Reviews

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl's Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom

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joghansah's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring fast-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

5.0

Absolute perfection

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted fast-paced

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

What an absolute firecracker of a novel! Unapologetic, vibrant, and at times, violent, "Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars" is a must-read for those looking to add more LGBTQ authored works to their repertoire. The story speaks to a trans experience unlike any other, and yet one that touches on so many of the struggles that plague QTPOC (and more specifically, East Asian QTPOC) incessantly to this day. Dearly's story is lively and colorful, filled with magical places/creatures and found family, while also taking time to tell of the cop violence, transphobia, and internal dysmorphia that many on the trans spectrum face. This story is both glaringly honest & upfront and delightfully fun & joyous, and I'd highly recommend for any reader looking to add a trans book unlike any other to their shelves.

year23's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

christelisreading's review

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dark hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

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

3.5

livid_olive's review against another edition

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It's just too surreal for me. It is hard to know what to believe. I guess that's in the title, though

mxunsmiley's review

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5.0

Tongue-in-cheek, surreal, and often heart-wrenching, this was definitely a big surprise for me, as it's billed like a memoir, and now I want all memoirs written this way--improbable scenarios and all, because the sentiments and meanings of this novel all align with those you might expect from a memoir.

I loved the rejection of a neat and complete resolution. One chapter toward the end also stuck out to me, in which she remarks that kindness can be a type of violence as well. That additional rejection of easy and readily comprehensible dichotomies was so meaningful to me as well.

So much of the imagery and symbolism was so mesmerizing. The one chapter in the latter half of the book detailing the growth of her hair was full of the most astounding descriptive language I've read in a while. Obviously, I preferred the second half of the book, but the entire novel is beautifully written and structured.

Eat your heart out, Gabriel García Márquez, Ms. Thom does magical realism with ten times more of an impact.