Take a photo of a barcode or cover
1.31k reviews by:
horrorbutch
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If you are interested in LGBT History in America this is definitely a great book to read. Written by activist Riki Wilchins this book mostly focuses on her personal experience as a politically active trans woman, a founding member of Camp Trans and a member of the Transgender Menance.
Having done some research on my own in LGBT History I had known some of the things that Riki mentioned. I had heard about Michigans Womyn Music Festival and how they excluded Trans Woman from participating in it, but I hadn't known that there was a Camp right outside that protested against this, the Camp Trans, created and led by trans women, but also supported by many of the cis lesbians that had been visiting the festival. I had obviously known about the high amount of violence trans women, especially gnc, black and/or poor trans women faced, but reading about it like this from somebody who experienced it, is definitely something else than just knowing it happens. But there are many other things I didn't know and which were both hopeful and heartbreaking to read about, f.e. the fight trans woman had to go through to finally be seen by mainstream LGBT organizations and how these organizations kept refusing to pay any kind of attention to their plight.
Trigger warnings for assault, murder, transphobic and transmisogynistic slurs, police brutality and rape, as well as mentions of csa and incest.
One thing I didn't really like was how genderqueer people and people who fell outside of the gender binary were sometimes regarded as more radical, more political than binary or passing trans people. While trans people don't need to pass to deserve having their identity respected, those who do aren't automatically any less political than non-passing trans people. Also sometimes butch lesbians were referred to as genderqueer, which I didn't like at all, since I know a lot of butch lesbians (both cis and trans), who very much relate to their womanhood and would never identify as genderqueer simply because they are gender non-conforming (I felt these two terms were mixed up a bit).
All in all, however, this is a super interesting story about the history of transgender rights in the US and how they developed over time. I really liked how hopeful Riki was that maybe future generations can continue to change for the better as it is something I hope too. This book is incredibly well written and I enjoyed reading it a lot even though it is not always easy. Personally, I have to say this was very educational and very interesting and I can just recommend this book to anyone who is interested in History of transgender people and their fight in the United States.
If you are interested in LGBT History in America this is definitely a great book to read. Written by activist Riki Wilchins this book mostly focuses on her personal experience as a politically active trans woman, a founding member of Camp Trans and a member of the Transgender Menance.
Having done some research on my own in LGBT History I had known some of the things that Riki mentioned. I had heard about Michigans Womyn Music Festival and how they excluded Trans Woman from participating in it, but I hadn't known that there was a Camp right outside that protested against this, the Camp Trans, created and led by trans women, but also supported by many of the cis lesbians that had been visiting the festival. I had obviously known about the high amount of violence trans women, especially gnc, black and/or poor trans women faced, but reading about it like this from somebody who experienced it, is definitely something else than just knowing it happens. But there are many other things I didn't know and which were both hopeful and heartbreaking to read about, f.e. the fight trans woman had to go through to finally be seen by mainstream LGBT organizations and how these organizations kept refusing to pay any kind of attention to their plight.
Trigger warnings for assault, murder, transphobic and transmisogynistic slurs, police brutality and rape, as well as mentions of csa and incest.
One thing I didn't really like was how genderqueer people and people who fell outside of the gender binary were sometimes regarded as more radical, more political than binary or passing trans people. While trans people don't need to pass to deserve having their identity respected, those who do aren't automatically any less political than non-passing trans people. Also sometimes butch lesbians were referred to as genderqueer, which I didn't like at all, since I know a lot of butch lesbians (both cis and trans), who very much relate to their womanhood and would never identify as genderqueer simply because they are gender non-conforming (I felt these two terms were mixed up a bit).
All in all, however, this is a super interesting story about the history of transgender rights in the US and how they developed over time. I really liked how hopeful Riki was that maybe future generations can continue to change for the better as it is something I hope too. This book is incredibly well written and I enjoyed reading it a lot even though it is not always easy. Personally, I have to say this was very educational and very interesting and I can just recommend this book to anyone who is interested in History of transgender people and their fight in the United States.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When I first heard about this book, I was so excited! Riot Grrrls! Punk! A fat bisexual Main Character! And all of these points were delivered on, sometimes even quite well. But for a book that praises itself on intersectional feminism, there is still a lot of terrible things going on.
