like 10 more editors. And with all of the words that were written, I think maybe only 5 pages actually focused on the plot. There were 50+ pages in every chapter, the text was super small and it was extremely inaccessible. Also, the thinking in the book was so flawed and most of the characters sucked, especially Reese who just seemed like a really bad person. There was also so much misogyny and transmisogyny that was not okay. There have been so many positive reviews because people have seen this book as a learning experience, but some of the ways in which this book looks at the world is not okay. I would recommend reading, watching, or listening to some other form of trans media to learn about transness: I.e., Transgender History by Susan Stryker, Paris is Burning, Disclosure, Pose, Gender Outlaw by Judith Butler, hell even Euphoria is a better representation of transness. There is so much wordy writing to get through to learn anything about transness. Also the book seemed to erase non-binary identities a lot of the time and there was no consideration that Ames could have been genderfluid or another non-binary identity. There was so much focus on transness as one thing rather than the expansiveness of transness. The basis of transness is not medicalization and the book almost implied that is the only way to be trans. If a cis person picked this up with no prior knowledge of transness, it could be super harmful especially because most of the reviews are saying this book is a learning guide for them. 

The book saw children as merely property. Additionally, womanhood was seen mostly as caring for children or having a baby which is inherently sexist. 


The book was supposed to be funny but nothing about it was funny whatsoever. The summary made it seem like these women were going to be raising a baby together and that’s what I was expecting to see within the first couple chapters not just filler. The ambiguous ending sucked. 
10/10 do not recommend and I am surprised by the overwhelming amount of positive reviews. THIS IS NOT GOOD TRANS REPRESENTATION AND DO NOT PICK THIS UP TO LEARN ABOUT TRANS PEOPLE! I really wanted to root for a trans author but im sorry this book was not the one.

All of these characters deeply need therapy tbh (preferably feminist therapy) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Misogyny, Abortion, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Deadnaming, Death, Lesbophobia, Pregnancy, and Sexism

emjcn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The NUANCE!!! I feel so seen.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Transphobia, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Outing, and Sexual content

Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, and Suicide attempt

bookishcookiemonster's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Fantastic !
Such an honest look at what womanhood means for (some) Trans-Women, juxtaposed next to what it means for Cis-women of colour, and the struggles of coming to motherhood.
I have learned so much from this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Abortion, Violence, Miscarriage, Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief

klimatyczny_bluszcz's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

It was an incredibly good read - perfectly balanced irony with seriousness. It deals with topics that nobody wants to talk about - detransition, queer and polymourous co-parenthood, the dark and tearing parts about being trans. It was honest and authentic in expressing some of trans experiences while acknowledging that there are as many perspectives as trans people. The author celebrated transness in its everydayness and special moments. The story was emotional, unique and unforgettable. Glad that I happened to read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Homophobia, Grief, Dysphoria, and Abortion

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Sexism, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Outing

Minor: Police brutality and Miscarriage

lovegriefandgender's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Abortion, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Self harm, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Miscarriage, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Outing, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

revengesrose's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Outing, Dysphoria, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Abortion

Minor: Deadnaming

mirireads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria and Infidelity

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual violence, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Abortion, and Miscarriage

Minor: Suicide