A review by valette
The Apprenticeship of Big Toe P by Michael Emmerich, Rieko Matsuura

2.0

I grabbed this book at the library book sale, intrigued by the premise of waking up with a penis for a big toe. As one character puts it, "If you change your body, your state of mind changes." This theme is repeated through many characters: the main character with her new toe penis, a M-to-F transgender, a man with an extra penis, and a blind man. The story challenges traditional sexual and gender roles and preconceptions. But instead of demonstrating this through the story, the majority of the book takes place inside the main character's analytical brain as she compares her feelings about a situation (homosexual sex, for example) to how she might have felt without her toe penis, how a man might feel, and how she should feel. Her over-thinking every interaction was tiring.

The main character doesn't make any decisions on her own and merely goes with what others have decided for her, a trait that made me angry with her and the supporting characters, and a big reason I disliked the book so much. Her toe penis and her hospitality is repeatedly taken advantage of, yet she finds a way to analyze why she is or should be okay with the situations.