Unfortunately this book was not for me, it made me feel a bit uncomfortable and confused while reading. While I respect others’ choice of how they live their life sexually/gender etc., I felt awkward reading it and decided to put it down a few pages in.

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters feels like a long awaited novel. With so many stories about trans youth becoming more common and popular in Young and New Adult literature, it was frankly past due for a Literary Adult novel to come out featuring adult trans and trans questioning individuals. The writing in this book is phenomenal, perfectly highlighting the complicated and messy trio of characters this story features. Above all, this is an incredible story about gender and motherhood, with a premise which fundamentally breaks the traditional concept of the nuclear family.

The triad of main characters in this story all offer a different facet to womanhood and identity, and are tied together through past memories and current desires. Reese is a trans woman who desires the comfortable life of upper class motherhood. Reese is a complex character who is fueled by jealousy. She is quick to judge others with little disregard with how her own past actions affect others. Despite this, Reese is a natural caretaker with a knack for caring for infants and children--something that certainly ties into her desire to care for her own child someday. Amos, Reese's ex, has recently de-transitioned and is introduced as the recent divorcee of Katerina. Amos has a complicated relationship with gender. He has hopes that identifying as a man rather than a trans women will be easier, but comes with its own challenges. The most glaring challenge Amos faces in the novel is getting his ex wife pregnant. Fearing commitment and fatherhood, he convinces Katerina to attempt a parenting triad with an individual who is committed to parenthood: Reese. These interactions are at times tense and cautious, as Katerina is a cis Asian American woman pregnant with a man she previously viewed as adhering to the gender binary. Despite this, all three members are willing to work together to figure out if a baby together is truly right for all of them.

The best moments of this novel are moments of honesty that are bluntly shared throughout the story. Reese's theories on trans and cis identities, Amos' moments of debating his gender identity, and Katerina's reminders of how race and sexism also shape the cis experience emphasize how all these characters are different and the result of an intersectional society. It's great to see how each character interacts in uncomfortable situations, with their flaws splayed out for the reader without apology. At times this story can feel slow as it transitions back and forth between the past and present, but overall, it builds to a very well rounded and nuanced modern story.

For fans of Pose and Disclosure, this book will be a treat while offering new concepts to chew on. This book is currently on a couple Best sellers lists, which comes at no surprise for me as a reviewer. On a completely separate note: the cover is gorgeous. Make sure to get a copy from your local bookstore as soon as possible.

This novel moves beyond character-driven to a true character study of two formerly coupled trans women — one who desires nothing more than to be a mother, and one who has detransitioned and is increasingly uncomfortable with his(her) current pending parenthood.

The characters are chaotic, messy, and real. They exasperated me as much as they endeared me. The story didn’t shy away from uncomfortable, unflattering, gritty moments.

The issues the novel explored were given a lot of depth. I especially connected with the way it explored the role gender plays in all of our lives, the relationship between sexuality and womanhood, aging and identity, and being vs doing. This isn’t a book full of fun, likable characters, but it is a book full of dynamic, vibrant, and sometimes horribly frustrating people you will probably recognize pieces of yourself in.

I did think the writing was a bit much at points, and the author’s voice would break through and overpower the established characters. The novel could do with a little tightening up, but I’m excited to read whatever Peters writes next.

Torrey Peters’s DETRANSITION, BABY is a novel that everyone needs to be reading and talking about! It is a provocative, raw, and wholly original exploration of gender, sexuality, motherhood, and the expanding definition of family. Witty and sexy as well as emotional and vulnerable; DETRANSITION, BABY is unlike any other book out there! Trust me, you need to read it!

Set in New York City, the story focuses on three people whose lives entangle around an unplanned pregnancy. Reese, a trans woman who has always longed to be a mother, was formerly in a relationship with Amy, another trans woman. But their relationship ended when Amy chose to detransition – return to the gender assigned at birth after living as the other gender. Now living as Ames, he is in a relationship with Katrina, a cis-woman, who unexpectedly becomes pregnant. The novel jumps back and forth between Reese and Amy’s past relationship and the present day as the three characters explore the best plan for the pregnancy.

DETRANSITION, BABY is a book only a trans woman could write. Peters lays bare the deep emotions, fears, and desires of the trans femme characters and expertly navigates around the hot button issue of detransitioning. Ames’s detransition is discussed in a nuanced and honest manner, making sure there is nothing stereotypical or inauthentic about how Ames is represented. Y’all know me, I’m into character-based books and this book has some of the most interesting and complicated characters I’ve read in a long time!