For a really long time in this book, racism goes unchallenged. Sure the black girls that are affected by it don't like it, but Tabitha simply doesn't understand why something like this might hurt somebody, even if her girlfriend regularly explains to her that it does. She actually only understands how her experiences as a white bisexual woman with accepting parents differ from the experiences of her girlfriend as a black lesbian woman, who has been not accepted at home and subsequently ended up crashing at a friend's place, when a white woman explains it to her.
There is a super racist character that plays a huge role in the book. She always talks about how the black girls just make everything about race, while downplaying the racism and misogyny black women face especially for being black women. This is only ever called out by the black characters themselves, while the white main character stands by and thinks that it's kind off bad, sure, but not that big of a deal anyway and doesn't say anything. Repeatedly.
Also, I think sexual abuse and rape is portrayed horribly in this book. Pretty early on, one character outs another character as a sexual abuse survivor after she broke down in tears. Her pain and what happened to her is then used to make a statement ala all Rapists are Evil, Crush the Patriarchy, while the girl is still in the room crying. This moment really left me flabbergasted, because it just shows so little respect for survivors. There is also a scene where Tabitha gets sexually assaulted (after being told that she just needs a man so she won't be with women anymore, so uh be careful) and her girlfriend downplays this moment by saying she knows the guy who did it and she knows that he is harmless. After this, they break up, but the character still acts like she was in the right and Tabitha overreacted.
Then, of course, there is a lot of cissexism. Actually, this book is only for cis women. Trans people don't "exist" in it and vaginas and uteruses and "the body" are often compared to what makes someone a woman. For a book that wants to be about intersectional feminism, this just isn't okay.
Then there is a scene where the main characters love interest refers to herself as butch and instantly the main character freaks out, tells her she's not butch, she's "all woman" to her (because she has breasts. And a vagina. So she's of course, definitely not butch, because it's a bad word. Also, god forbid trans butch lesbians exist. Woman = Vagina & Boobs. Yup. That's totally how it works.).
And last but definitely not least, there is the constant biphobia thrown towards the main character. She's undecided. Her sexuality is a phase. She's actually a lesbian because she had two girlfriends. Her bisexuality is thrown at her at the same time as the accusation of being indecisive. At least this is sometimes called out, but most of the time the character just thinks this is wrong and doesn't talk about it. It's just really heartbreaking to read. There's also the terrible blurb in which it says that Tabitha is not interested in boys which is, of course, complete bullshit, because she likes girls AND boys and seeing that erased in the blurb already is incredible bad.
But what annoys me most is that this book had such a great premise. The riot grrrl movement and how zines were used back then (so cool!) was something I really liked and what most interested me in this book when I saw it. Some parts of this were actually portrayed well. But when you want to write a book like this, a book about this time, a book about intersectional feminism, then you really need to be careful not to include as many micro-aggressions as they are shown here, mostly without being really challenged. I definitely can't recommend this book to people who know what intersectionality means or who are non-white, LGBT+ and/or survivors of sexual abuse and assault.
When I first heard about this book, I was so excited! Riot Grrrls! Punk! A fat bisexual Main Character! And all of these points were delivered on, sometimes even quite well. But for a book that praises itself on intersectional feminism, there is still a lot of terrible things going on.
For a really long time in this book, racism goes unchallenged. Sure the black girls that are affected by it don't like it, but Tabitha simply doesn't understand why something like this might hurt somebody, even if her girlfriend regularly explains to her that it does. She actually only understands how her experiences as a white bisexual woman with accepting parents differ from the experiences of her girlfriend as a black lesbian woman, who has been not accepted at home and subsequently ended up crashing at a friend's place, when a white woman explains it to her.
