Reviews tagging 'Murder'

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

35 reviews

readingpicnic's review

fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Such a unique and fun take on a memoir. The writing was so addicting and unique that I finished this in a day. I loved the author's mission to tell a trans memoir that wasn't just about transition or victimhood, to instead complicate these common narratives this with their trans community's dynamic personalities, showing the beauty and fun and drama of the transfem community, as well as mixing in magical realism elements and mystical creatures. I don't really know what's actually based in memoir with this book, but I'm okay with that because it was so exciting to read and I love creative nonfiction.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Homophobia, Self harm, Transphobia, Police brutality, Physical abuse, and Gore

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

ash_ton's review

dark hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

i have a lot of thoughts about this book. maybe i'll get around to writing a review someday lol. i feel i should specify that i am nonbinary afab and i feel unfair giving this book a low rating since i am not a trans woman. that is not the reason i gave it a low rating. it's mostly the style and format of the book itself!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Blood, Dysphoria, Gore, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Self harm, Sexual content, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, and Body shaming

maybephasing's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia and Murder

jamieruwen's review

adventurous funny mysterious 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

4.5

This was wonderful: fierce and gentle, prodding and sweet, dark and magical. A magical realism, surreal biomythography about a trans girl and the fierce femmes she finds at her new home on the Street of Miracles after fleeing her old one. Our unnamed protagonist learns to reconcile the aggression and trauma within her after she and her friends form a trans girl-gang and go on a self-defensive spree of violence. A great book that refuses to be for cis people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Murder

ntwkluvr's review

emotional reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Transphobia, and Murder

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

mirandyli's review

adventurous emotional inspiring fast-paced

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

4.75

Fantastically written, anti-capitalist, anti-cop, anti-fascist, anti-classist memoir with magical elements. Really everything I could ask for in a book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Gun violence, Misogyny, Classism, Death, Drug use, Murder, Transphobia, Violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, and Police brutality

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Police brutality, and Transphobia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Hate crime, and Self harm

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.