I guarantee that DETRANSITION, BABY will make people uncomfortable, which is a great thing! It pushes against societal norms forcing the reader to reevaluate their understanding of parenting, family, gender, and sexuality. It provides a view into the trans femme experience that is not written like a “how-to-guide” for cis-gendered readers. In fact, it feels like this was written for trans folks and that as a cis person I am lucky to be reading it! And it does all this while being so funny and so hot and so heart-wrenching and just so good! READ IT!

This book started off very strong. After the first chapter (which is long), I was convinced this would be my next binge read and five star book. I really liked the author's writing style and I was curious to see how Reese and Amy/Ames would work out the pregnancy situation.

As soon as I got to the middle of the story, it dove deep into the history of Amy and Reese - how they met, what their relationship was like, what they were doing when they met - and the graphic sex was just a little too much for me. It was around this point that I started feeling like the author was overly detailed in her descriptions - almost like she was trying to prove her abilities.

I ended up skimming a lot of the book and it's unfortunate because I felt like this was an area of LBTBQ+ that hasn't been explored yet and I was interested too see Peters' take on it.

Reese and Amy nearly had it all--a loving relationship, an apartment, and safety in each other: something extremely difficult for trans women to find. But that all changes when Amy decides to detransition and become Ames. Now Reese feels lost and alone, turning to her old patterns of sleeping with men who treat her poorly. And Ames isn't particularly happy either, though he's found a sort of comfort in his relationship with his boss, Katrina. But when Katrina discovers she's pregnant--with Ames' child--Ames is forced to confront a lot of his fears about masculinity and fatherhood. He also wonders if it's a chance for family. Reese has always longed for a baby; could he, Reese, and Katrina raise this child together?

"Somewhere, somehow, Amy did the impossible. She got herself a baby."

I love that this diverse book was my 300th read for Netgalley. I love love love that there is a story about trans women being celebrated and heralded on "must read" lists. I enjoyed so much about this book. Reese and Amy are detailed and realistic characters who--to me at least--did not seem stereotypical or one-dimensional. I felt like I learned so much reading their raw, emotional, and lovely story.

The tale of Ames becoming a parent--and wanting to involve Reese--was an interesting and dynamic one for me. I could completely understand Reese's longing for motherhood and how she felt on the outside looking in. This part of the book was original and fascinating. Pieces of the story were utterly hilarious, despite some of the serious subject matter. There is a chapter where Reese attends an essential oils party with Katrina and other straight/cis women that made me laugh out loud. Peters captures her voice so perfectly. There's a vulnerability and realness to Reese that makes her a captivating character from the start.

"Reese had already diagnosed her own problem. She didn't know how to be alone. She fled from her own company, from her own solitude."

The hardest part for me about this book had nothing to do with its subject matter (if that's a problem for you, you're the problem), but the fact that it veers between the past and the present, going on tangents about Reese and Amy's past. Sometimes it seemed like it just needed a strong edit, with someone willing to strike about half of those passages. Or perhaps I just wanted to get on with the present, the impending baby, and Reese, Katrina, and Ames' story. I'm not sure. But I was nearly compelled to skim some of these long passages. It was just a lot. And then, after all that, the book just sort of ended, to me, without much resolution, and I felt a bit betrayed.

Still, do not get me wrong. This is an excellent and important story, and more such stories like this need to be told. I definitely recommend it, and I bet any forthcoming books from Peters will only get better and better. 3.5 stars.

Wow, what a powerful and beautiful story. Complicated and messy but loveable characters and relationships, bingeable prose. love love love.

This book is phenomenal. I could tell from the first page that I was going to love this book, or I could at least tell that I would thoroughly enjoy it. It's immediately apparent that the author’s writing was witty and engaging. The premise behind this story is fundamentally mind boggling, at least speaking as a cisman. The story centers around these three key figures: two trans women, or one transwoman and her ex trans partner who has now detransitioned back into a man. After the break up, “he” gets with a cis woman, and she ends up pregnant. While “he” may be living a life as a man, his gender is still not that simple. At the prospects of being a “father”, he devises a plan to create nontraditional relationship between his new lover and his old girlfriend. The story focuses on how this dynamic plays out, but it spends much more time in flashbacks giving us context of our two main trans characters. For many, this book may be difficult because it lacks significant plot, but for those who are interested in a character study, this is the perfect book for you. Our characters are complex and problematic but also lovable. It only gets better when you add on to that the complex conversation about trans issues, what it's like to be trans, and the sacrifices you have to make if you're trans. It really challenges the traditional heteronormative idea of a relationship, of a family, and what it means to be a mother or father. This book is the best book I've read all year. Granted it's late January, but it's still really damn good.
Check out my video review of this on my YouTube channel, https://youtu.be/mE7BbExXIso.

Detransition, Baby is the debut novel from Torrey Peters and it is provocative, messy, and entirely whipsmart.

