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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
slow-paced
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an enjoyable, if frustrating, read. Just like the cover promised, it really did make me both laugh and cry, in public, on the bus. I didn't think it would be for me (and I know I'm not the target audience) but I really genuinely enjoyed it, and my problems feel like nitpicking, but what are book reviews for, if not to nitpick?
This is a character-driven book about how motherhood and pregnancy interact with transfemininity. The characters are compelling and frustrating in the ways they almost see the totality of their flaws and yet refuse to change - but that's part of what makes them compelling. In other words, they act like real people and are annoying in the way real people are - they're well-written. The timeline skips around from chapter to chapter, but it's not difficult to follow. The author wrote her characters to have personality and not to be Positive Trans Representation or aspirational, which is a breath of fresh air. Characters who are allowed the space to be messy or think nasty thoughts just feel more real.
It has an easily fixable problem - a transmasculinity-shaped blindspot. Trans men exist in the story, but for a book about "transness and pregnancy", no one seeks their perspective on the central issue. There IS a conversation with a trans man, but it's set in the past and it's about Reese's behaviour. Ames could have spoken to him again during the detransition/pregnancy/triad situation; even if it didn't change the outcome, it would have added to the story.
But other than that, it was a fun read! I'm glad my book club picked this, because I would never have read it of my own accord.
This is a character-driven book about how motherhood and pregnancy interact with transfemininity. The characters are compelling and frustrating in the ways they almost see the totality of their flaws and yet refuse to change - but that's part of what makes them compelling. In other words, they act like real people and are annoying in the way real people are - they're well-written. The timeline skips around from chapter to chapter, but it's not difficult to follow. The author wrote her characters to have personality and not to be Positive Trans Representation or aspirational, which is a breath of fresh air. Characters who are allowed the space to be messy or think nasty thoughts just feel more real.
It has an easily fixable problem - a transmasculinity-shaped blindspot. Trans men exist in the story, but for a book about "transness and pregnancy", no one seeks their perspective on the central issue. There IS a conversation with a trans man, but it's set in the past and it's about Reese's behaviour. Ames could have spoken to him again during the detransition/pregnancy/triad situation; even if it didn't change the outcome, it would have added to the story.
But other than that, it was a fun read! I'm glad my book club picked this, because I would never have read it of my own accord.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Pregnancy
Moderate: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Grief, Abortion, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Classism
challenging
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
2.5 stars
I feel it’s a case of “it’s not you, it’s me” with this book.
When I read a book I usually need either an entertaining plot or good characters and I just found this novel a bit boring and I wasn’t really interested in the characters.
I feel it’s a case of “it’s not you, it’s me” with this book.
When I read a book I usually need either an entertaining plot or good characters and I just found this novel a bit boring and I wasn’t really interested in the characters.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
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:
Complicated
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a story of queer kinship among some deeply flawed but sympathetic characters. When Ames (a detransitioned trans woman now living as a man) impregnates his girlfriend/boss Katrina, a cishetero mixed-race white and Asian woman, he wonders whether they could raise their baby alongside his ex-girlfriend Reese, who was a trans mother to him and wants nothing more than parenthood. The utopic vision of a progressive queer family is strained by multiple forces; Reese is a hot mess who fucks married men and spends a lot of time wallowing in her actual (and perceived) victimhood and resentments; Ames is deeply insecure and dissociative, still grappling with the incidence of violence and betrayal that arguably led to his detransition; and Katrina is trying her best to open herself up to queerness while still working through internalized biases, stereotypes, and her often unacknowledged class/cishetero/white-passing privilege.
As a queer and trans woman, Peters understands the contours of queer communities and identity politics, and some of my favorite scenes were the ones in which she critiques Oppression Olympics and community in-fighting. I really appreciated that although she is a white writer, and her two trans protagonists are also white, she uses the character of Katrina to complicate Reese’s understanding of her own victimhood, pointing to how her experience is always shaped by whiteness and is not applicable to all (trans) women everywhere. Some people have critiqued the writing for being too superfluous or too much, but I think the author is just capturing the subjectivity and internal monologue of her characters—and it’s perhaps important to remember that trans women are often deemed to be “too much.” Overall I really enjoyed this book although it was very sad at parts (trans anatagonism and misogyny has got to go), and I’m glad that it is gaining attention from readers and some award committees.
4.5 stars
Content warnings: suicide; abuse; transphobia; HIV/AIDS phobia; miscarriages and abortion; violence against trans women
As a queer and trans woman, Peters understands the contours of queer communities and identity politics, and some of my favorite scenes were the ones in which she critiques Oppression Olympics and community in-fighting. I really appreciated that although she is a white writer, and her two trans protagonists are also white, she uses the character of Katrina to complicate Reese’s understanding of her own victimhood, pointing to how her experience is always shaped by whiteness and is not applicable to all (trans) women everywhere. Some people have critiqued the writing for being too superfluous or too much, but I think the author is just capturing the subjectivity and internal monologue of her characters—and it’s perhaps important to remember that trans women are often deemed to be “too much.” Overall I really enjoyed this book although it was very sad at parts (trans anatagonism and misogyny has got to go), and I’m glad that it is gaining attention from readers and some award committees.
4.5 stars
Content warnings: suicide; abuse; transphobia; HIV/AIDS phobia; miscarriages and abortion; violence against trans women