ellenigrace's review against another edition
4.5
I much preferred the narrative about Jack & Bess to the footnote narrative about Dr Voth, but the latter didn't spoil the book for me and in some places did add to it. I didn't like that wasn't expanded on - for the sake of how much it was touched on it could have been left out, for me.
Spoiler
the collective group of queer editors
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Dysphoria, Blood, Gore, Body horror, and Medical content
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Transphobia
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death, Dysphoria, Classism, Alcohol, Gore, Racism, Colonisation, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Police brutality, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Excrement, and Violence
readingtrees's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i'm a pretty sensitive bean, but was still able to read this book. highly highly recommended for anyone looking for a (broad arc of book)
Spoiler
narrative/historical fiction, from the perspective of trans masc individuals, engaging with/resisting legalized violence
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Alcohol, Colonisation, Confinement, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
Minor: Trafficking, Lesbophobia, and Slavery
morelsupport's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
3.0
I thought this would be a book about being a thief, but it was actually a book about transitioning (this is a highly simplified plot summary). I thought it was really interesting how it incorporated anti-capitalism and anti-racism and transness into the story, but I honestly didn't find it very engaging, and I wasn't tense at the points where I was supposed to be tense. The thing I enjoyed the most were the footnotes, and the way that the person who was reading these confessions was a character in the same way that the subjects of the confessions were characters. I also really liked the resources provided. However, I just honestly didn't find this that engaging, and it was very jarring when modern concepts of transness were inserted in this supposed firsthand source. I really wished that Jack's feats of thievery that got him famous were more prominent.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Dysphoria, Racism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Police brutality
carbs666's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Deeply researched and lovingly crafted, this book is like nothing I've ever read before. Confessions layered on top of confessions, the inherent queerness of the disobedient archive, funny and insightful and personal footnotes, unreliable and fantastical and multiplicitous narration, a utopia outside of time, an escape. It's good. You have to read it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, Dysphoria, Alcohol, Confinement, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Racism, and Transphobia
octopus_farmer's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
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
4.5
I liked the conceit - in many ways this is what i wanted The Starless Sea to be. I was almost annoyed by the researcher at times but came around on him. I also loveddd how the footnotes and related readings are all real texts! However, there’s a fair amount of piss that at times is kinky.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Racism and Transphobia
meremeth's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Dysphoria, and Blood
An extremely thoroughly and passionately researched retelling of Jack Shepard through a queer lens. This might not be a perfect book, but it is incredibly well done in certain aspects. I would recommend to anyone looking for good representation of queer love and trans masculine coming of age.homewithyou's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Medical content, Sexism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, and Drug use
Minor: Sexual content
caidyn's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
On a reread, I was able to appreciate this book more. It's a very good read and I loved both stories with how they intertwined.
ORIGINAL
ORIGINAL
CW: racism, sex work, graphic sex scenes, surgery, and gender dysphoria
All at once, this book was made for me but also not. It was a hard book for me to read and rate. I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it, so welcome to me rambling about the book.
While reading this, I was under a lot of stress. (Still am stressed but a lot less than I was.) When I’m stressed, I don’t always pay attention to books I’m reading. I just, well, can’t focus. And this book takes a lot of focus to read. I couldn’t dedicate my mind to it as much as it deserved. So, this is kind of on me.
So, what is this book about?
It’s told in two ways. One through the actual story of Jack Sheppard and Bess, a thief and a sex worker in 18th century England. The other through Dr. Voth, a college professor. Dr. Voth finds a manuscript in the library and takes it home, reading it and finding that it’s another work about Jack Sheppard, an infamous thief. But, this document isn’t like the others. Like Dr. Voth, Jack Sheppard is a transman. And his accomplice (usually a man) is an Indian or South East Asian sex worker.
Obviously, it’s super diverse right off the bat. Even better, it’s ownvoices. Rosenberg is a transman writing a story with two transmale MCs. I mean, that’s amazing. I’ve talked about it before, but transmen get forgotten. We’re the invisible ones in the world. It’s not always bad, but it’s hard when you’re trying to find a role model.
Dr. Voth tells his story — both his life story as a transman and his journey annotating this work — through footnotes. Now, I don’t like footnotes in fiction stories. I can barely tolerate them in nonfiction. Footnotes annoy me because they pull me out of the story in the middle of a sentence or paragraph. I can handle footnotes that are one word or a quick sentence, but the ones in this book can be pages long. I think I counted three pages one time. And I hated that. So, not only was I stressed, but I was reading a story told in a way that pulls me out of the story.
It was also hard to read because Jack Sheppard’s story is written in 18th century English. Not easy to read at all, although it was easier to keep track of when there were no footnotes.
This is also a very literary story. Dear Rosenberg is a professor of 18th-century literature and queer/trans theory. That’s what this book is largely about, too. I found it overwhelming because I don’t have any expertise. I actually recommended this book to my friend who studied queer/gender theory because I thought she might get more out of the story than I did. As a layman, it was overwhelming, though. A lot of it went over my head, admittedly.
I also wasn’t crazy about the ending, although how much I liked the message.
And that’s what it comes down to. I love the message but not the carry-out. I want to own the book to reread it at my leisure later, but the message is amazing.
I actually texted myself something I thought of while I was reading the ending. And the ending got me a bit emotional, at least from Dr. Voth’s perspective. Jack’s, I wasn’t crazy about, but I liked what Dr. Voth got out of the story because it was what I thought of.
But, here’s what I texted myself:
We are here. We have always been here. It is you who have denied our existence and our humanity. But we have always been here. We have always been normal.
Throughout history, queer and non-white stories have been suppressed and denied. As a transman, it’s like I’m some “new” and “radical” thing when, really, people AFAB (Assigned Female At Birth) but don’t fit the “normal” gender roles have always been there. I wouldn’t exactly call them transmen, but people who feel more comfortable in male roles have always been around. Same with non-white people.
And that’s what this book is about at its heart. We have always been here. It’s just that the masses have tried ignoring us.
In short, this book was one I thought I would love and give five stars to. But, due to life circumstances, the way the story was told, and the direction the story took, I didn’t love it. However, I think that if you want to read a very affirming ownvoices story about transmen throughout history, I highly suggest it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, Sexual content, Vomit, Blood, Gore, and Dysphoria
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