Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

221 reviews

zeus_strider's review

challenging dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

I find it hard to describe this book, I thoroughly enjoyed it but wouldn't recommend lightly.

This book uses the word

"transsexual"

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Infertility, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Transphobia, Abortion, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Outing, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Self harm

Moderate: Cultural appropriation and Suicide attempt

Minor: Suicide

capacitorofflux's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Transphobia, Outing, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Car accident

siobhanward's review

emotional 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? Yes

3.0

 I feel conflicted on this - there were some parts I loved while others just didn't sit well with me. The story itself is heartbreaking and felt honest. I know some have taken issue with it in other reviews, but honestly I didn't feel that in the same way. I think a lot was placed on the concept of motherhood being so tied to womanhood and the strict gender roles that come with parenting, which is something that was interesting to read about and something that I found resonated. So much is tied to "mother" or "father" and as a society we really struggle to think outside of those bubbles.

Anyway, this was a decent read - if it's something that seems interesting, it's worth picking up. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Homophobia

Moderate: Racism and Pregnancy

rachelle_reads's review

challenging emotional hopeful

4.0

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Miscarriage, and Transphobia

Moderate: Suicide

rjbedell's review

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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Deadnaming

Minor: Death, Abortion, and Stalking

daniellel's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Homophobia

Moderate: Chronic illness and Pregnancy

maeverose's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Moderate: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Gore, and Animal death

Minor: Abortion, Infertility, Antisemitism, and Racism

The gore is just animal gore, at least as far as I read

lanid's review

emotional reflective

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Adult/minor relationship, Deadnaming, and Abortion

Minor: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

luisagerdsmeyer's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Pregnancy

ang_mendoza's review against another edition

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Abortion, and Homophobia

Moderate: Violence, Pregnancy, Suicide, Deadnaming, Miscarriage, and Outing