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the_readingraven's review against another edition
- 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? N/A
5.0
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.
Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual violence, and Dysphoria
Minor: Child death, Rape, Suicide, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
- 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
“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.
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicide
solusipse's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism
fynn_jls's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Police brutality
196books's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Deadnaming
caidyn's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Deadnaming, Drug use, Homophobia, Rape, Transphobia, Police brutality, Murder, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Child death
lidia7's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cancer, Deadnaming, Gun violence, Self harm, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Colonisation
maxgdy's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
internationalreads's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Transphobia, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
suzyreadsbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Police brutality, and Murder