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d00rframe's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Toxic friendship
stormeno's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Grief, Pregnancy, Outing, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Death, Drug use, Abortion, and Abandonment
thebankofbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Deadnaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Sexual content, Grief, Outing, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Lesbophobia
fieldofhats's review against another edition
Reese is also simply unlikeable. I didn’t get far enough into the story, but I didn’t find Katrina to be very likable either. The only sympathetic character is Ames — and in a story about queerness, I think it’s extremely disingenuous to center a cis, detransitioned man in a story that is supposed to be about queerness.
And yes, I know that’s the point. I know that none of these characters are meant to be likable. But I also don’t care. I need at least one character to be a decent person, and we already established why the character Peters chose was problematic.
And as a minor note, the constant use of the word “transsexual” and the utter avoidance of “transgender” was unnerving and peculiar. It should have been my first clue to stop reading.
I thought perhaps that I would enjoy this novel because it’s about trans people by a trans author (as a trans fem person myself, I was naturally interested) — but I was sorely mistaken. Don’t get me wrong, the book isn’t bad because it’s trans. The book is bad because it does all the things that makes lit fic unbearable. There are better fiction novels about trans characters. Don’t bother with this one.
It’s pride month. Don’t read books that aren’t worth your time.
Graphic: Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Gaslighting
shortstackz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I am a cis woman, of white and Asian decent, which is the lens I was reading this through. Ames brought an interesting discussion of gender and gave me a better understanding of gender dysphoria and maybe the reasons someone would choose to live as their birth gender. The dual timeline of Reese and Ames brings so much light to the daily joys of trans life, which I think will help a lot of cis readers to grow alongside Katrina. I think this would have been strengthened from including vignets or interludes from Katrina's perspective, which could have shown how she was navigating her own journey through parental identity. Katrina makes choices. Those choices are, interesting? I have no idea how she jumps to them other than plot.
The characters of Reese and Ames are so well developed that the lack of development in Katrina stands out as our main cast of 3. Peters prose is witty, funny, and easy to read. There are fun pop culture references thrown in throughout the pages, and I loved the nuanced gender conversations that occured. I wish Katrina's motivations were more clear to the reader, not front and center but in vignettes scattered throughout.
Graphic: Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Ableism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
squishmallow161's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Homophobia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia
Moderate: Outing, Gaslighting, and Dysphoria
Minor: Mental illness, Miscarriage, and Suicide
cecereads__'s review against another edition
3.75
It’s a story that’s insightful and definitely worth telling (and absorbing) - as is anything outside the heteronormative btw. For ppl to learn and expand their horizons - including on the question on motherhood within and outside the lgbtq+ community.
I found the characters messy and flawed and unlikeable at time which worked really well to illustrate the (difficult) dynamic between the trio.
Moderate: Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Transphobia, Violence, Outing, and Gaslighting
kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
squidknees's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
annabulkowski's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Classism