A review by intothevolcano
Transitional: In One Way or Another, We All Transition by Munroe Bergdorf

3.75

I'm in two minds about Transitional - I found the first half in particular extremely engaging and well-written, and I highlighted quite a few sections. However, as the book progresses, it loses track of its theme of "transition" somewhat. At times, this train of thought is replaced by strong feelings and righteous anger, and is significantly affecting - however, at other times the aim of the book becomes slightly confused. Transitional walks the line between being a memoir and an essay collection - sometimes more successfully than others. There are some really interesting considerations of various aspects of society here - not just being trans, but race, gender more generally, eating disorders, and sexual violence (and please do pay attention to any trigger warnings linked to these topics!). At points though, especially if you have read a lot of other books on these topics, there is a slight lack of both depth and emotional connection. I found Transitional to be a really interesting read, but the implementation could have been refined somewhat.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.
Thanks to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for the ARC.
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