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A review by anneklein
I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World by Kai Cheng Thom
4.0
This was a lovely read, I read it on my way back from Leeds, on the train, and it was such a gorgeous breath of fresh air. I'd been meaning to read something by Kai Cheng Thom ever since I saw one of her books at Housmans, and this felt like a good pick and it truly was. I didn't give it a fifth star because the poems didn't really click for me and I thought they were much weaker than the essays, but if it had just been a book of essays this would fully be one of my new favourite books so far this year. The author's skill at condensing a lot of deep observations about topics such as the internal dynamics in progressive and leftist politics, societal perceptions of suicide, or trans joy and migrant heritage was so impressive, and the thing that truly makes this book so exceptional is that it's so full of heart throughout.
It's wild how much Kai Cheng Thom's love and hope and faith in the future come across in her words. This is a book that does discuss heavy topics and does not shy away from difficult conversations, but from beginning to end you sense that Thom truly speaks with the hope that we can turn to love, that it is never too late to want to make things better. And I find this sincerity so radical, in anyone but especially from a trans woman, part of one of the most marginalised groups in our current neoliberal capitalist society. So I did really appreciate this book, and I feel like I will revisit its essays often (I annotated it lots!) because it has become part of what I call my personal compass, the ideas and the texts that show me the kind of person I want to be and the kind of world I want to create.
It's wild how much Kai Cheng Thom's love and hope and faith in the future come across in her words. This is a book that does discuss heavy topics and does not shy away from difficult conversations, but from beginning to end you sense that Thom truly speaks with the hope that we can turn to love, that it is never too late to want to make things better. And I find this sincerity so radical, in anyone but especially from a trans woman, part of one of the most marginalised groups in our current neoliberal capitalist society. So I did really appreciate this book, and I feel like I will revisit its essays often (I annotated it lots!) because it has become part of what I call my personal compass, the ideas and the texts that show me the kind of person I want to be and the kind of world I want to create.