A review by horrorbutch
Woodworking by Emily St. James

challenging emotional funny sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC from netgalley in exchange for a review. 

A closeted trans woman teacher, isolated after her divorce, finds herself coming out to the only other trans person she knows, a student in her school, who came out to the entire town through a newspaper ad. While Erica, the teacher, slowly moves towards new relationships as her true self, Abigail, the teen, wants nothing more than to finish school, manage not to be dragged back into her abusive parents’ home and finally go to college and disappear into the woodwork (aka go stealth). Despite their differences and especially their age difference, Abigail and Erica form a connection through their shared identity. 

The story is told in multiple POVs and I especially adored Abigail’s POV, her sarcastic teen behavior was written incredibly well (sarcastic, angry and yet caring, often making me laugh out loud) and yet so clearly hiding the massive isolation she faces, rejected by her parents and forced to live with her sister, feeling guilty for causing her pain and also feeling devasted that nobody seems to understand her own struggles. It was really fascinating to read about her development, because she starts the story as someone desperate to grow up and leave everybody who knows her past behind, which is a major reason she is so lonely. Erica’s POV was also really intriguing, her fears and self-absorption often feeling so much more immature than Abigail’s, and yet I found her actions coherent. She is a baby trans after all, caught between excitement and terror. Seeing her develop (and fuck up along the way) was incredibly heartbreaking and yet, kinda beautiful as well. She is so desperate to show the world who she really is and yet, understandably, terrified of what will happen to her if she does. There is also a secret third POV, which I won’t spoil here, but suffice to say I cried my way through that one. 

The narrative is incredibly skilled at portraying the small and big joys and fears of being trans and I found myself moving from feeling so joyously happy for the characters to deeply terrified for them to wanting to shake them and tell them there’s another way and to stop being so stupid (“Erica, wait, you stupid bi-“ comes to mind for me, because I was screaming that along with Abigail). I was laughing, crying, sometimes screaming at the pages, but I enjoyed every minute of this book. You can’t help but feel for the characters, their good, bad and ugly sides, their fears and dreams and hopes are so vivid, after reading this book I felt like they were real people I had gotten to know in my actual life. 

What I most enjoyed was that so many different trans women’s voices were present here. There’s women who came out young, transitioned and went stealth, older trans women who are only just starting their journey, trans women, who are out, but wish they were stealth to escape discrimination and trans women, who are stealth, but suffer from the isolation as well. There is friendship and romance, open and hidden transphobia, but also support and love and care, allies fucking up, trans people fucking up, but also trans love and joy. 

I also really enjoyed the way the book made use of dead names, blurring it out behind grey boxes, comparing it to static and leaving it unsaid, except for one scene that broke my heart. It really underlined the horrible pain that caused. 

Finally, I enjoyed that this book took on an often overlooked (if not outright portrayed as inherently bad) aspect of queer experience, relationships (not sexual or romantic!) between people of different ages, in this case an adult teacher and a teenage student, which in real life for obvious reasons would (& should tbh) raise an eyebrow when viewed from the outside. And yet, for our two main characters, their connection is an important aspect of their lives and one that I found incredibly interestingly portrayed. It is not endorsed as good and right imo (and I struggle with some of the reviews claiming that as a reason they rate this book lower? It is spoiled in the book’s description?), but instead showcases to me how trans people are harmed by societal transphobia and isolation, forcing us to find connection with people who we wouldn’t find connection with otherwise and engage in relationships with pretty big power imbalances and the potential dangers that could come from that. 

All in all, this book reminded me that joy has to be fought for, that the pain and struggles are worth it and that there is connection and love out there regardless of how bleak it looks. 

TW: accusation of grooming and csa, deadnaming, domestic abuse, eating disorder, misgendering, q-word (reclaimed), transmisogyny, transphobia, t-slur (reclaimed), suicide (mentioned), swearing (a lot of it)