There is a super racist character that plays a huge role in the book. She always talks about how the black girls just make everything about race, while downplaying the racism and misogyny black women face especially for being black women. This is only ever called out by the black characters themselves, while the white main character stands by and thinks that it's kind off bad, sure, but not that big of a deal anyway and doesn't say anything. Repeatedly.
Also, I think sexual abuse and rape is portrayed horribly in this book. Pretty early on, one character outs another character as a sexual abuse survivor after she broke down in tears. Her pain and what happened to her is then used to make a statement ala all Rapists are Evil, Crush the Patriarchy, while the girl is still in the room crying. This moment really left me flabbergasted, because it just shows so little respect for survivors. There is also a scene where Tabitha gets sexually assaulted (after being told that she just needs a man so she won't be with women anymore, so uh be careful) and her girlfriend downplays this moment by saying she knows the guy who did it and she knows that he is harmless. After this, they break up, but the character still acts like she was in the right and Tabitha overreacted.
Then, of course, there is a lot of cissexism. Actually, this book is only for cis women. Trans people don't "exist" in it and vaginas and uteruses and "the body" are often compared to what makes someone a woman. For a book that wants to be about intersectional feminism, this just isn't okay.
Then there is a scene where the main characters love interest refers to herself as butch and instantly the main character freaks out, tells her she's not butch, she's "all woman" to her (because she has breasts. And a vagina. So she's of course, definitely not butch, because it's a bad word. Also, god forbid trans butch lesbians exist. Woman = Vagina & Boobs. Yup. That's totally how it works.).
And last but definitely not least, there is the constant biphobia thrown towards the main character. She's undecided. Her sexuality is a phase. She's actually a lesbian because she had two girlfriends. Her bisexuality is thrown at her at the same time as the accusation of being indecisive. At least this is sometimes called out, but most of the time the character just thinks this is wrong and doesn't talk about it. It's just really heartbreaking to read. There's also the terrible blurb in which it says that Tabitha is not interested in boys which is, of course, complete bullshit, because she likes girls AND boys and seeing that erased in the blurb already is incredible bad.
But what annoys me most is that this book had such a great premise. The riot grrrl movement and how zines were used back then (so cool!) was something I really liked and what most interested me in this book when I saw it. Some parts of this were actually portrayed well. But when you want to write a book like this, a book about this time, a book about intersectional feminism, then you really need to be careful not to include as many micro-aggressions as they are shown here, mostly without being really challenged. I definitely can't recommend this book to people who know what intersectionality means or who are non-white, LGBT+ and/or survivors of sexual abuse and assault.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Johnnie is an artist and right now she's really struggling. Somewhere between dealing with anxiety and her traumatic past, her creative energy has disappeared and she hasn't finished something in ages. Depending on the money she gets from selling her pictures, she finally takes the advice of a good friend of hers and makes an appointment with a creative practitioner, who helps clients awaken or re-discover their creative sides, sometimes using a sensual or sexual approach to it.
This book gives us two perspectives, switching between Johnnie and Elaine so we get a good look into their lives, thoughts, and feelings. Both of them have pretty tragic pasts and a hard time trusting someone new, so reading them navigate that was fascinating.
I adored the beginning, how they met, the attraction they felt for each other while dealing with what had happened in past relationships. There was quite a lot Will-They, Wont-They and many, many flashbacks that helped make the characters feel more real.
Sadly this was ruined for me a bit further down the road as they finally talked and then BAM drama. And not just a little bit, no, lots and lots of drama. A toxic ex that keeps coming back, a good friend that really wants to make out with you, even though you don't want then too, a dead wife and guilt over besmirching her memory and a troubled past.
While I really liked Johnnie, sometimes it was really hard to read her chapters. She wants to please everybody and hates making people angry and this was abused quite a lot, mostly by her ex-girlfriend, who caused a lot of drama. And there is a lot of drama going on. Sometimes it feels like too much.
I did like that homelessness was talked about, and about how traumatizing living on the street and always having to be aware of your surroundings can be. I really enjoyed that there were Native American side characters, they were awesome. And I absolutely adored the ending, it was so nice and great.
