Reviews

The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison by Hugh Ryan

macattack86's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

ersj96's review

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

carmenghia's review

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

aquaboi's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

hannahpings's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Medical trauma, Drug use, Police brutality, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Classism, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Confinement, Lesbophobia, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Pregnancy, Pandemic/Epidemic, Rape, War, Ableism, and Death

Minor: Terminal illness

shirarweiss's review

challenging informative medium-paced

5.0

I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars. It is truly one of the most incredible things I have ever read. I am grateful to bear witness to these stories and to have learned so much about queer and trans history. I have such a deeper understanding of how prisons, race, gender, and sexuality intertwine and it is more insidious and more horrific than I could have imagined. Everyone should read this book. It is truly a masterpiece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Outing, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

isabelladematteo's review

5.0

One of my favorite reads of all time. Hugh Ryan is such an inspiration, he has mastered the art of laying out important(mostly untold) histories in a way that is engaging, personal, and heartfelt. I’ve been putting off writing a review because I have endless things to say about this book, and it feels difficult to quantify it’s impact on me. Simply put, this book is chock-full of information I believe should be common knowledge. As a queer AFAB person myself, reading this felt empowering as I learned more about systemic misogyny/homophobia/transphobia/etcetcetc. Since reading I have been able to name a root cause to some micro-aggressions I (and other around me) face and it has helped me to gain control in those situations. I’m so grateful. Please please do yourself a favor and read this book. I know I’ll be rereading it at multiple different stages in my life and will inevitably come out with new things each time. Thank you, Hugh! Thank you thank you thank you!

morpmeep's review

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

An incredible read. Hugh Ryan manages to condense and connect the lived and stories of decades of queer women and trans men. It lays bare the gruesome realities of the carceral system; the roots of it's existence and the pains that it has caused. Ryan consistently tries throughout the book to amplify the voices of those who have historically been left out of the queer narrative and highlights the intricate web that connects poverty, race, and queerness. 

in one of the final chapters he discusses the development of families within the house of D - queer women and trans folk who turned to each other to keep the hope. in many ways. reading this book was like finding my own family. the ancestors i was never given the privilege to know. 

thebechdelbitch's review

emotional hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

I learnt something new in more or less every sentence of this book. My copy is scribbled in, full of tabs and notes and highlighted passages and a list of other sources I want to check out at some point. 

Wow.

An emotional, deeply informative and refreshingly radical read. It balanced the overarching story with so many deeply specific and personal tales. I loved getting to know the queer people in this book. 

Meticulously researched, and a near-perfect execution. A must read.

nurseami's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0