Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

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

27 reviews

friendly_neighborhood_grandma's review against another edition

4.75

Beautiful. Cute. Brutal. Poetry like. Very unique I have not enough words. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Dysphoria, Violence, Bullying, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Racism

There are descriptions of swarms of bees and violent transphobia

beauytoy's review

emotional funny 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

semi memoir, semi magical realism. really great book, I find myself really enjoying everything kai cheng thom puts out. this was such a fun book, ever the very sad parts were so beautiful. i must own this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Child abuse

sbloom's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Police brutality, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Self harm

robinks's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this magical, fantasy-tinged memoir. I got sucked into our protagonist’s world and all the events and people that showed up. I was also satisfied with how things turned out for her. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Grief, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Self harm, Medical trauma, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence

Minor: Drug use, Sexism, Racism, and Misogyny

brogan7's review

adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

5.0

I'm still deciding if this is a 5.
It's like nothing else I've ever read before and the first 80 pages are so brilliant and in tune and dazzlingly amazing.  Who else writes about trauma this way, who can tell the story of leaving home like that, dying mermaids all over the beach, and you know, you just know, she is telling the story exactly as it was, it is, tonally, perfect.

And then there's an interlude of violent fantasy and I can almost go there but it feels like fiction, then, and it was the archival quality that I enjoyed.

A beautiful, beautiful book.  Almost fell for easy tropes but luckily sidestepped that one.

What do you want to know about being human?  Being human hurts.  And is complicated and fearsome and fierce.

It's not like anything else.  It's shatteringly on point.  Alzena the Witch!!!!  You can't make this stuff up.  It's so good, it can't be made up.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Transphobia, Police brutality, Self harm, Violence, Murder, and Sexual violence

bashsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny fast-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? No

5.0

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars is a magical "memoir" that uses poetry and allegory to show what being a trans femme is like - from running away from home, forming a found family, defending herself, and growing as a woman. Though it uses unreality to prove its points, there are no rose-colored glasses in this short book. Everything is brutal, as the lives of many trans women are. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I can't wait to read more by Thom.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Sexism, Misogyny, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, Classism, Blood, Transphobia, Violence, Death, Toxic friendship, Lesbophobia, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Self harm, Stalking, Sexual content, Gun violence, and Medical content

Minor: Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Drug use

-Usage of the f-slur as an insult.

solenekeleroux's review

challenging emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Violence, Self harm, Police brutality, Murder, Hate crime, Death, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Drug use

harveylamber's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Transphobia

Moderate: Sexual assault and Self harm

meremeth's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-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: Murder, Hate crime, Violence, Transphobia, Self harm, and Police brutality

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual violence, and Physical abuse

bookish_afrolatina's review

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

This was a super short book and I listened to it on audiobook via the Libby app (library books ftw).

When I first picked this up, the only reference I had for a memoir steeped in magical realism was Carmen Maria Machado's In the Dream House. I realized very quickly that Fierce Femmes is a completely different thing! While this book is still full of fantastical elements and absurdities, it is a novel/faux memoir.

The main character is a trans girl who is the daughter of Chinese immigrants (in Canada, I believe) who live in a crooked house in a city called Gloom. Her parents are abusive so, although she feels guilty about leaving her sister, she knows running away will be for the best.

The MC is a self-described liar so we already know we have an unreliable narrator, which made this kind of intriguing. I loved the stories of connecting with other femmes in the pleasure district and the MC's journey of enforcing consent. It's a much needed discussion when others feel as though they are entitled to your body.

This novel includes:
transphobia, consent, sex work, drug use and abuse, found family, love, murder, revenge, adventure, and hot ghosts, among other things.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Drug use, Murder, Hate crime, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Homophobia, Transphobia, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse