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caseythecanadianlesbrarian's review
Moderate: Murder
ginnyandtonic's review
4.0
Moderate: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Outing, Mental illness, Grief, Homophobia, Death, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Dysphoria, Miscarriage, Self harm, Biphobia, Medical content, Rape, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, and Transphobia
finesilkflower's review
2.0
One of the awkward things about this book is that "four people are queer and one was involved in a true crime story" don't really go together. That is not a category. You would never structure a fiction book that way. I understand that Hempel can't choose that her family members didn't either have all the same experience or a more pleasing variety of experiences, but she could have chosen to structure the story differently (e.g. splitting it into two books, one about crime and one about queerness; or just focusing on her parents, so it would be half-and-half and she could explore the relationship between the ideas more fully.) 20% is an awkward amount of time to spend in a different genre, and it isn't clear to me what Hempel wants to say about the relationship between surviving crime and growing up queer.
Another awkward thing is that it feels like Hempel's family haven't entirely bought into her telling their story. As self-centered as memoirs can be, it somehow feels more self-centered for Hempel to be attempting to tell the story of her family, presumptuous almost. I'm particularly uncomfortable with her telling of her brother Evan's experiences, because he seems like a private person and reading between the lines, it seems like they have already butted heads over how much Jessi is allowed to put in the book. Jessi also describes his experiences as a transgender person with a profound level of cis awkwardness.
A weird amount of time is devoted to Jessi's time in a MLM/cult. This seems to have nothing to do with anything.
Graphic: Outing
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Murder
spinesinaline's review
3.5
Graphic: Murder, Transphobia, Homophobia, Cancer, Self harm, and Death
Moderate: Deadnaming, Infidelity, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Infertility
Minor: Miscarriage and Gun violence
siobhanward's review
4.0
Overall, this was a fun read, I enjoyed how reflective Hempel was, although sometimes it felt like she wasn't focused on the right things.
Graphic: Self harm and Homophobia
Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, and Death
caitlinww's review
4.75
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Murder