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A review by bookscoffeehayley
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
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
4.0
It’s hard to describe my thoughts on Torrey Peters’, Detransition, Baby. I did like this book. I did not like this book as an audiobook. Peters writes a chaotic, messy, heartfelt novel about identity, motherhood, fatherhood, womanhood, and what it means to be a parent. It’s messy, but it’s real. It works.
This is a heavily character-driven book. The flaws, trauma, and personalities of the three main characters, Ames, Reese, and Katrina, are at the forefront of this novel in an unapologetic manner.
The trans representation in this book is realistic. So often in books where there are trans characters, they are represented as ‘Disney-fied’ versions of humans. Reese, specifically, opens a window into the life of a trans woman whose life isn’t always a perfect ending story. Reese is a character whom I was rooting for, getting angry with, sympathizing with, throughout the entire novel. One of my favorite characters I’ve read about this year.
Something that made this audiobook feel clunky to me was the shifting of time periods in the middle of chapters. These chapters are quite long and throughout them, there would be shifts in time periods and shifts of point of view. There were also sections of long tangents that felt to distract from the main message or plot of the chapter. Maybe because I read this book via an audiobook it was often confusing? I think the plot may have been relayed more cohesively with broken-up chapters. I also think a reread of this book in a physical format would help my reading experience a ton!
I definitely recommend reading this book for members of the LGTBQ+ community and allies. It’s unlike any other book I’ve read with queer representation. I’m excited to read more from Torrey Peters in the future!
This is a heavily character-driven book. The flaws, trauma, and personalities of the three main characters, Ames, Reese, and Katrina, are at the forefront of this novel in an unapologetic manner.
The trans representation in this book is realistic. So often in books where there are trans characters, they are represented as ‘Disney-fied’ versions of humans. Reese, specifically, opens a window into the life of a trans woman whose life isn’t always a perfect ending story. Reese is a character whom I was rooting for, getting angry with, sympathizing with, throughout the entire novel. One of my favorite characters I’ve read about this year.
Something that made this audiobook feel clunky to me was the shifting of time periods in the middle of chapters. These chapters are quite long and throughout them, there would be shifts in time periods and shifts of point of view. There were also sections of long tangents that felt to distract from the main message or plot of the chapter. Maybe because I read this book via an audiobook it was often confusing? I think the plot may have been relayed more cohesively with broken-up chapters. I also think a reread of this book in a physical format would help my reading experience a ton!
I definitely recommend reading this book for members of the LGTBQ+ community and allies. It’s unlike any other book I’ve read with queer representation. I’m excited to read more from Torrey Peters in the future!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence