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A review by writtenontheflyleaves
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters 🎀
🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
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🤱 The plot: Reese is a trans woman who has always wanted a baby. Ames - formerly Amy - is her ex, who has detransitioned and now gotten his boss, Katrina, a cis woman, pregnant. Ames doesn’t want to be a father, but he thinks he could be a parent if Reese is involved. Can the three of them make co-parenthood work?
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This book is exactly as good as everyone says it is. It’s funny and insightful and sexy and moving. The characters all feel so real and have very distinctive ways of thinking; they speak to topics like gender, sexuality, identity and motherhood in their own voices, and this means the explorations of these topics are nuanced in a way that’s really rare. Peters illustrates well how conversations about identity can fold ironically back on each other after being lived in and repeated so many times, perhaps especially in communities that suffer from so much interrogation and attack. I particularly loved Katrina and Reese’s discussion of who is allowed to have/ want children, and it made me think about my own choices in new ways.
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This book explores really well the messiness of trying to explain or quantify yourself or your life - why you are who you are, why you want what you want - and the way that expansive concepts like parenthood can be made brittle by the rigid structures we grow up within. The characters don’t have ready made answers to these dilemmas; they try to construct them, messily, throughout the book. It was clever and funny and deserves all of the hype it’s getting, and no matter where you’re coming from I think it’ll prompt you to think in new ways about identity and the structure of a life!
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🍼 Read it if you are even a little bit curious, and if you like sharp explorations of gender and identity in your reading!
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🚫 Avoid it if you might find descriptions of transphobia and violence triggering.
🌟🌟🌟🌟✨
-
🤱 The plot: Reese is a trans woman who has always wanted a baby. Ames - formerly Amy - is her ex, who has detransitioned and now gotten his boss, Katrina, a cis woman, pregnant. Ames doesn’t want to be a father, but he thinks he could be a parent if Reese is involved. Can the three of them make co-parenthood work?
-
This book is exactly as good as everyone says it is. It’s funny and insightful and sexy and moving. The characters all feel so real and have very distinctive ways of thinking; they speak to topics like gender, sexuality, identity and motherhood in their own voices, and this means the explorations of these topics are nuanced in a way that’s really rare. Peters illustrates well how conversations about identity can fold ironically back on each other after being lived in and repeated so many times, perhaps especially in communities that suffer from so much interrogation and attack. I particularly loved Katrina and Reese’s discussion of who is allowed to have/ want children, and it made me think about my own choices in new ways.
-
This book explores really well the messiness of trying to explain or quantify yourself or your life - why you are who you are, why you want what you want - and the way that expansive concepts like parenthood can be made brittle by the rigid structures we grow up within. The characters don’t have ready made answers to these dilemmas; they try to construct them, messily, throughout the book. It was clever and funny and deserves all of the hype it’s getting, and no matter where you’re coming from I think it’ll prompt you to think in new ways about identity and the structure of a life!
-
🍼 Read it if you are even a little bit curious, and if you like sharp explorations of gender and identity in your reading!
-
🚫 Avoid it if you might find descriptions of transphobia and violence triggering.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Sexual content, and Transphobia
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Miscarriage