Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
The premise of “Would *insert crytpid* pursue you if it knew you were trans?” was brilliant, stunning, hilarious! When told along side a compelling and heart wrenching trans horror, you have a recipe for “Books that Kate Eats Up”!!
This story features…
Erin and Max: freshly 18, both trans, exes, running away from home.
The impala: a chariot bearing them towards the promised land (LA)
The monster: small town transphobia and hostility
The “actual” monster: who fucking knows, but it’s big and scary!
The mission: escape Max’s shitty family, escape this shitty transphobes, escape the shitty hick town full of weirdos, go to Berkeley
I don’t even know where to start with this one. I was a little hesitant when we started as the writing was a little stilted, but by about 20% I was so hooked with where the story was going. The ending to this book came around far too quickly for my liking simply because I was having such a great time with it.
Erin and Max are such compelling characters and I really liked how real they felt. Max was so annoying which I think made him more authentic and there was a point where I messaged my book club to comment of the gender affirmity of him being a shitty communicator (yes men, that’s shade). I also really loved how this book dealt the characters trauma and how that trauma was clearly depicted on page. Yes a lot of the trauma processing happens off page at the end, but there were some specific scenes that really demonstrated what I consider to be really realistic responses to awful experiences.
I will absolutely keep an eye out for more work from this author and highly recommend this book to fans of horror/slasher type stories. Also it’s currently the trans rights readathon and this would make a great addition to the TBR!
This story features…
Erin and Max: freshly 18, both trans, exes, running away from home.
The impala: a chariot bearing them towards the promised land (LA)
The monster: small town transphobia and hostility
The “actual” monster: who fucking knows, but it’s big and scary!
The mission: escape Max’s shitty family, escape this shitty transphobes, escape the shitty hick town full of weirdos, go to Berkeley
I don’t even know where to start with this one. I was a little hesitant when we started as the writing was a little stilted, but by about 20% I was so hooked with where the story was going. The ending to this book came around far too quickly for my liking simply because I was having such a great time with it.
Erin and Max are such compelling characters and I really liked how real they felt. Max was so annoying which I think made him more authentic and there was a point where I messaged my book club to comment of the gender affirmity of him being a shitty communicator (yes men, that’s shade). I also really loved how this book dealt the characters trauma and how that trauma was clearly depicted on page. Yes a lot of the trauma processing happens off page at the end, but there were some specific scenes that really demonstrated what I consider to be really realistic responses to awful experiences.
I will absolutely keep an eye out for more work from this author and highly recommend this book to fans of horror/slasher type stories. Also it’s currently the trans rights readathon and this would make a great addition to the TBR!
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Lesbophobia, Outing, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-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
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Violence
dark
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:
No
I was thinking that the messaging was a little heavy handed and the writing was a little simple, but I reminded myself this book was not written with me in mind, it's a YA book.
For a debut, I think this was a good showing. I often think about how different my life would have been if I was able to read queer books when I was younger.
For a debut, I think this was a good showing. I often think about how different my life would have been if I was able to read queer books when I was younger.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-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
Really compelling and cool premise that I wish just had a little more umph to it. Really stoked that this was a debut as I think the author has really interesting premises if their second book is anything to go by. I love books that delve into the messy-ness that surrounds discussions around gender and sexuality's; set it in a horror novel that that's just CHEF KISS
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Suicide attempt