Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Dreadnought by April Daniels

106 reviews

sillygaylilly's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing tense 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? No

5.0

This book single handedly made me go from "shit I don't know if I'm trans or not" to "she is just like me fr fr" and got rid of most of my impostor syndrome about being trans, so if you have any doubts, highly recommended
oh and there is superhero stuff and it's great but come on trans stuff takes the came
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

agnes_the_wyrm's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.25

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

corsetedfeminist's review

Go to review page

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? Yes

5.0

I really don’t know why this book isn’t incredibly popular. 
I loved our main character so much. She reminds me a little of Tom Holland’s Spiderman, but with a softer, more vulnerable side and an almost manic independence that comes with the abusive parents. The discussions of how her instant transition affected the way men acted around her broke my heart, but the tender moments of gender euphoria put it back together. I appreciated the struggle throughout the book of what it means to have such high powered people, the interactions between those people and the police, and the with what justice looks like. 
Calamity is a delight, and I love her, and I’ve decided everyone needs a friend who runs around being a vigilantes, shooting criminals, and complaining that the police and the superheroes are useless.
The actual plot is a surprisingly refreshing turn on fairly standard superhero tropes, and the fight scenes are written incredibly well. There are occasional sarcastic digs at broader superhero tropes and characters that made me cackle. 
All in all, my only question is why this isn’t a movie yet. I need this to be a movie like I have needed few things in my life
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

unavezmas's review

Go to review page

  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"I see a world that is terrified of me. Terrified of someone who would reject manhood. Terrified of a girl who knows who she is and what she's capable of. They are small, and they are weak, and they will not hurt me ever again.

My name is Danielle Tozer. I am a girl. No one is strong enough to take that from me anymore."

I loved this book. It's a bit rough around the edges. Most of the side characters don't have enough time to shine and I have so many questions about the villain's plan.

Danielle is such a strong person. She also has enough guts to shut the bigots up. She's a superhero after all. She also makes funny jokes in the most inappropriate moments. She's 15, and it's her first experience with any social unjustice. I got a couple of giggles of her being speechless and baffled "What do you mean the government don't want what's the best for the people?" My sweet summer child...

Sarah who is conserned about making enough money to make it to the end of the months and doesn't give a damn about what cops will say to her robbing drug dealers.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

lyncolonbracket's review

Go to review page

emotional hopeful tense 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

4.75

i kinda hate superhero action scenes but the ones that are just people talking are amazingly well done and made me love this book so much more
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

ethana's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging 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

4.5

While I generally really enjoyed Dreadnought, I do advise others to heed the trigger warnings, especially the ones pertaining to transphobia and emotional abuse. There were definitely parts of this book that hit a little too close to home where I had to stop and collect myself before continuing. I think a large part of that was due to the fact that I went into Dreadnought expecting a more lighthearted superhero romp only to get absolutely bodied by the amount of transphobia Danny faced, especially from her parents. In the end I did enjoy the book overall, and the premise was entertaining, just be ready for things to get rough.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

shae_purcell's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

teyn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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? No

3.75

I would've loved this if not for the gendered fatphobia and ableism that added absolutely nothing to the story.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings

nerdbrarian's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful tense 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

5.0

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

gameoftomes's review

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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

Amazing. The book really gives a payoff for its superhero genre, transgender representation, and first person POV. It uses all of these well, and towards a conclusion with physical and emotional stakes involved. 

There are good action sequences, a bit of gore, and a good bit of body horror. But none of it overwhelms the novel. The supers don’t feel regurgitated and cliché. It feels like it could fit in with comic book superheroes, yet isn’t weighed down with tropes. The world of superheroes and hypertech is fleshed out without being exposition heavy. 

Warning that there is a significant amount of transphobia, including slurs, deadnaming, emotional abuse, and parents kicking out their 15 year old kid. But none of this stops main character Danielle from being super, from being flawed, from being a beacon of hope. Individuals are not a monolith, and I think at the author is transgender herself helps. 

This is a first person perspective YA novel that feels like you’re in the head of a real teenager. Danny clearly had reactions with a lot of self-hate because of how actively awful her dad is and how passively awful her mom is. So negative self-talk happens in stressful situations. Her journey as a superhero starts out as finally getting her body to match her gender identity, then fighting crime becomes an escape from reality, and finally starts to become a community, a newfound family. 

I honestly came in thinking I would be lightly enjoyable fun, but I’m really blown away with the characters, world-building, and balance of emotional, fun, and tense moments. I might have to break my book buying ban to grab the sequel. 

9/10 objectively a good time.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings