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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-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
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-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: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment
Jeg skulle læse den til studiet, og i den forbindelse er der blevet skimmet meget, hvilket også reflekteres i stjernerne.
emotional
informative
medium-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
really well written. it was very interesting to read about detransitioning and how a lot of the trans girls in Reese and Amy's community sort of looked at detransitioners with disgust, how the people who detransitioned didn't do so because their identity changed but because truthfully existing as transgender is difficult. it's constant conflict and standing up for yourself, and some people couldn't take it, and decided that living as the wrong gender (unable to look yourself in the mirror, having to act the way you're 'supposed to' vs how you want to) was more doable than living as being transgender. It's a tough question to ask yourself. The mirror between the frequent funerals they go to and the way the people who couldn't take transness and thus detransitioned were shunned as if they were dead too? I don't know. it gave me a lot to think about
I really felt for Reese. I also really understood Ames but I think he was definitely the 'worst' out of the trio. Katrina was well-meaning but annoying.
I really felt for Reese. I also really understood Ames but I think he was definitely the 'worst' out of the trio. Katrina was well-meaning but annoying.
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-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
I really appreciated this book’s ability to tell three very different stories about gender and womanhood. Moments like a gathering where the protagonist is shocked by how her straight cis peers passively accept misogyny or another protagonist’s reflections on a distant and nostalgic masculine childhood showcase the author’s perceptiveness, but I felt that the novel struggled with pacing in moments.
emotional
informative
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
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i loved how challenging and emotionally raw this book felt. it wasn't trying to hide or romanticize the trans experience but delve into it. it makes you think and as a queer person it provided new views.
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
slow-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
This is a difficult book for me to review.
Let me start with the positives:
- Torrey Peters is definitely a very skilled writer. The story flowed well and even though it had the potential to be confusing, in the end it was easy and natural to follow.
- It's a page-turner and for sure didn't get boring, if only for all the drama.
- Peters did a great job at making it clear to the reader why a person would choose to detransition even despite suffering dysphoria and having fought for the ability to transition. I personally had been having a difficult time grasping this, but Amy/Ames' reasons made complete sense to me despite making me sad as well.
For the rest - I wouldn't even say it was all that negative but I have to admit that I had a hard time to find anything redeeming about any of the main characters (and most of the supporting ones either). I am not sure if they were that unlikeable on purpose and I just missed the point here but yeah, if it wasn't for the above-mentioned positives I would've probably put down the book down at some point.
About this next aspect, I am kind of anxious to write this because it seems that a lot of people who mentioned misogyny in this novel got called TERFs simply for that. First off: I DO NOT think the book itself is misogynistic as such, not at all.
However, one has to admit that both Amy/Ames and Reese did carry inside them a fair bit of internalized misogyny. Yes, for Amy it seems like she developed this out of a sheer sense of survival, to fit in with "the boys" in her teenagehood and college time; but of course that doesn't make it better.
Again - I am not saying that they are misogynistic because "they are men in dresses and hate women HURR HURR" or the like, and I do rationally comprehend their reasons for having become that way. It just doesn't absolve them of criticism, is all I am saying. Hopefully I am expressing myself well and it comes across that I am not being TERFy here.
/slinks away nervously
tl;dr: not a bad book but didn't live up to the hype for me and for some reason we did not really jive. However, major props to Peters for writing such unlikeable characters and still managing to make me feel empathy with them and keep me engaged.
Let me start with the positives:
- Torrey Peters is definitely a very skilled writer. The story flowed well and even though it had the potential to be confusing, in the end it was easy and natural to follow.
- It's a page-turner and for sure didn't get boring, if only for all the drama.
- Peters did a great job at making it clear to the reader why a person would choose to detransition even despite suffering dysphoria and having fought for the ability to transition. I personally had been having a difficult time grasping this, but Amy/Ames' reasons made complete sense to me despite making me sad as well.
For the rest - I wouldn't even say it was all that negative but I have to admit that I had a hard time to find anything redeeming about any of the main characters (and most of the supporting ones either). I am not sure if they were that unlikeable on purpose and I just missed the point here but yeah, if it wasn't for the above-mentioned positives I would've probably put down the book down at some point.
About this next aspect, I am kind of anxious to write this because it seems that a lot of people who mentioned misogyny in this novel got called TERFs simply for that. First off: I DO NOT think the book itself is misogynistic as such, not at all.
However, one has to admit that both Amy/Ames and Reese did carry inside them a fair bit of internalized misogyny. Yes, for Amy it seems like she developed this out of a sheer sense of survival, to fit in with "the boys" in her teenagehood and college time; but of course that doesn't make it better.
Again - I am not saying that they are misogynistic because "they are men in dresses and hate women HURR HURR" or the like, and I do rationally comprehend their reasons for having become that way. It just doesn't absolve them of criticism, is all I am saying. Hopefully I am expressing myself well and it comes across that I am not being TERFy here.
/slinks away nervously
tl;dr: not a bad book but didn't live up to the hype for me and for some reason we did not really jive. However, major props to Peters for writing such unlikeable characters and still managing to make me feel empathy with them and keep me engaged.