If you like your romance really, really, really drama heavy, then this is the book for you. If you aren't a fan of over the top drama (like me) then it is still a nice book, but sometimes gets quite hard to keep reading. All in all, the story was definitely interesting and had a nice premise, as well as great characters, but I could have done with a bit less drama.
Johnnie is an artist and right now she's really struggling. Somewhere between dealing with anxiety and her traumatic past, her creative energy has disappeared and she hasn't finished something in ages. Depending on the money she gets from selling her pictures, she finally takes the advice of a good friend of hers and makes an appointment with a creative practitioner, who helps clients awaken or re-discover their creative sides, sometimes using a sensual or sexual approach to it.
This book gives us two perspectives, switching between Johnnie and Elaine so we get a good look into their lives, thoughts, and feelings. Both of them have pretty tragic pasts and a hard time trusting someone new, so reading them navigate that was fascinating.
I adored the beginning, how they met, the attraction they felt for each other while dealing with what had happened in past relationships. There was quite a lot Will-They, Wont-They and many, many flashbacks that helped make the characters feel more real.
Sadly this was ruined for me a bit further down the road as they finally talked and then BAM drama. And not just a little bit, no, lots and lots of drama. A toxic ex that keeps coming back, a good friend that really wants to make out with you, even though you don't want then too, a dead wife and guilt over besmirching her memory and a troubled past.
While I really liked Johnnie, sometimes it was really hard to read her chapters. She wants to please everybody and hates making people angry and this was abused quite a lot, mostly by her ex-girlfriend, who caused a lot of drama. And there is a lot of drama going on. Sometimes it feels like too much.
I did like that homelessness was talked about, and about how traumatizing living on the street and always having to be aware of your surroundings can be. I really enjoyed that there were Native American side characters, they were awesome. And I absolutely adored the ending, it was so nice and great.
If you like your romance really, really, really drama heavy, then this is the book for you. If you aren't a fan of over the top drama (like me) then it is still a nice book, but sometimes gets quite hard to keep reading. All in all, the story was definitely interesting and had a nice premise, as well as great characters, but I could have done with a bit less drama.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
If you like monsters and girls and monster girls, this book is definitely a short story you should check out.
The Beast has been cursed by a fairy once upon a time. Now she looks stranger than a werewolf, hairy and with fangs and claws. The only way she can break the curse is to get a woman to fall in love with her. The thing is, she's not actually sure if she wants to break the curse.
Bonnie is also no Damsel in Distress. She knew why she was sent to the Beast and she came willingly. She's also super sassy and knows what she wants.
I liked the idea that fairy's had taken over the world after technology failed, that was a nice idea.
However, this story is very, very, veeery short and a lot of that is sexy times. Due to this, there is not a lot of time for character development.
All in all, this story was just too short for me to really enjoy, but it has a nice setting and great potential and I really liked Bonnie.
If you like monsters and girls and monster girls, this book is definitely a short story you should check out.
The Beast has been cursed by a fairy once upon a time. Now she looks stranger than a werewolf, hairy and with fangs and claws. The only way she can break the curse is to get a woman to fall in love with her. The thing is, she's not actually sure if she wants to break the curse.
Bonnie is also no Damsel in Distress. She knew why she was sent to the Beast and she came willingly. She's also super sassy and knows what she wants.
I liked the idea that fairy's had taken over the world after technology failed, that was a nice idea.
However, this story is very, very, veeery short and a lot of that is sexy times. Due to this, there is not a lot of time for character development.
All in all, this story was just too short for me to really enjoy, but it has a nice setting and great potential and I really liked Bonnie.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I have to mention one good thing about this book right in the beginning. While the title might sound biphobic it thankfully isn't (or at least it isn't as much as it could be). In the end, the main character realizes that he is, in fact, bisexual and that the percent way that he used to say he was actually straight, but there were hot guys out there, was a wrong way of thinking.
