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Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'
Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom
13 reviews
space_hag'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
Moderate: Medical trauma
savazelena'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? No
5.0
It's taken me so long to write anything about this book because I've been so busy, but I haven't stopped thinking about it since I started reading it. I was so excited to take my walk every day so I could listen to this absolute and nothing short of a masterpiece. I don't even have a lot to say about it except that it's perfect. It changed my life in ways I understand right now and in ways I'll understand years from now.
It doesn't matter if it's true, it only matters what it started within the reader, and for me, it started something big.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, and Medical trauma
robinks's review
- 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
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
bashsbooks's review against another edition
- 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
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.solenekeleroux's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Murder
ieemee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Self harm, Transphobia, Violence, Medical trauma, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
bookish_afrolatina's review
- 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
When I first picked this up, the only reference I had for a memoir steeped in magical realism was Carmen Maria Machado's In the Dream House. I realized very quickly that Fierce Femmes is a completely different thing! While this book is still full of fantastical elements and absurdities, it is a novel/faux memoir.
The main character is a trans girl who is the daughter of Chinese immigrants (in Canada, I believe) who live in a crooked house in a city called Gloom. Her parents are abusive so, although she feels guilty about leaving her sister, she knows running away will be for the best.
The MC is a self-described liar so we already know we have an unreliable narrator, which made this kind of intriguing. I loved the stories of connecting with other femmes in the pleasure district and the MC's journey of enforcing consent. It's a much needed discussion when others feel as though they are entitled to your body.
This novel includes:
transphobia, consent, sex work, drug use and abuse, found family, love, murder, revenge, adventure, and hot ghosts, among other things.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder
willows's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Violence, and Medical trauma
blackcatkai's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
yaoipaddle's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Graphic: Addiction, Cursing, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Medical content, and Trafficking