Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom

12 reviews

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

robinks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this magical, fantasy-tinged memoir. I got sucked into our protagonist’s world and all the events and people that showed up. I was also satisfied with how things turned out for her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Grief, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism

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

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.

blackcatkai's review against another edition

adventurous challenging funny fast-paced

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

4.0

CW: abuse, transphobia, death,  self harm, sexual content, violence, medical content/trauma, racism, blood, casual ableism

this was a wild ride of a novel. what part is fantasy, what part is made up, what is real and what isn't? though that's probably not the point by any means, I loved the mix of magical realism and surrealism. different readers will probably interpret things their own way but a lot of it, to me, felt like ways for the MC to process the trauma and struggles she went through as a young trans girl who just ran away from home.

we've got girl gangs, mermaids, revenge plots, and found families. we've got struggles and hardships but also hope. cheering our MC on is so easy to do and you feel for her as she finds her place in the world and what she wants. I can see the fast paced writing/plot and the uncertainty of what is or isn't real putting some readers off, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Self harm, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism

Minor: Ableism

elsebeok's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring sad 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: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse

lsmith36's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

This book was lyrical and wonderful. It was so human and also magical. I think this is one of the first trans-femme centric books that I've read and it feels so special and powerful. The characters are so lovable and seeing the narrator come so far was so rewarding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, and Blood

orchidd's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Blood, and Abandonment

simple_alien'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

5.0

Magical and bada**. A must read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Blood, and Murder

multilingual_s's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.0

I loved the world building and especially the poetry, but the characters could have been more week rounded. At times they seemed more like cut out comic book characters acting out trans clishees, and the flippant descriptions of violence were hard to stomach at points.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Blood