Despite this, there is still more than enough stuff in this book that I didn't like at all. There's a lot of unchecked biphobia in this book. Some of it comes from the main character, who simply spews all the biphobic stereotypes he internalized. For example, one time he says that bi women only ever make out at frat parties to entice straight guys. This is not really criticized and I absolutely hated this scene. Being bisexual means being confused, it means to experiment, it is a phase. In the end, the character embraces his bisexuality, but it is absolutely not enough to make up for the rest of this mess, which stretches through most of the book. Writing about a character discovering themselves is not a bad thing in itself, but the way it was portrayed here was just... really, really hard for me to finish.
Another thing that bothered me was Ellis. At first, he pestered Logan constantly to admit that he was actually bisexual (it was nice that he did offer the word to Logan though) - called him closeted in a gay bar, flirted with him constantly, talked about what they had - but when Logan accepts it and wants to kiss him (in the same chapter too! the same evening!), he freaks out? Because Logan is definitely actually straight and just wants to break his heart (again)? It made absolutely no sense and seemed to only be written in the novel for some drama and it annoyed me hugely.
And then Logan, oh my god, Logan was such a terrible, terrible character. He mocks consent when Ellis asks him if he can kiss him, bc pfff stupid people thinking asking before you kiss something is an okay thing to do, lmao, stuuuupid. That scene was once more really disgusting. That, plus his unchecked biphobia, his general unpleasantness, the fact that he was a gigantic asshole to Ellis etc, made him very, very unlikeable.
All in all, I have to say that this book definitely wasn't for me. While I liked that part where it was talked about how even accepting parents can make it hard for their children to come out to the ever-present heteronormativity that surrounds us all the time, pretty much everything else was bad and annoyed me.
I have to mention one good thing about this book right in the beginning. While the title might sound biphobic it thankfully isn't (or at least it isn't as much as it could be). In the end, the main character realizes that he is, in fact, bisexual and that the percent way that he used to say he was actually straight, but there were hot guys out there, was a wrong way of thinking.
Despite this, there is still more than enough stuff in this book that I didn't like at all. There's a lot of unchecked biphobia in this book. Some of it comes from the main character, who simply spews all the biphobic stereotypes he internalized. For example, one time he says that bi women only ever make out at frat parties to entice straight guys. This is not really criticized and I absolutely hated this scene. Being bisexual means being confused, it means to experiment, it is a phase. In the end, the character embraces his bisexuality, but it is absolutely not enough to make up for the rest of this mess, which stretches through most of the book. Writing about a character discovering themselves is not a bad thing in itself, but the way it was portrayed here was just... really, really hard for me to finish.
Another thing that bothered me was Ellis. At first, he pestered Logan constantly to admit that he was actually bisexual (it was nice that he did offer the word to Logan though) - called him closeted in a gay bar, flirted with him constantly, talked about what they had - but when Logan accepts it and wants to kiss him (in the same chapter too! the same evening!), he freaks out? Because Logan is definitely actually straight and just wants to break his heart (again)? It made absolutely no sense and seemed to only be written in the novel for some drama and it annoyed me hugely.
And then Logan, oh my god, Logan was such a terrible, terrible character. He mocks consent when Ellis asks him if he can kiss him, bc pfff stupid people thinking asking before you kiss something is an okay thing to do, lmao, stuuuupid. That scene was once more really disgusting. That, plus his unchecked biphobia, his general unpleasantness, the fact that he was a gigantic asshole to Ellis etc, made him very, very unlikeable.
All in all, I have to say that this book definitely wasn't for me. While I liked that part where it was talked about how even accepting parents can make it hard for their children to come out to the ever-present heteronormativity that surrounds us all the time, pretty much everything else was bad and annoyed me.
As a huge fan of superheroes myself, I often see how hard it can be to find superhero stories that have a diverse cast. If you are also searching for this, you will definitely find it here. And I can promise you that it is very well done. Featuring a biracial bisexual lead character, a cute romance, a trans side character and many superheroes and -villains, this book was a super fun read.
