Reviews

A Natural History of Transition by Callum Angus

ryttu3k's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

bloomingtrans's review

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challenging dark mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

cigarete_smoke's review

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mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

svandeneeden's review

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mysterious medium-paced

3.0

anneliners's review

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes

5.0

jocelynhallman's review

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challenging emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

gethenians's review

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5.0

hard to put into words how these stories made me feel, particularly as a transmasc person who has had considerable difficulty articulating my own relationship with such an important part of myself. i don't want to say that these stories made me feel "seen"--that simultaneously feels too simple, too trite, and also overly complicated. the connection i made with them felt almost instinctual; i don't know a better way to put it than that.

in particular, i wish i were eloquent enough to express how much i loved the connective tissue between time and transness in these stories--how both the passage of time and one's own transition are not linear journeys from point a to point b, but constantly evolving conversations and reflections. "rock jenny" is the most direct exploration of this, i think, but it threads throughout the anthology, particularly in the stories that with a focus on mother/son relationships ("in kind," the first story and undoubtedly my favorite, left me aching).

i would say more and say it better if it wasn't 3 in the morning, probably, but i'm still just sitting with these stories and feeling very happy that they exist. i have been trying to borrow more from libraries and this book was no exception, but i have a feeling that i will be purchasing my own copy sooner rather than later. if you want to support an absolutely exceptional trans writer, i suggest you consider doing the same.

ghoulcrow's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

bjlinard's review

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challenging mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

pink_distro's review

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4.0

geeezzz i loved this!! as the title implies, these tales bring together nature and transness, and it does so in such an honest way. it's not love letters using nature metaphors to wax poetic about trans mutuality and growth and etc (though those are nice too), its fables that totally embrace all parts of nature and transness!! the friendship, the loss, the weird, the magic, the joy, the fear, the anticipation, the humor, and above all the unknown. my favs were "rock jenny" and "archipelagos," but i found a lot in a lot of 'em.

i hope this book explodes into a whole mini genre of nature-trans-fiction. it also has me wanting to read more collections of short stories!! yall got any recs?