I originally heard about Us before it was translated and so desperately wanted to read it, because there's not enough representation of relationships between cis and trans women and I wanted to get my hands on every little bit I could find. Still do.

Two years of wanting to read it later, I found it a bit... after-school special? Don't get me wrong. I do think that we need coming out stories, and this is one that's informative and cute and does a thorough job of explaining that this is only one transition story, all are different and all are valid. It depicts both the hardships and the joys of the changes in Sara and Diana's lives, both as individuals and as girlfriends. And with the exception of a couple of well-meaning but unexamined "welcome to womanhood" sorts of statements that would piss off some trans women I know, I think it's generally free of missteps.

I guess that it just didn't feel like the most hard-hitting book for me at this point in my life because I've been the cis girlfriend rooting on a trans partner early in her transition (albeit a cis girlfriend who had already come to terms with her lesbianism and thus didn't have some of the same struggles as Sara). It kinda felt like old news to me.

However, I can see how Us would make others feel seen in a powerful way, and it did bring up some emotional memories for me. People who need a transition story for either education or moral support could do worse than this for sure.

As an added bonus, there is also a cute black cat!