Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Survivor's Guilt by Robyn Gigl

1 review

acechemicals's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I imagine this would be a helpful feature for people who aren't familiar with trans existence, but for the rest of us, it's a little tedious to have the ins and outs of trans life 101 explained nearly every other chapter. That said, it's nice that the negatives aren't shied away from OR exaggerated (the way they are in so many novels about trans characters) and Erin gets to embrace joy in those that love, accept, and understand her. 

The mystery is compelling, and because of multiple perspectives, as readers we get to put the pieces together way before anyone in the story does, which is a lot of fun! There's also a wonderful sense of tension combined with knowing that everything will turn out alright in the end. 

There's a lot of exposition, especially for a sequel, that makes it feel a little less readable, but it's also nice to have a grab-and-go dramatic murder mystery series for trans people. Overall, the book delivers on what it promises and - with the caveat of "please check the content warnings" - I recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Kidnapping

Minor: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Outing, Alcohol, and War

This book deals heavily with child sex trafficking, child sex exploitation material, and the abuse of transgender children

in exchange for gender-affirming care and citizenship

. There are accounts of abuse

from two survivors, one cis woman and one trans woman,

that go into a lengthy and moderate amount of detail.

There are stated to be at least thirty victims of the abuse and both teenagers and young children are mentioned.

It is a consistent topic of the book. The perspective is occasionally that of the antagonists, who treat this abuse casually.