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A review by acechemicals
Intersex (for Lack of a Better Word) by Thea Hillman
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
It's taken a while for me to be able to fully process this, I think. Sometimes a book fully sees you, and you want to absorb it over and over, read it until you forget how to read. Intersex (for Lack of a Better Word) more accurately fully saw me and immediately made me want to put it on a shelf far away, hoping I never need it again.
It is heartbreakingly honest. I can't say what it does to other people, but it forced me to confront a version of myself that does not exist anymore - and that isn't a metaphor for transition, or medical intervention, except in the way that those things touch every aspect of your life when you are part of intersex communities. But I have been carrying a lot of things with me that have rarely been voiced, and I have seen so many of them laid out here so... if not neatly, then completely.
I was upset one night, and I searched for a book about intersex, and I found what I needed, and I didn't sleep. And I'm glad I did. And it tore open some old wounds, but they may be able to heal correctly now.
It is heartbreakingly honest. I can't say what it does to other people, but it forced me to confront a version of myself that does not exist anymore - and that isn't a metaphor for transition, or medical intervention, except in the way that those things touch every aspect of your life when you are part of intersex communities. But I have been carrying a lot of things with me that have rarely been voiced, and I have seen so many of them laid out here so... if not neatly, then completely.
I was upset one night, and I searched for a book about intersex, and I found what I needed, and I didn't sleep. And I'm glad I did. And it tore open some old wounds, but they may be able to heal correctly now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Ableism and Sexual violence
Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Outing, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
There is some discussion of transgender lovers' bodies changing (from an intersex perspective) that may be uncomfortable or triggering to a transgender reader. It is meant to be loving and not harmful, but it is honest and frank. There is a lot of discussion of trauma, though it is usually vague. There is also honest discussion of LGBTQIA+ community division. There is a lot of frank descriptions of kink and sexual situations.