What impressed me most about this book, was the fun and easy-to-read way it was written. It is not a dark and gritty superhero novel, with death and destruction everywhere. Instead, it is really uplifting and simply a joy to read. Even when bad things happen, there is still friendship and family and trust in yourself and considering the fact that marginalized groups rarely ever get this kind of representation, I absolutely adored this book.
Sadly, the world building sometimes comes off as a bit weak (why are they fighting again? I mean the war is over, who do they need to convince? I just don't get it!) and predictable superhero tropes are used quite a bit, which I can understand on the one hand, but which also dimmed my enjoyment of this book slightly. But I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
I adored Jess and her story. At times I wish she would not have developed powers as it would have been amazing to see the main character in a superhero world and family without any powers, but that is my only problem with Jess. Other than that I love her so much. She feels weird sometimes in her family due to her not having developed superpowers yet, she feels weird due to her mixed race, which makes her feel as if she doesn't really fit in with either group, she only has a few friends in school and also used to be bullied for being bisexual. Despite all of this, the story never sinks into melodrama. There is always this upbeat feeling in it and it's just so much fun!
Another amazing thing about this book were the side characters. Bells - who is now getting his own story, ahh I'm excited - the best friend, a super amazing trans character and also really awesome. Or Abby, the hot cheerleader, who is actually really sweet and also super badass. And robots! Cute little robots that clean your house and beep at you and they have names, oh god, I love those robots.
One of my favorite things about this book however how they destroyed superhero/supervillain dichotomies. If you think you know what a superhero is and what a supervillain, think again! If you like stories about corrupt governments, this is for you.
All in all, this is a wonderfully fun story about superheroes, dismantling some of the things you think you know about them, it is about a group of kids, who are struggling to find their place in a world that is corrupt and weird, it is about friendship and family and cute little robots. It is funny and light-hearted despite dealing well with hard topics. It is diverse and very nice. So if you don't mind to suspend your disbelief a few times at a few really obvious plot twists and villain monologues, this will definitely be an amazing book for you to read.
What impressed me most about this book, was the fun and easy-to-read way it was written. It is not a dark and gritty superhero novel, with death and destruction everywhere. Instead, it is really uplifting and simply a joy to read. Even when bad things happen, there is still friendship and family and trust in yourself and considering the fact that marginalized groups rarely ever get this kind of representation, I absolutely adored this book.
Sadly, the world building sometimes comes off as a bit weak (why are they fighting again? I mean the war is over, who do they need to convince? I just don't get it!) and predictable superhero tropes are used quite a bit, which I can understand on the one hand, but which also dimmed my enjoyment of this book slightly. But I still enjoyed it quite a bit.
I adored Jess and her story. At times I wish she would not have developed powers as it would have been amazing to see the main character in a superhero world and family without any powers, but that is my only problem with Jess. Other than that I love her so much. She feels weird sometimes in her family due to her not having developed superpowers yet, she feels weird due to her mixed race, which makes her feel as if she doesn't really fit in with either group, she only has a few friends in school and also used to be bullied for being bisexual. Despite all of this, the story never sinks into melodrama. There is always this upbeat feeling in it and it's just so much fun!
Another amazing thing about this book were the side characters. Bells - who is now getting his own story, ahh I'm excited - the best friend, a super amazing trans character and also really awesome. Or Abby, the hot cheerleader, who is actually really sweet and also super badass. And robots! Cute little robots that clean your house and beep at you and they have names, oh god, I love those robots.
One of my favorite things about this book however how they destroyed superhero/supervillain dichotomies. If you think you know what a superhero is and what a supervillain, think again! If you like stories about corrupt governments, this is for you.
All in all, this is a wonderfully fun story about superheroes, dismantling some of the things you think you know about them, it is about a group of kids, who are struggling to find their place in a world that is corrupt and weird, it is about friendship and family and cute little robots. It is funny and light-hearted despite dealing well with hard topics. It is diverse and very nice. So if you don't mind to suspend your disbelief a few times at a few really obvious plot twists and villain monologues, this will definitely be an amazing book for you to read.
