Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe

47 reviews

saraellenme's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

antijeffbozo_love2read's review

Go to review page

emotional funny reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lisacanteven's review

Go to review page

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

This graphic novel gave me so much to think about. I went into it without any expectations other than it has been banned, so I know the stupid conservatives hate it. Honestly that's always a plus to me. I found myself introspectively reading it; there was a lot more identifying going on than I expected. I really, really appreciate how raw, real, and relatable Maia was with this book. People all over the world can identify with eir feelings, and they probably don't even know it yet. If someone doesn't identify with any of Maia's feelings, they probably know someone who does. 

*1/2-1 star off for the multiple Harry Potter references. I understand that Maia is trans, so e is someone who should be able to discuss HP if ey want. However it is still triggering, and I just wish we could erase all mentions everywhere by everyone since JKR keeps furthering her harmful anti-trans views and desire for anti-trans regulations passed everywhere. I think everyone, including all trans people, should reevaluate what about JKR is so valuable to them despite the hurt and harm she causes. I was hoping that since I bought the new special edition, all HP references would have been edited out. Mentioning HP instead of keeping it vague adds nothing positive to the story. It just adds triggering content.*

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

theintrovertsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

brea's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

sapphic_alpaca's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

pacifickat's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

I particularly admired how this story navigates conversations around consent, and considering the needs of another in a relationship the way you would want to be considered. This might mean walking away from a potential relationship because you know what the other person wants is not what you can or want to give at the time. It also means walking away when you feel uncomfortable rather than feeling obligated to engage in an interaction at your own expense. It's ok to ask for what you want and voice how you would like to be treated. Maia seems like a gentle soul, and I admired eir courage and kindness in relational and social situations in this story.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

charliemaigne's review

Go to review page

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

athenian_frog's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

I thought this was a really cool look into the thoughts of someone who is genderqueer. I am cisgender, and have limited experience reading about/in the perspective of nonbinary/trans identities. I can only recount one other book where I’ve seen someone use e/em/eir (which, I also didn’t know they were under Spivak pronouns. Neat!).

I felt like Kobabe was very thoughtful about how eir experiences and upbringing affected how e approached eir gender. I found it funny that fanfiction and queer artists remain avenues through which LGBTQIA+ people have sought self discovery. E touches on a lot of other aspects of being queer, such as grappling with how one experiences sexual and romantic attraction, the different ways loved ones can react, and how one’s identity can affect existing relationships. 

The illustrations served the story well. The one about the first Pap smear e had was especially striking. There are some very pretty page long spreads, and some good uses of space to place text in a thematically relevant way. The ending was a little puzzling, but I like to imagine it is hopeful in its implications. 

 I think this could be a good intro for someone who is questioning if they are transgender, or even just queer in general. It does not shy away from the bodily discomfort one can experience as a non-binary person. There are discussions of first periods, Pap smears, masturbation, and intimacy with other people. Sexual drive (and the deficit thereof, in Kobabe’s case) is also visited. 

People who are cisgender could also benefit from listening to this perspective; now more than ever, I think, it’s critical to be aware of the existence of non binary/transgender individuals, and the struggles they may be experiencing.  

Thank you for reading!


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

cymbal_curtain's review

Go to review page

emotional funny tense medium-paced

3.0

This book was ok. This is a book about growing up queer mostly. about question gender and sexuality and about hanging out with friends and partners.


1) this book presents "brain sexes" as a scientific truth. This is instead a very controversial topic, without scientific consensus. read the linked for more info (it backs up my claim and is a scientific journal)
https://bsd.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13293-022-00448-w

2) it, if not misinforms, at least confuses, the reader about what "asexual" means. Although the word has some multiple meanings, it primarily means not experiencing attraction, not "not masturbating". And it's fine to me if the author identifies/identified to some extent with the label, but because this is a book I'm a bit disappointed about this.

cws:
 I can't list this in the storygraph system as a content warning, but the book does contain romance.


Expand filter menu Content Warnings