Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Maus hábitos

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Maus hábitos by Alana S. Portero

11 reviews

abbie_'s review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my free digital ARC of Bad Habit by Alana S. Portero, translated from the Spanish by Mara Faye Lethem. I bloody loved this book, it was messy and devastating and beautiful and hopeful. It embodies the powerful bonds forged between women, and trans women in particular. Álex, the main character, recounts her life and the women who have helped shaped it. Hers is not an easy life, growing up a trans girl in a working class neighbourhood which both scorns and reveres its women. The theme of neighbourliness is not one I come across often in fiction, which I definitely think is reflective of how isolated we are now as a society. But the women who live in close proximity to Álex, both trans and cis, look out for one another, doing the best they can amid violence inflicted by men. A flawless translation, a love letter to solidarity, just gorgeous.

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lotte_898's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad 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

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antidietleah's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

4.75

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ramreadsagain's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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? No

4.5

Before you get the chance to define yourself, others trace your outline with their prejudices and their aggressions.

Thank you to the publisher for this advance review copy via NetGalley.

This is an incredibly emotional and moving coming of age story of a young trans girl growing up in a working class area of Madrid in the 80's and 90's, with the rippling effects of Franco's dictatorship still felt in the culture and attitudes of the population.

The translation is phenomenal, while still feeling so Spanish. I grew up in Spain and seeing depictions of the culture I'm familiar with was weirdly comforting in a way that I often don't get from books set in the UK.

The book is truly beautiful, a love letter to women, queer family and community, but also a book with a lot of pain and anger within it. I really loved it and will think about it often.

Read during the 2024 Trans Rights Readathon.

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minniepauline's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

This book is a beautiful portrait of a time and a place, as well as being a beautiful and painful coming-of-age story. The unnamed protagonist is a little girl in a little boy’s body, who watches and learns from the women around her. Five at the beginning of the novel, as she grows and her body develops her experience of her life begins to split more firmly into two pieces. In telling her story, she describes the people along the way who have helped her to define herself, either by giving her examples of ways she’d like to be, or by pushing her firmly back into her closet, as she says. She is a keen observer, and her language, poetic and lyrical at first, becomes more clear as she becomes more clear in herself.

I feel that I’ve gained a lot of insight into what it’s like to grow up as a trans woman. Especially in a working-class neighborhood in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. As painful as it is, at times, to read, it’s never over-the-top or gratuitous, but simply feels true.

There is no plot here, and I think a little bit of one might have helped me to feel less bogged-down toward the middle of the novel, but the beginning and end make up for it.

Thank you to HarperVia for allowing me to read an advance copy of this novel.

Content Warnings

torismazarine's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

Content Warnings

isabelvegga's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad 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

4.25

La contraportada del libro describe la novela como «cruda y feroz pero también poética y conmovedora» y no puedo estar más de acuerdo.

💙

“Mi máscara era una tras la que esconderse, una de vergüenza y miedo, una que a esa edad no debería necesitar, siquiera conocer.”

“Que la violencia machista se dispensa con independencia de lo que hagamos o dejemos de hacer las mujeres era algo que todavía no había aprendido.”

“Eran pequeñas afirmaciones que se iban acumulando y que parecían describir a otra criatura que no era yo. (…) las recibía como avisos de la vergüenza que supondría negarlas.”

“Me di cuenta de que el miedo me afectaba de un modo particular, manteniéndome en un estado perpetuo de inmadurez por alejarme de toda experiencia significativa.”

“Nunca llegué a entender por qué la diversión de unos pasaba por encima de la humillación de otros.”

💚

Content Warnings

soparosa's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

Man, i don't like rating anything with 5 stars but this book definitely deserves it. Read it if you're in the mood for crying, if you are trans or know someone who is, if you're interested in Madrid, if you're currently making an effort to see a light at the end of the tunnel, or if you just feel like it. Any reason is a good reason to read it because whatever your motive is; it will speak to you.

Content Warnings

laudelui's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring sad slow-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

Tan bonito como triste. Una historia que parece que alguien te la va contando desde la confianza y con mucho cariño.
La manera de escribir y de relatar encaja muy bien con la historia y a través de las referencias y de la elección de palabras, construye un personaje muy completo que te hace dudar si no existe realmente.
Te acerca también a empatizar y poder entender un poco la realidad de personas con realidades distintas a las normativas.

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jo_an's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

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