Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

I Hope We Choose Love: A Trans Girl's Notes from the End of the World by Kai Cheng Thom

10 reviews

magsnificentmils's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Transphobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, and Gaslighting

nikenacs's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

One of the quickest 5-star ratings I've given this year. This came at exactly the right time for me, and I'm so glad I picked it up from my local library on a whim. 

Kai Cheng Thom covers three overarching themes in this book: Queer leftist in-community conflict, especially in regards to punishment culture and public shaming, and transformative justice. Sexual violence, especially within queer leftist circles. And trans woman / trans feminine experiences, both her own and in larger culture. (Very broadly speaking, with overlap as well as some other topics covered). 

For me personally, the first two topics /got/ me, I think I read this at exactly the right time in my life. Although not always easy, the essays felt like a hug that said "I know. I've been where you've been. We can try to make it, together". As someone who cares deeply about queer leftist circles, but is frequently frustrated and dissatisfied with The State Of It All™, especially in regards to public shaming and black-and-white-thinking, Thom touches on so many of my questions and anxieties. I had not yet done much reading into transformative justice, and I sure as hell will now. I don't think it'll hold all the answers - this book didn't hold all the answers either - but it's going to give me fantastic food for thought. 

The third topic touched me less personally, but made me reflect on the trans women / femmes in my life, as well as those I never got to meet, may never get to meet. In some parts - politics, celebrities, pop culture - it really showed that this book was written in 2019, largely drawing on experiences of the 2010s. I would be so curious to see an update to this for the 2020s, regarding an even more supposedly trans-inclusive pop culture, and violent anti-trans laws on the rise in large parts of North America (and elsewhere). 

TLDR: This book gave me amazing food for thought and I will be buying, re-reading and recommending it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

chelsearednecksrising's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Transphobia, and Dysphoria

hawk_just_hawk's review against another edition

I don’t exist on the internet and I find that I don’t enjoy pieces that were born as internet think pieces. My queer and trans community looks very different from the one she describes, so I did not find that I related to what she was talking about. It’s well-written and interesting, though!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

moonyreadsbystarlight's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective

4.0

This collection of essays and poetry is about queer community, how we love and what we can do to love better and be the key to each other's thriving (not just survival). She lays bare the ways in which people fail to love each other fully, gives us a look into ways people do love and continue to love, and (most importantly) asks us to imagine a world where we do embrace love and to think about how we can get there. 

There were a couple of pieces that I wish she had expanded on more or made certain points more clear, but there were so many amazing essays in here! I'm definitely excited to check out her other works.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Transphobia

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, and Violence

solenodon's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I want everyone to read this book tbh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Stalking, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Dysphoria

bobsacoolword's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

Reading the reviews for this book makes me realize I don't think anyone really knows who the target audience is and a lot of reviewers who are represented in the marginalized communities mentioned in the books have criticized the content of the books. I don't know if I feel comfortable giving a numerical review because both this book and the reviews have reminded me how much harder I need to work at educating myself on these topics. I am giving this book 4 stars because I found it informative and insightful, but also because it resonated with some of my own experiences. Ordinarily, I'd give any book that gave me as much as it did 5 stars, but I want to acknowledge that other reviewers have mentioned that some of the arguments made missed the mark for them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

This book covers a lot of tough topics. I tried to pull from some of the most common content warning on reviews for the book, but I would definitely be prepared for things that can be tough to talk about.

skudiklier's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I started and finished this book on the same day, and basically couldn't put it down. I found it so engaging, helpful, thoughtful, and brilliant. Every time I thought the author might fall into a tired trope, she showed how she was really challenging it. I love how she makes clear what the core values of her life and the social justice movement are, and how her critiques have to do with the way the movement operates and forms relationships rather than with those values themselves. I really would recommend this book to anyone who is queer or a leftist, or interested in either of those things. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Forced institutionalization, and Medical content

averyfranken's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt

rigbees's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

Kai Cheng Tom thoughtfully discusses a number of issues affecting letting LGBTQIA+ communities. I found a lot of my experiences seen by these essays and her analysis to be intelligent and empathetic. Deep reading for those wondering how we build sustaining communities.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Transphobia

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Police brutality, and Grief