Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

201 reviews

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad tense slow-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

2.5

While interesting, I really struggled to get into this book. In part, I think it was the way it was written — the back and forth between characters and time periods made the book feel choppy and disconnected. The entire time I was reading, I never fell into the story. It just felt like I was reading — not experiencing it. The insights about being trans were the highlight for me. I felt deep sorrow for the characters who wanted so deeply to be themselves in ways society or biology would not allow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Medical content, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Transphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Homophobia, Abandonment, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Toxic relationship, Biphobia, Pregnancy, Death, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Outing, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Abortion, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Sexism

leahslitlibrary's review against another edition

Ames did not detransition because of violence, but because that violence lead him to believe he was only “dressing up” as a woman, and that felt very transphobic. This was really disappointing because I felt the book had so much going for it in the beginning.

Overall, I would give this book 2 stars, I enjoyed most of the book and it is very well written, but the ending was very ignorant and changed my opinion on this book as a whole.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Abortion, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Outing

lily_peach's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Violence

Moderate: Transphobia, Racism, Outing, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Body shaming

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Deadnaming, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Outing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

maarigirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

Minor: Suicide attempt, Racism, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, Outing, Infidelity, and Hate crime

cmcrockford's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Pregnancy, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Outing, Homophobia, Suicide, Miscarriage, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Death, Car accident, and Racial slurs

buer's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

"Detransition, Baby" is a reflection on relationships, parenthood, and gender told through the unique lens of a trans woman (Reese), a CIS woman (Katrina), a person who detransitioned after living as a transwoman for several years (Ames). This trio, at the encouragement of Ames, is trying to figure out if they could be a set of parents for the unexpected pregnancy of Ames and Katrina.

Author Torrey Peters invites her readers along on a journey in which we grapple with the many intersectional identities of the characters in Detransition, Baby. Each member of the trio at some point finds themselves surprised that their experiences as a marginalized person isn't taken completely at at face value. Arguments are had in which race butts up against gender which butts up against queerness which butts up against class and so on. 

Peters does not shy away from petty personal arguments, sloppy relationships, or timely socio-political arguments. She seems to feel no pressure to make us like any of the characters. All of them have redeeming qualities, but so to do all of them do or say atrocious things. At times this makes the book a little uncomfortable to read and sometimes those timely arguments feel a little heavy-handed.

Without jumping into the realm of spoilers, let's just say that secrets of all kinds are revealed - often in traumatic environments. As I mentioned, none of these characters are perfect, and that results in moments of true meanness that can range in severity from mildly cringey to incredibly triggering. 

I listened to this book instead of reading it, which I found really nice for this story, although based on my previous experience this means that I feel pretty ill-equipped to comment on the Peters' writing outside of the realm of crafting a compelling story and writing smooth dialogue. 

Overall I recommend this book for anyone who is looking for a nuanced tale of parenthood, relationships, and queerness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing

Moderate: Sexual content

sofipitch's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.5

The book was really good, I adored the writing style. Any writing style that sounds like a person talking to me is deeply addictive, even more if the narrator is funny. The characters also felt like real people, and the decisions they made were not always the best, but that is what I enjoyed. I think they only thing I didn't quite believe is their relationship to each other, especially Katrina. I didn't see what Ames or Reese saw in her beyond her obvious role in the story. I liked a lot of the flashbacks and other musings more than I did the plot the book was named after (but this is also likely personal bc pregnancy is a bit squicky to me). I feel like I could read a book of Reese ordering take out and doing her laundry though 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Outing, Dysphoria, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

Minor: Suicide

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

This was absolutely fantastic, a real tour-de-force and unapologetically full of trans joy and heartache. The characters felt so raw and real in a way that I haven't found in a book for a long time. I liked how messy and complex they were and how unconventional their decision to co-parent was. I know I'll be thinking about this one for a long time to come. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

Moderate: Mental illness, Outing, Suicide, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Violence

avantlafinn's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

• 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: Grief, Miscarriage, Transphobia, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Outing