REVIEW: Detransition, Baby – Torrey Peters

Imogen Marshall — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 17:00:30 +0000

Torrey Peters released one of the most acclaimed, clever and sharp debuts of 2021 – Detransition, Baby. Here, we catch up on this backlist book and give our thoughts on the debut novel. Pick up a copy here.

Torrey Peters released her whipsmart debut novel – Detransition, Baby – in 2021 that earned immense critical acclaim. The novel revolves around three women – Reese, Amy and Katrina – grappling with impending motherhood. Reese nearly had it all in her loving relationship with Amy, but the only thing missing was a child. Then everything fell apart and three years on Reese is still in self-destruct mode, avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men. When Reese calls to ask if she wants to be a mother to his unplanned child, Reese finds herself intrigued. After being attacked in the street, Amy de-transitioned to become Ames, changed jobs and, thinking he was infertile, started an affair with his boss Katrina. Now Katrina’s pregnant. The three of them decide to form an unconventional family and raise the baby together. The novel centres around the complexity of these relationships, particularly how these manifest in discussions of gender.

Detransition, Baby is an immensely charming novel – funny, smart and messy. Above all, it is full of emotion, showcasing the complexity of these kinds of relationships but it is not contrived. Peters delivers the novel with immense tenderness. More than anything, the novel will broaden public understanding of transness without “teaching”. The novel is filled with wonderful and joyful characters and it is overall an immensely enjoyable and delightful book.

Pick up a copy here.

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Everything I Read in February 2022

Imogen Marshall — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 06:00:02 +0000

Our editor Imogen breaks down the books that she read in February 2022, including one of 2021’s most acclaimed releases, an eye-opening non fiction and a book that she could have left.

1. A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Frost and Starlight is the 4th book in Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series. It’s a blissful interlude after the breathless pace of A Court of Mist and Fury telling the story of Feyre, Rhys and their friends celebration of the Winter Solstice – Feyre’s first as High Lady.

The book is narrated by Feyre and Rhysand and is wondrous tale of hope and promise, setting the stage for the last instalment of the series – A Court of Silver Flames.

This novel had a mixed reception from fans, but when taken as a palate cleanser between books, it is a welcome and hopeful reprieve.

Read our full review of the first novel here.

2. One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid

One True Loves is a startlingly powerful novel about loss, heartache and the true meaning of love. The novel centres around Emma Blair who marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, leaving their hometown in Massachusetts and pursuing a life of adventure and travel. On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Emma is heartbroken, quitting her job and moving home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.. until Jesse is found – alive. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect both men who she loves deeply.

One True Loves is a novel of immense power, unpicking the depths of heartache and the true meaning of love, including what it really means to let someone go. It’s beautifully and propulsively written, as ever, by Taylor Jenkins Reid who is a master of these kinds of works.

Read our full review here.

3. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling

The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling is a very quick read, but for those expecting something clever from Rachel Hawkins, this is not it. The Ex Hex feels childish at times, not just with the content but the writing itself. Whilst an enjoyable and easy read, the characters feel quite surface level and so the reader is not suckered in in the way they have been in her other works. Honestly, we’d give this one a miss, despite its TikTok viral crown.

Read our full review here.

4. Men Who Hate Women by Laura Bates

In Men Who Hate Women, Laura Bates takes a deep dive into the vast network of misogynist communities currently at work around the globe. It’s both a fascinating and terrifying read that traces the roots of misogyny from Incels themselves to Pick Up Artists and Men’s Rights Activists – exploring the way pervasive and pernicious narratives have become a large part of the mainstream, from political posturing to the large erasure of misogyny from the definition of terrorism. Bates looks deep into how these movements can groom and radicalise young and vulnerable men, tracing the origins of this extreme ideology from the internet to real life through real-life sleuthing of internet forums to interviews with trolls, former incels and academics understanding the movement.

Largely, the book feels despairing as Bates how pernicious these thoughts and narratives have become and how prevalent the idea of the manosphere is. Still, Bates does provide an element of hope in her examination of the conscious ways that people – particularly men – can work to undermine this momentum. More than anything in her desire to work against the narratives that are propagated on YouTube, Reddit and more. Bates largely feels empathetic in how impressionable young boys can fall prey to these narratives and it is this that prevents the book from feeling despondent. This is a vital and necessary read for people of any gender.

5. Detransition Baby by Torrey Peters

Detransition Baby was one of the biggest, most acclaimed debuts of 2021. It is a whipsmart debut about three women—transgender and cisgender—whose lives collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires around gender, motherhood, and sex.

It is a provocative debut that will shift perceptions – an immensely eye-opening novel that will garner empathy for those of all genders encountering motherhood for the first time.

Pick up a copy here.

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REVIEW: Detransition, Baby – Torrey Peters

Everything I Read in February 2022