A review by lixard
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

challenging funny slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i may finally understand those who rate a book highly even with conflicting feelings of it. there are parts of this book i think about basically every day which just speaks to how well peters is able to bring to light things that all women experience but never truly realize. the biggest one is the conversation, through reese's (and iris's) toxic and abusive relationships as a way of affirming their gender? i thought about that one for hours and had a long discussion with my roommate about it... and i don't think i'll ever stop thinking about it.
another is the conversation between reese & katrina about how race and gender and class intersect with motherhood, that women are not all given the same assumption of/decision for motherhood.
oh! and i loved the elephant metaphor, the wim hof method, the sex and the city problem, etc. just so much thought put into how each of the characters see the world. good on ya.

i have nothing else to add except that i wished we knew what happened to their little trio family :(

without further ado some quotes that i had to steal off goodreads because my hold expired before i wrote them down: 
 “She’s suggested, in the way that naive cis people do, with a hint of self-congratulation at their own broad-mindedness, that it seems like trans people are starting to be everywhere, that maybe gender doesn’t matter that much. In his reply, he can’t help but let loose an old defensiveness on this topic. “I think it’s the opposite,” he says too sharply. “The whole reason transsexuals transition is because gender matters so incredibly much.” 

 “Yes and no. Some days I still love you and some days I don’t.”
Reese waited, sensing there was more. So he let her have as much of the truth as he could bear. “But the days I don’t love you…I have to work hard to make those days happen. The days I do require nothing of me.” 
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