Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

59 reviews

mmcloe's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative fast-paced

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

4.5

Aw man this was so so so sweet. 

So much has been written about how this book talks about queerness as it relates to pregnancy and motherhood but I'm also fascinated by how Peters connects queer time to the process of remembering and misremembering. There's so much flipping back and forth through time (all of it centered around conception, almost like a pregnancy guide book lol) and it demonstrates how the past messily (mis)informs the present which does the same to the future. For all of us, queer people especially, time and community can be so ephemeral, so there's a simultaneous sense of urgency and resignation for the future. This book captures this excellently!

Like Don Delillo, I want Torrey Peters to write a tv show. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Misogyny, and Homophobia

Minor: Drug use and Miscarriage

travelseatsreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective tense 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

4.5

Detransition, Baby is a book which will inevitably polarize people. Just like its title, its contents are at times quite challenging. Even at its least provocative there will be someone reading somewhere shrieking in horror at what they just read. It is in that challenging nature of the book that I adore how brave Torrey Peters was in telling a story of gender, of mother & fatherhood, of queerness and overwhelmingly of the prejudice and trauma that everyone carries around regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.

It would have been easy and hugely less controversial for Peters to make these 3 women flawless and likeable but rather than take the easy route she showed how deeply flawed and damaged all three of them were in their own ways. There are chunks of the book that reek of misogyny. There are violent, graphic and demeaning sex scenes. There are deeply prejudiced thoughts thrown about on occasion. There are sections where you will think what the actual f*** is wrong with them. And then there are sections full of love, tenderness, fulfillment and a deep yet brutal level of understanding and self awareness. Peters shies away from the fluffy rainbow coloured persona often provided and delves deep into what can be at times an absolute tangle of beautiful destruction.

Towards the last few chapters I longed to know just that little bit more about Reese and her backstory, her character was so full and intriguing I wanted to know more about where all that angst and inner turmoil came from. That and some other lingering questions kept me from that last star.

Overall, while this will not be a book for everyone, I think everyone should at least attempt to read it with an open mind and glean from it what they can.
What Peters showed effortlessly throughout the book is that none of it is easy, being trans, being queer or indeed immersing yourself into those worlds as a straight cis female. It's complicated and I loved Detransition, Baby for that honesty and rawness. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Cursing, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Outing, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, and Drug use

sooficiente's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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

5.0

What an amazing book. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. Torrey Peters has a gift for making the hardest moments feel lighter and darkly funny. Her prose is beautiful, incisive and, at times, hilarious. I can only wish that one day I’ll be this good of a writer. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Transphobia

Minor: Drug use and Suicide

carol_c26's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

my heart ached for Reese and Ames and Katrina. a painful and beautiful look at family and queerness and love and motherhood

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Deadnaming, Infertility, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

luisaroesch's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Addiction, Deadnaming, Drug use, Transphobia, Emotional abuse, Death, Outing, and Pregnancy

Minor: Dysphoria, Outing, Racism, and Suicide attempt

mimsyweretheborogoves's review against another edition

all the explicit sex talk got a bit exhausting 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Drug use, Dysphoria, and Outing

halftimelord's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny sad 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: Drug use, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Abortion

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This is probably the most unique book I've read in awhile. It tells the story of Reese, Amy, and Katrina - Amy's new girlfriend. Reese and Amy are both transgender women and spent many years in a relationship, during which they lived together and planned to have a family. Things went astray when Amy made the decision to detransition and become Ames, living as a man instead. Things get even crazier when Ames gets his girlfriend pregnant unexpectedly and crazier still when he suggests Reese co-parent with him and Katrina. A lot of messiness ensues! 

I thought this book was overall, impressive. It is whip smart, funny, and often heartbreaking. It offers a window into a situation unlike anything I've ever read. The characters are complex and have diverse points of view and the dynamics between characters are incredibly interesting. The writing is beautiful and extremely smart - often a little too smart for me. 

The issues I have with it don't necessarily have to do with the quality of the book itself and more with me. I thought that the book was going to be faster paced, and that we were going to see more of the interesting throuple-but-not dynamic than we actually got to see. There is a lot of backstory, which was excellent and told me a lot about Reese and Amy/Ames as people, but not a lot of plot to work with in the present day, which became frustrating for me toward the end. Ultimately, I think that this book is great, and reads quickly despite the slower pacing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, and Pedophilia

orireading's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Sexual content

Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Drug use

Minor: Abortion

anettainkeri's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Outing, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Abortion, Drug use, and Miscarriage