Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters

36 reviews

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

what a read. detransition, baby is a relevatory and provocative novel, one which i delight in its intriguing premise, great execution, brilliant emotional characterization and telling of a trans experience.

peters incisively and grippingly examines motherhood, the trans experience, gender, identity politics, sex and sex work in this book, stripping layer upon layer of complexity thats enmeshed in a dash of political correctness, making her characters bare all, voicing taboos and things that are oft unspoken - representational politics be damned - to exhilarating effect. indeed, there were moments that simply stupefied me of how good this book is. and i learned a lot abt transness, this book having depicted in a humane sense many terms i merely know of but have never truly understood in depth.

meanwhile, the characters (and esp reese) are a hot mess - in a sense that theyre all each deep in a certain level of shit - specifically life shit - and trying to navigate thru a surprise pregnancy in different ways, each forced to face their own issues in the process. the ability to make readers empathize w/ characters who they sometimes also want to throttle is certainly a hallmark of a great writer, but peters, imo, goes above and beyond here. this esp pertains to ames/amy, whose story connects w/ me in a visceral way; we couldnt be more different, but her story deeply affects me in a way fiction rarely ever does, reading it was def sth else. it's indeed a lil baffling that her accidental outing plotline's suddenly dropped near the end: whatever happens after katrina's advice-seeking w/ reese and her friends? whats ames' reaction upon finding out the company supposedly knowing her secret? 

and the book's last 15% and ending are less stellar than the rest, imo. the former feels awkward to me, like the author's trying to tie it all up but ends up veering into a slightly strange territory. i also wish we heard more from ames aside from that bit near the end. as for the ending, it does annoy me w/ how vague and slightly ~kumbaya~ it is, its tone a lil jarring w/ the book's irreverent tone.

even so, this is an undeniably thought-provoking, impactful, and even humorous novel, one that reads like a queer classic, and an amazing and welcoming addition to mainstream trans lit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Infidelity, Dysphoria, Outing, Sexual content, and Transphobia

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Violence

Minor: Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, and Abortion

kerrygetsliterary's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Sexism, Alcohol, Cursing, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Body shaming, Cultural appropriation, Infertility, Sexual content, Violence, Deadnaming, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Outing, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, and Transphobia

brnineworms's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

Messy bitches all round.
Exceptionally well-written, until the ending where it felt like the brakes were slammed; it faltered then just kind of stopped, and not in a satisfyingly unsatisfying way. Still, I liked it a lot.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Infidelity, Outing, Dysphoria, Sexism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Abortion, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Blood, Chronic illness, Suicide, Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Classism, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Murder, Racism, Eating disorder, Trafficking, Car accident, Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, and Colonisation

cereads's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Infidelity

Moderate: Hate crime, Outing, Abortion, Dysphoria, and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Miscarriage, Death, and Medical content

lexkoi's review

funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Hate crime, Outing, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Miscarriage

Moderate: Suicide, Deadnaming, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Stalking and Abortion

karolinaz's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexism, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Outing, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is probably the most unique book I've read in awhile. It tells the story of Reese, Amy, and Katrina - Amy's new girlfriend. Reese and Amy are both transgender women and spent many years in a relationship, during which they lived together and planned to have a family. Things went astray when Amy made the decision to detransition and become Ames, living as a man instead. Things get even crazier when Ames gets his girlfriend pregnant unexpectedly and crazier still when he suggests Reese co-parent with him and Katrina. A lot of messiness ensues! 

I thought this book was overall, impressive. It is whip smart, funny, and often heartbreaking. It offers a window into a situation unlike anything I've ever read. The characters are complex and have diverse points of view and the dynamics between characters are incredibly interesting. The writing is beautiful and extremely smart - often a little too smart for me. 

The issues I have with it don't necessarily have to do with the quality of the book itself and more with me. I thought that the book was going to be faster paced, and that we were going to see more of the interesting throuple-but-not dynamic than we actually got to see. There is a lot of backstory, which was excellent and told me a lot about Reese and Amy/Ames as people, but not a lot of plot to work with in the present day, which became frustrating for me toward the end. Ultimately, I think that this book is great, and reads quickly despite the slower pacing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Bullying, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Outing, Racism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Rape, Self harm, and Pedophilia

leahrosiee's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.25

If this wasn’t such a good book for the first 80%, the ending could have ruined it. I love the exploration of nontraditional family. No one can ever fully understand the total complexity of being a woman. I think everyone can relate to something in this story but everyone can, probably more importantly, learn something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Abortion, Medical content, Outing, Pregnancy, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Miscarriage, Transphobia, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Grief

anniereads221's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Deadnaming, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Outing, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, and Violence

recollections's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad 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

4.5

i had never read a book that acknowledged let alone explored trans people's sexuality. this book covers so many interesting themes like miscarriage, divorce, identity and, of course, gender. there were many moments where i had that sensation that the author had put into words an abstract idea, unbloosomed thought. this was a life changing book <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Medical content, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Outing, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Transphobia