It explores themes of gender, sexuality, motherhood, trans identity, and ultimately, the role and influence of femininity in the lives of the three main characters. Reese is a trans woman who has longed to be a mother, Katrina is a cis woman who finds herself pregnant and unsure, and Ames, the tie that binds, is a man whose past as a trans woman leaves him reluctant to fully embrace the idea of fatherhood.

Ames is the tie that binds in that he has an affair with his boss, Katrina, and she becomes pregnant. In deciding how to proceed, he proposes a novel family dynamic and ask his ex Reese, to be a mother as well. He is offering her the thing she’s always wanted but couldn’t have on her own. Is it wacky enough to work? What follows is a story alternating between present day (after conception) and years ago, when Ames was Amy and living with Reese. Between the two timelines you learn what brought the lovers together and ultimately tore them apart.

One of the themes throughout the story was the dynamic between men and women in traditional gender roles centered around dominance to the point of violence. Reese has a drawn out relationship with a man who clearly styles himself as an alpha and his control over her - to the point of slapping her - gives her a feeling of being a petite and fragile woman. The idea was nuanced and yet struck me as clear as day because for Reese part of being a woman is feeling frail next to a big, strong man. This performance is all part of engendered expression despite the obvious flaws. Seeing femininity through the eyes of a transgender woman character opened my eyes to aspects I’d breezily ignored as being inherently feminine.

Peters’ writing is sharp and cutting, and she presents her characters as they truly are - deeply vulnerable with all their flaws and secrets on display. I look forward to more from this author! If you like books that are fast paced, character driven, and explore the intersection of human relationships and identity, then this book is for you.

Thanks to One World and Net Galley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is an interesting work written in Torrey Peters' unique voice. As with her other works, there are complicated not entirely savory, but very real characters living though uniquely queer situations written from a very strong trans perspective. There is a lot to chew on in this book, not the least of which is how one negotiates the distance between one's sense of self and who they present to the world, and the myriad ways to be a woman in a society that has such narrow, deeply gendered paths (see also: The Sex and the City Problem.) It's not always an easy read, but it's definitely worth it, especially if you're into messy, complicated characters and relationships

I read this book not sure what to expect. Loved it and will reread to understand the characters more.

Whew - what a book! This asks and answers all sorts of questions spanning from relationships, what does it mean to be a parent, a friend, a lover, what is a family, who the H even are we? This book is chaotic and messy in a pleasing way, and is one I won’t soon forget. No question - I will read Torrey Peters backlist novellas and whatever comes next.

This book is moving, alive, and hilarious. We need more trans women perspectives in publishing and this is a great start. Would love to hear from trans women of color. Detransition, Baby should be on everyone's to-read list.

First, I want to thank NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. A lot Detransition, Baby, I really enjoyed reading and some of it I didn’t. This is a story about 3 people looking for family. Reese is a trans woman who desperately wants to be a mother. Katrina is a ciswoman, recently divorced who finds herself pregnant and not sure if she has the support she needs to raise a baby. Amy is a trans woman who has detransitioned, now living as Ames he is wrestling with his girlfriend’s surprise pregnancy and his discomfort with being a father. Throughout the story, I was always routing for these characters because all three are flawed people trying to create a space for themselves. Detransition, Baby allows the reader a window into the characters struggles, both internally with how they view the world and externally with the decisions they make. I found Reese frustrating for her understanding of what it means to be female in a relationship. I’m glad I had the opportunity to read Detransition, Baby because it pulled me in and made me think about the very human issues that the characters struggle with.

OMG. I learned so much around gender, identity, sex, and everything that comes along with not being cis. In “Detransition Baby,” debut author Torrey Peters vividly portrays the fascinating, yet complicated, lives of what it’s like to be a woman, especially a trans woman. She also delves into the cultural, physical and emotional issues around motherhood, and the complexities for both trans and cis women.

There are three main characters in this novel. Katrina is a biracial “passing” CIS woman who gets unexpectedly pregnant by her lover, Ames. Ames just happens to be her subordinate at their big-time marketing agency in NYC. But the plot thickens when Katrina finds out that Ames was born as “James” and then transitioned to “Amy” before his detransition to Ames.

Yes, it’s complicated. And it’s also awesome.

Key to the storyline is Amy’s ex-girlfriend and best friend, Reese, who – as a transwoman – longs to be a mother. When Ames finds out he’s going to be a dad, he comes up with a non-traditional (but creative) idea. He asks Reese to help raise him and Katrina raise the baby in what’s known as a “triad.” But is Katrina open to co-parenting together with Ames and Reece as one big, happy family?

Mostly the book is about everyone’s journeys and how they get to where they are (before and after the baby’s conception). As everyone processes the decision at hand, we learn what it’s like to be in a relationship with a woman—at all angles.

