(My copy was an ARC from Netgalley, granted in exchange for a review)

This is such a complicated one to review. There's so much to love about it. The words 'whip-smart' have been thrown around in just about every single review of this one, and the more annoying thing is that it's true. Peters is a fantastic writer, with an ability to write characters who really do feel like you could bump into them in the street; I half expected to turn around and see Reese and Ames in the room with me as I read. I can see why this book has garnered the hype and the praise that it has; it's utterly unlike anything else out there (although there are some similarities with Imogen Binnie's Nevada in terms of how trans womanhood is dissected) and it's that rare book which manages to be a fast read without sacrificing its depth. It's absolutely going to end up on every awards list going, and it should. Peters is that enviable sort of writer whose shopping lists are probably works of art.

There were things I disliked about it, primarily Peters' habit of introducing far too many characters, giving us an in-depth description of their relationship to the protagonists and their backstory, and then never mentioning them again. We'd get 80% into the book and then discover that, actually, Reese has a best friend she relies on entirely, even though she's never been mentioned before. This habit of throwaway characters became irritating to the point that I stopped focusing on them at all, and then found myself confused on the rare occasion they were brought up later. I think an editor should probably have convinced Peter to kill more of her darlings. Peters also never misses an opportunity, however fleeting, to make her characters the mouthpieces for quite extensive gender theory, usually in the form of one character monologuing about niche gender expressions or expectations in dialogue with another. This flitted between seeming authentic, on the count that these characters clearly have a hat in that particular ring and therefore would obviously think about it a lot, to being quite obviously a chance for the author to convey a lot of theory within the narrative, and therefore not really much more than exposition. These moments made the characters feel less authentic, and considering that the authenticity of the characters was one of the things I loved most about it, it almost disappointed me to have the veil pierced like that.

This book could have very easily been streamlined. That said, its debut messiness is a large part of its charm. For its faults, it's a book that'll percolate in my brain for a good long while, and I'm eagerly awaiting whatever Torrey Peters writes next.