Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom

23 reviews

roseandivy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-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

4.25

fast paced and very good at dealing in hard-hitting metaphor— wish we’d gotten more of the history of the setting and a little more fleshed-out ensemble cast but i liked the magical realism aspects a lot and the mc’s character development is shown well

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Self harm, Transphobia, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, and Hate crime

mar's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

dark and funny, fantastical and defiant, dreamy and bloody all at the same time. a fabulous, surreal subversion of what makes a "trans memoir" and a love letter to trans womanhood :')

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Self harm and Blood

Minor: Addiction and Drug abuse

csa not directly depicted, but its trauma is frequently referenced through allegory

ash_ton's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

2.75

i have a lot of thoughts about this book. maybe i'll get around to writing a review someday lol. i feel i should specify that i am nonbinary afab and i feel unfair giving this book a low rating since i am not a trans woman. that is not the reason i gave it a low rating. it's mostly the style and format of the book itself!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Hate crime, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, and Sexual content

Minor: Body shaming, Domestic abuse, and Toxic relationship

mirandyli's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

4.75

Fantastically written, anti-capitalist, anti-cop, anti-fascist, anti-classist memoir with magical elements. Really everything I could ask for in a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Dysphoria, and Classism

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Hate crime, Self harm, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail

bashsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-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? No

5.0

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars is a magical "memoir" that uses poetry and allegory to show what being a trans femme is like - from running away from home, forming a found family, defending herself, and growing as a woman. Though it uses unreality to prove its points, there are no rose-colored glasses in this short book. Everything is brutal, as the lives of many trans women are. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to read more by Thom.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Medical content, and Stalking

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

-Usage of the f-slur as an insult.

solenekeleroux's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Murder

meremeth's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Self harm, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence

bookish_afrolatina's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

This was a super short book and I listened to it on audiobook via the Libby app (library books ftw).

When I first picked this up, the only reference I had for a memoir steeped in magical realism was Carmen Maria Machado's In the Dream House. I realized very quickly that Fierce Femmes is a completely different thing! While this book is still full of fantastical elements and absurdities, it is a novel/faux memoir.

The main character is a trans girl who is the daughter of Chinese immigrants (in Canada, I believe) who live in a crooked house in a city called Gloom. Her parents are abusive so, although she feels guilty about leaving her sister, she knows running away will be for the best.

The MC is a self-described liar so we already know we have an unreliable narrator, which made this kind of intriguing. I loved the stories of connecting with other femmes in the pleasure district and the MC's journey of enforcing consent. It's a much needed discussion when others feel as though they are entitled to your body.

This novel includes:
transphobia, consent, sex work, drug use and abuse, found family, love, murder, revenge, adventure, and hot ghosts, among other things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

salemander's review against another edition

5.0

this is a love letter to every single trans person who is just trying to figure it out. so beautiful and so inspiring 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Police brutality