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A review by bashsbooks
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
4.25
I applaud Kobabe for being willing to share eir gender journey and identity with a country and a world that is currently saying they don't want to hear it. I see why this book has been banned so much, and it makes me incredibly sad, because e's experience is so relatable in many ways - from the discomfort of being labeled as a girl and separated from the boys, to the obsession with queer fic that makes you worry you're fetishizing people until you realize you're one of them, to the fear of the pap smear, and definitely to the reactions of the cis women who love you and fear you're suffering from internalized misogyny.
That said, Gender Queer does feel rushed and incomplete in places. Some of the transitions are blunt and awkward, and some of the story feels glossed over or pressed for time (specifically, when e goes into the biological explanations for eir gender - that is a lot of info, and fast). I wish it had been longer, more thorough, maybe multiple volumes, though I understand that Kobabe may not want to share that much.
That said, Gender Queer does feel rushed and incomplete in places. Some of the transitions are blunt and awkward, and some of the story feels glossed over or pressed for time (specifically, when e goes into the biological explanations for eir gender - that is a lot of info, and fast). I wish it had been longer, more thorough, maybe multiple volumes, though I understand that Kobabe may not want to share that much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Dysphoria, Excrement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Vomit
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, and Transphobia
-Misgendering (mostly accidental)
-Most of the blood is menstrual blood
-Note that because this is a graphic novel, everything listed here is visually depicted.