A review by paperbookmarks
Secret Passages in a Hillside Town by Lola Rogers, Pasi Ilmari Jääskeläinen

3.0

I'm incredibly unsure as to how to rate this book. The writing beautiful, and the concept of the secret passages is incredibly innovative and liberating. As magical realism, it's wonderful. However, the representations of non-binary/trans identities made me feel uncomfortable; it may be me misinterpreting Karri/Greta's character, but the story definitely seemed to conflate their gender identity with mental illness and the abuses they suffered at the hands of other people (even the main character) completely fetishised them. It was like like the manic pixie dream girl trope was taken even further. I understand that the book was exploring liminality/slippage/changing identities but I felt like it crossed the line and misrepresented and fetishised trans experience.