Reviews

OKPsyche by Anya Johanna DeNiro

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lit_laugh_luv's review against another edition

4.0

[3.5 stars] Despite its short page count, OKPsyche accomplishes a considerable amount. Based loosely on the myth of Cupid and Psyche, it explores the introspections of an unnamed trans woman as she navigates her transition. The narration style goes beyond a typical stream-of-consciousness in that it is entirely fragmented, and ultimately reads more like vignettes than a cohesive narrative. I enjoyed this for the most part, but admittedly some of the events went over my head by the end.

By design, the book is very singular to our protagonist and we view her grappling with several aspects of her transition simultaneously. Body dysmorphia, navigating the social implications of transitioning (particularly parenthood), the ruminations on the concept of "passing" and solitude are all intertwined in her experiences. I appreciated how the book highlighted how multifaceted and crippling gender dysphoria is, especially in how it manifests in ways we might not expect until we can view things retrospectively. It also does an excellent job of acknowledging the disparate access to resources for many trans individuals and does a careful job highlighting that gender affirmation and transitioning look different for everyone. Always great to read trans characters written by authors with lived experience!

While I'm not intimately familiar with Psyche's story in mythology, it does make a lot of thematic sense within the scope of the novel (i.e., constantly being revered but never loved is directly parallel to the narrator's own experiences of being fetishized). I also really appreciated how this highlighted the importance of community for the full umbrella of queer individuals - there's a lot of power and solidarity among those with shared experiences.

Where this lost me is some of the external events happening in the world; it's hard to disentangle what is real and what isn't in this novel as the margins constantly blur. This is undoubtedly by design (especially given how fixated our narrator is in her thoughts), but it left me a bit confused about some of the intention behind certain aspects. Nonetheless, this was a great read, and I'd read from DeNiro in the future!

blazing_orchids's review against another edition

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Unfortunately, just could not get into this book. The premise is very interesting, I just could not follow anything that was happening. I don't know why I thought I could read a book written in second person haha

readingwitheden's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

qxdante's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

lydiahephzibah's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.25

Setting: Minnesota
Rep: trans protagonist

This was a strange little book. It's a quick read at about 140 pages and at times I really enjoyed it and certain passages stood out, but it also didn't make much sense and I wish it had been more grounded in itself, though I guess the writing and the weird semi-dystopia are potentially reflections of the character herself, who is in a process of development.