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misha_ali's review against another edition
- 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
The characters are the real strength of this book. They are truly brimming with empathy, deeply attached to each other as they have gone through "the program" and seek a depth of connection they have never found outside the relative safety of this one place that knows their secrets and transforms them completely.
Stefan idolizes his across-the-street neighbour, Mark. When Mark disappears, Stefan is sad and lost, desperately seeking answers, until he meets a young woman in the market who looks almost exactly like Mark and learns her name. In between discarding various explanations, he arrives at the least likely one that he secretly hopes for: that Mark was part of a secret program that helps trans women transition and gain new identities in the world. Through unfortunate circumstances, Stefan finds himself trapped in a basement under Dorley Hall and assigned a "sponsor" who thinks he did wicked deeds and thrust into a group of other young men who have been deeply toxic and hurtful to others for mysterious reasons.
Christine is a deeply insecure but empathetic young trans woman who was the cause of Stefan being trapped in "the program" and when she discovers that Stefan is a trans woman and would love to embrace the (free, top-class) transition forced upon the young men trapped in the basement, she's faced with some tricky decisions.
The most interesting part of this whole book is how Stef remains deeply uncomfortable and traumatized by the outside world, which rewards toxic masculinity, and also inside Dorley Hall, which punishes toxic masculinity and seeks to strip these young men of masculinity altogether. The proof that the program works? Christine and so many other beautiful, empathetic, and well-adjusted young women in Dorley Hall and outside of it, including Melissa (formerly Mark) are leading happy lives and adjusting well in society and have formed bonds that will last them all their lives with their sisters (and sometimes girlfriends). However, will the process designed to break down a person altogether to build them back up again in a different mould be more harmful than helpful to an actual trans girl caught accidentally in its web?
The relationships between all the characters are so deeply moving and sweet, that it genuinely makes me tear up. These women are the best people they can be and happier as their new selves, but they must constantly question if the program is really the only way to rehabilitate these men before they manage to irreparably harm someone.
Each of the many main characters has their own insecurities about their transition, their femininity, their performance of cisgender femininity for the outside world, and abandoning all their friends and family from their past life while embracing their new sisters through the trauma of forced transition. The book never shies away from debating whether the approach can work and whether it should have been used at all and showing us the results. This is a skillfully done back-and-forth with very human and sympathetic characters in the centre.
This is an absolutely incredible book and I can't wait to read the subsequent installments in this story.
Moderate: Self harm
Minor: Homophobia and Transphobia
fraxisle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, Kidnapping, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Torture, Blood, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Car accident, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
corereads's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Transphobia, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Classism
tamsinsays's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
tbrnichols's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Body horror and Medical trauma
Minor: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Rape, Torture, Transphobia, and Sexual harassment
zabouncer's review
- 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
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Outing and Gaslighting
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Violence, and Sexual harassment