Reviews

The Masker by Sybil Lamb, Torrey Peters

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house_of_hannah's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

2.0

This needs to be proofread. There is everything from typos, missing words, and even extra words. I don't think I have ever read something with as many issues as this, especially considering how short it is.

This novella does say some interesting things about accepting ourselves, but then it also says some very questionable things about cis women. I honestly just don't really know what to think in the end.

elj_ne's review against another edition

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3.0

Torrey Peters' prose is succinct and incredibly readable - she is very good at creating compelling characters and plots that pull heavily on interesting themes. I'm not the target market for this novella but found it an astonishing feat to pack so much in to only 72 pages. Intriguing and more than a tad creepy.

torchlab's review against another edition

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3.0

I picked this up after reading Detransition, Baby earlier in the year because I was so intrigued by Torrey Peters’ writing. It honestly isn’t much like DTB—it’s way shorter, for one thing, and it doesn’t feel as thoroughly developed or wide-ranging as the character in that book. But I still found it a worthwhile read, simply because I think Torrey Peters as a writer is refreshingly courageous and also wholly unpretentious, which is a rare combination. The ending of this book is one of those haunting and painfully inevitable ends that you see coming a mile away but wish you didn’t.

honeychain's review

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challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

max63815's review against another edition

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challenging tense

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

afineshrine's review against another edition

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5.0

the first words that pop into my head to describe this book are "uncomfortably seen". the way torrey peters brought me straight back to my thought processes pre-coming out with krys' internal monologue was intensely insightful, and though the book brought back the memories of a time past, it also made me more aware and appreciative of how far i've come since the days of incessantly googling phrases like "is it possible to want to be a woman" and ending up on transphobic message boards telling me my existence is a fetish. incredibly excited to read her other novella and her new novel when it comes out!