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A review by neverlandpages4
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
I had been saving this one for pride month but then decided to read it for the #transrightsreadathon and unfortunately, I really didn’t like it.
I get why most people like this book. It’s edgy, it’s quotable, and it discusses important topics. But other than that, it’s a whole mess.
All the characters were unlikable, especially Reese. A lot of her beliefs about what it is to be a woman and a lot of the things that she makes excuses for, like domestic abuse, were just horrible to read about. I know it’s from a place of trauma and hurt but I really didn’t like her or her notions about womanhood and how fragile and submissive women should be.
At one point in the book, Katrina asks Reese “are we playing oppression Olympics?” And that’s exactly what they continued to do till the end of the book. Instead of validating each other’s struggles, they were constantly trying to take the upper hand of “I have it worse than you.” It was honestly disheartening and annoying at the same time. They both struggled so much, Katrina with her background and her being mixed race and Reese as a trans woman who clearly didn’t get the support she needed. But them constantly going back and forth on who has it worst and who wants to be a mother more made it such a distasteful book to read.
I was fully expecting this to be a 5 star read because of how many good things I’ve heard about it, but it was just all over the place. The characters are extremely unlikable, it constantly goes on tangents about unimportant things like the projects they do at work, nothing is happening the majority of the time, and to quote the book itself “The book was deadly boring.” I also hated how it’s left open-ended.
I liked a few things like the writing and how the book discusses tough topics like destransitioning, divorce, and miscarriages. And the cover is beautiful. But that’s pretty much it.
It hurt me to rate this book this low. But I can’t lie to myself or others just because it’s a highly rated book.
I get why most people like this book. It’s edgy, it’s quotable, and it discusses important topics. But other than that, it’s a whole mess.
All the characters were unlikable, especially Reese. A lot of her beliefs about what it is to be a woman and a lot of the things that she makes excuses for, like domestic abuse, were just horrible to read about. I know it’s from a place of trauma and hurt but I really didn’t like her or her notions about womanhood and how fragile and submissive women should be.
At one point in the book, Katrina asks Reese “are we playing oppression Olympics?” And that’s exactly what they continued to do till the end of the book. Instead of validating each other’s struggles, they were constantly trying to take the upper hand of “I have it worse than you.” It was honestly disheartening and annoying at the same time. They both struggled so much, Katrina with her background and her being mixed race and Reese as a trans woman who clearly didn’t get the support she needed. But them constantly going back and forth on who has it worst and who wants to be a mother more made it such a distasteful book to read.
I was fully expecting this to be a 5 star read because of how many good things I’ve heard about it, but it was just all over the place. The characters are extremely unlikable, it constantly goes on tangents about unimportant things like the projects they do at work, nothing is happening the majority of the time, and to quote the book itself “The book was deadly boring.” I also hated how it’s left open-ended.
I liked a few things like the writing and how the book discusses tough topics like destransitioning, divorce, and miscarriages. And the cover is beautiful. But that’s pretty much it.
It hurt me to rate this book this low. But I can’t lie to myself or others just because it’s a highly rated book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Transphobia, and Homophobia