Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Bad Girls

“Something began in the dark. I’m talking about my dark now, I’m talking about myself. I’m talking about the feeling of being force-fed fistfuls of dirt by God himself.”

TW: Homophobia, Transphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Dysphoria, Murder, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Sexual violence, and Rape.

This is such a sad impactful book. This is part autobiography and magical realism, honestly, the magical realism kept me in the story when I felt like I couldn't read much more. I read this with my ears so it was so easy to turn off but I wanted to hear Camila's story of her and the travesties (trans women) living in Argentina.

We follow Camila and other travesties in their lives as sex workers, often facing the brutalities in the world for simply existing and choosing to be their true selves. The violence these women faced is heartbreaking, the only positive is that they have each other. It was so tough for me to get through this book, I took many breaks, some even days to get back into reading. Overall, I am glad that I read it, I am also so happy to look up Camila Sosa Villada and see how great she is doing! She has gone on to do acting and singing as well as writing other work! If they have English translations, I will be interested in reading more from her.

I give all memoirs 5 stars out of respect to the author for their vulnerability.

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challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This story is one of perseverance in continual strife, of finding moments of levity, and finding yourself. While some may find this to be too blunt, too intense, too dreary, the sad truth is that there are some journeys that seem like they are constantly uphill. This narrative is a constant weight, a constant shadow. And yet it is slightly inspiring in that in spite of all of the trauma faced by all of these characters, of all the compartmentalization they're forced to put on their brains just to keep moving-- they find a place to be, mostly, to keep taking that step. It is by no means hopeful. It leaves you feeling heavy and hurt. But it makes you want to yearn for everyone remaining to find a light.

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

“Something began in the dark. I’m talking about my dark now, I’m talking about myself. I’m talking about the feeling of being force-fed fistfuls of dirt by God himself.”

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Sena Bryer, who did a fantastic job. I highly recommend that format!

I recently made a video on why I don't need on-page or extremely detailed rape scenes, and while there are post-rape and mentions of rape in this book, they are not gratuitous or exploitative. I genuinely felt like CSV took great care in both forcing the audience to bear witness to the violence that the travestis endured every day by everyone, whether it was by romantic partners, Johns, the police, or simply society at large, AND ensuring to not cause more harm by being unnecessarily graphic.

Through vignettes, we follow Camila from childhood to young adulthood, as she comes into herself and inadvertently finds a new family of sex workers in Sarmiento Park, in the heart of Córdoba, Argentina. She finds care with Auntie Encarna, who is 178 years old, and their home of travestis finds a baby, whom they call "Sparkle in her eye". These women also encounter headless men who return from a war being shunned by society. The magical realism is quite fun, a bit strange, and honestly provided a much-needed levity to a sometimes-heavier narrative. Camila also is both deeply unserious and funny, even though her story does carry so much pain and sadness.

Camila went through so much in this book, from parental abuse, to police manipulation and bribery, to the grief of losing friends to suicide. However, she continues on, and aims to live a truthful existence, rather than hating herself how society wants her to. Though she still experiences deep loss and heartache, Camila's story is one that thoughtfully humanizes people who society wants to villainize and further marginalize.

Content Warnings