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kieraisreading's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.5
Such an interesting exploration of family. I absolutely loved this one. Jessi Hempel is quite the storyteller, and her writing propelled the stories of her family, making them engaging, and funny and sad at times. I'm so glad that I decided to pick this one up.
amy_oak's review
4.0
Hempel captures her family’s complex relationships and how they evolve over time as first she, and then her father and siblings come out as gay, bisexual, or trans. Hempel struggles to find her place in the world, joins a cult along the way, as her relationships with her family members wax and wane. I enjoyed this book for her transparency regarding the process of coming to terms with her goals and desires. But sometimes the story was lacking in insight with respect to other family members. She summarily describes her mom’s life as « awesome » at one point, which felt like a gross oversimplification. She reaches for universal themes and falls short, but I still enjoyed her storytelling. Reading the book felt like getting to know an interesting housemate as they revealed family stories over time.
ginnyandtonic's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Right off the bat, loved that the author acknowledged the mistakes she made in talking to her trans brother when starting this project. That drew me in from the beginning — this is going to be an honest memoir. And I adored the honesty across the board in this story. Jessi didn’t necessarily try to make herself likable, was honest about her mistakes throughout her relationships, and that was compelling. All her family members and their specific “coming out” stories were also deeply compelling. What keeps this from being five stars for me is the pacing, some unclear timelines, and also how I feel like the last several chapters of the book just kind of sloped down. But overall, I recommend this book, especially in understanding the nuances of queer families.
Content Warnings
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
claire_melanie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
5.0
kait_unicorn's review
4.0
Wow wow wow. What a look at the intergenerational trauma caused by cishetero society and rape culture. Things I really appreciated: how Hempel totally respects her brother and is explicit about that respect in one chapter, the relatability of her experience as a child of being very confused about not having crushes on boys and not yet having language for queerness, and the way she holds people accountable for harm they caused while also understanding why they weren’t equipped to do better until later.
izziei's review
4.0
Always good to feel less alone in the universe and this book did that for me. Thank you!