Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Sistersong by Lucy Holland

95 reviews

samglade's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Violence

aylabell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.75

I absolutely loved this book. It’s a beautiful tale of family, identity, loss, and hope. Each character had their share of flaws alongside lovable attributes, making them feel real. I cried during the last few chapters of this book, both in sadness and relief. A must read for historical fictions fans. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Transphobia, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Pregnancy

lorraine19's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Despite the plot moving slow at first, the multiple layers of story keeps it interesting. There's the Christian church dominating a pagan community, war with Saxons looming, and the personal stories with each of the siblings. I found the parallels between these elements fascinating. 

If you know The Twa Sisters ballad, most of the plot likely won't be a surprise for you. If you are like me and went in blind, you'll probably find certain points predictable and others completely shocking. Character development is there - some for better and some for worst. The most moving - and arguably he main character of this multiple POV story - to me is the middle child Keyne. Their development and story of self discovery and empowerment is absolutely beautiful. 

As someone that is a fan of multiple POV books, I felt like it was almost unnecessary here. However, I do feel like it did result in some points being more effective. I'm left with conflicted feelings about the ending (specifically regarding Riva) but I think that's up to the individual reader. 

Overall, interesting read - especially if you are into paganism, European history, or magic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Sexual content, and Pregnancy

Minor: Slavery

theeo's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Sistersong is tragic and beautiful. I went into this book unfamiliar of the Twa Sisters ballad but this didn’t take away from the experience at all. 

Some of the characters’ motivations had me rolling my eyes a little, mostly Sinne and Riva, but their flaws were also interesting at times. Also really enjoyed the trans rep and the portrayal of magic!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Blood, Dysphoria, and War

thewillowwood's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

this was so sad man…like damn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Murder

gemstonejasper's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

Twa Sisters murder ballad retelling. Tragic with lots of character development. Themes of identity, magic, power, and being true to yourself. 

Trans masc rep. Gender fluid rep.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail

lanid's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Transphobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Confinement, Death, Sexism, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kristenreads's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Violence

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Injury/Injury detail

pondareplay's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia

honeypunk's review against another edition

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A book that had lots of potential but unfortunately fell flat.

The main characters Keyne

/ Constantine

Riva and Sinne unfortunately felt very shallow in the manner they were written. 

I found it painfully obvious how Keyne was written by someone who is not a trans man. The first few chapters from his perspective were repeating how he felt different on the inside, noone understands what it's like to be perceived as someone you're not, dresses make him uncomfortable etc. All valid trans experiences but executed in a very shallow manner because there was nothing else to him. Trans people have personalities and not every single waking moment is spent thinking about how being trans is different or hard. 

Similarly the portrayal of the disabled character Riva also felt shallow to me initially. Much like Keyne she kept repeating how hard it was to be a burn victim and for others to look at her differently. One guy appears and says he thinks she's strong for living with a disability, not weak, and suddenly

she's anamoured with him.

 

It annoyed me as a disabled trans person how heavily these characters relied on tropes / stereotypes of what it's like to be disabled or trans. They didn't feel human a lot of the time as they hugely lacked in depth. Therefore when events happened that were intended to be emotional I just felt..meh.

But on the other hand, the premise for this story was a wonderful idea. The setting, the magic, the culture.. all made me so happy. It is lovely to see traditional British culture celebrated through story. I just wish it had been executed better , so I would have cared more about the plot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Transphobia, and Violence