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A review by brogan7
Call Me Nathan by Catherine Castro
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.75
I started to read this in French, or maybe did read it a couple of years ago? I had difficulty with the graphic horror of some sections, the first time I read it, and because it's not #ownvoices, it felt sensationalistic and voyeuristic at some level.
It's a complicated story, about love and losses, self-love and change. (I didn't like that the only way the little brother could give support to his trans sibling was to get in a physical fight, as though his toughness and machismo were signs of brotherhood and not just toxic masculinity... What if the little brother had been really injured? But no he's so tough and brushes off Nathan's wound dressing and expression that there shouldn't be a repeat...reinforcing weird stereotypes).
I liked the complexity of the mother's point of view, it felt sensitively treated, not just straight up and easy for her and also not entrenched in transphobia...just a mother learning something about someone else's path.
It's a complicated story, about love and losses, self-love and change. (I didn't like that the only way the little brother could give support to his trans sibling was to get in a physical fight, as though his toughness and machismo were signs of brotherhood and not just toxic masculinity... What if the little brother had been really injured? But no he's so tough and brushes off Nathan's wound dressing and expression that there shouldn't be a repeat...reinforcing weird stereotypes).
I liked the complexity of the mother's point of view, it felt sensitively treated, not just straight up and easy for her and also not entrenched in transphobia...just a mother learning something about someone else's path.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, Self harm, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Deadnaming