On purely a craft level, I don’t think all the perspective shifts worked that well the character voices weren’t as distinct as I’d hoped for. And I did appreciate reading a book that was so intentionally messy from a trans perspective. I definitely felt uncomfortable reading it, but while the characters were sympathetic, they were also so unlikeable that I thought it was clear that we were not supposed to be taking everything they say at face value. I don’t usually care for super gory horror and I found this novel to be pretty close to my own line for the violence I could handle that’s a personal preference and not a criticism however.Īs a cis person, I can’t really chime in on the debates I’ve seen on whether the transphobia in the text is key to show the trans characters as layered or simply offensive.

I am a cis bi woman and I really liked it, with some caveats.

I'm not going to say it's a perfect novel, or even perfectly written, but as a novel that clearly is trying to show the emotional extremes of the situation, and also make a statement about the ideologies involved, it does very well.īut, what I'd like to hear is what other people have thought, especially cis people. Something about it has really made me turn the mirror on myself, and I love that, I love when a book can grab you by the shoulders and shake you. The differences between Fran and Beth, and differences in how they're treated really gets under my skin. It also makes me viscerally uncomfortable. It does a good job of taking TERF talking points about the male body being inherently dangerous, and pulling them to their most extreme conclusions. I think it hits some very important points from the trans perspective. I came into it as a queer trans woman, and I'm not sure how much the book would resonate with audiences outside of that community. I'm currently about halfway through and wanted to ask for perspectives on this book. Other Subreddits that might interest you: Horror Award Nominees & Winners, 1975-2013 R/horrorlit's TOP 10 GREATEST NON-SUPERNATURAL HORROR NOVELS OF ALL TIME!!! R/horrorlit's TOP 10 GREATEST HORROR SHORT STORIES OF ALL TIME!!!

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