A review by thearchivist03
Your Body is not Your Body: An Anthology by Matt Blairstone, Alex Woodroe

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This book by trans authors is an excellent blend of the experience and body horror to describe the trans experience. If you want to know more about dysphoria and how trans people live their lives, this gives a fictional but really well written emotional accounts of this cast of characters. The poetry in here is beautiful, especially 'Gender Envy' by Gabriel Valentine. I think the artwork can be a bit distracting at times however because I'd personally rather just read the stories without visual input. I label this as challenging though because of the topics. It will take some time to read because it's grotesque or the thoughts and violence are overwhelming, so take your time when reading this one. Still, it's worth it, and I left feeling empowered and understood as a trans person.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, and Abandonment

All of these works are not straightforward and are creative, which may take away from the interpretation of the story if you're not trans. Still, I invite you as a trans person to read this for the writing itself is beautiful and interesting to dissect and take apart. This isn't light reading, but it does leave you different after reading.