Provocative as hell, I devoured both the audiobook and advanced reader copy, shared with me thanks to Random House / One World. (Note: I purchased the audio recording -- produced by Random House Audio -- which was beautifully narrated by the highly talented Renata Friedman.)

I absolutely recommend this page-turner for open-minded readers. This is an excellent way to better understand the challenges facing our trans sisters.

This book was so much more than I was expecting, although I'd heard a lot of good things. It is such a rich, complex and emotional story with unforgettable characters. I was not surprised that I could find relatable elements in each of the characters, but as a middle-aged cis white woman who likes to think of herself as sensitive and aware, there were so many things that I never knew about or gave much thought to. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC for an honest review.

This title😍! Just so great.....
This book is witty, unique, messy, complex and heartfelt. I learnt a lot, fell in love with the characters, and loved the way it navigated the complicated topics of parenting, motherhood, fatherhood, sex and gender, and relationships... . A really eye-opening, thought-provoking read....

Torrey Peters is a wonderful storyteller. I really enjoyed this quirky and deeply emotional novel. I did feel that something was missing in the second half. The story felt incomplete to me. The last 30 pages were so rushed. However, I thought the character development was really strong. Reese, Ames, and Katrina each had sides to their personalities that were positive and negative, which made them feel like real people. All three of their backstories are compelling. I think the chapters in the past tense were the most intriguing to read. The writing was brilliant. Peters' writing style is so witty, sarcastic, and imaginative. I couldn't help but chuckle every few pages. I love how this novel tackled the struggles of the trans community. It's so refreshing to read about characters of all walks of life. A diverse and relevant novel (much appreciated).

Thank you, Netgalley and Random House for the digital ARC.

4.5 mangos

<i>Destransition, Baby</i> starts out with a bang (almost quite literally) and doesn't slow down for almost 400 pages. I couldn't put it down, wanting to know what happens next while also needing to know what happened to Reese and Ames in their pasts. I don't know how Peters did it, but she managed to write both a super specific book (Reese, a trans woman, Ames/Amy, a detransitioned woman, and Katrina, a cis woman are maybe having a baby together. maybe.) and a richly layered book about womanhood, motherhood, gender, femininity, grief, race and class (that's a giant list).

This is a funny, smart, honest, and uncomfortable (there's no hand holding here) book filled with complicated and flawed characters. The writing is sharp and engaging, I kept backtracking to reread some lines because they were that good. I cared so much for Ames and Reese, though I'll admit that I'm not sure I ever got Katrina. She wasn't as fully realized to me or maybe I just didn't trust her motivations in the end (you go from having transphobic reactions to leaning into queer life in the span of a few weeks?). The end, at first the end let me down it being so open, but as I thought about it more it did make sense for these characters and this story. There is no easy decision or simple happy ending. It'll be a constant messy process no matter where it goes.

random thoughts:
Ames had some good lines, but Reese's will cut you
I'm still not 100% sure I understand Ames plan, or rather why was that his first thought. After finishing the book, I went back and reread the first few chapters for some insight. I could reread the whole book again, there was so much there. I am not a rereader.
We get both Werner Herzog and Wim Hof references, a win in my book.
The doTerra party was everything.
I feel like Peters let us in so many secrets and I have to thank her for that.

ARC received from netgalley

Detransition, Baby was the first book I've read by a trans woman about being a trans woman. The novel is full of messiness, love, pointed observations and realness - I really appreciated all of it.

Reese is a trans woman who lives in New York and has sex with married men who fetishize trans women. All Reese has ever wanted is to be a mother; so when she gets a call from Ames, her ex who "detransitioned" from Amy proposing a viable path to motherhood for her, she is intrigued. Enter Katrina, Ames' boss who is pregnant with said baby. Katrina is mixed, half-Chinese half-white and she is decidedly heterosexual.

There is a journey throughout this book. It doesn't really feel like a book with a beginning, middle and end. It feels like you're reading about a real thing that happened to real people, and I appreciate that. This is my first foray with Peters' writing, and I enjoyed her writing style. I think she addressed a lot of major points - the difference between being a trans woman and a trans woman of color, the parallels between certain cis women and trans women and the way that straight people often feel they empathize and understand but can rip the rug from right out underneath queer folks. Katrina, as a character, is not my favorite because of the way she conflates her own experiences with being a trans woman - they are not the same, especially because she is white-passing. I think Peters does a great job of writing Reese as a character you sympathize with, while maybe understanding why she can be so self-destructive.

I give this novel 4 stars. It loses a star because it was a bit long-winded in some places, and I found myself losing interest here and there. Still, Peters strung together an amazing #OwnVoices story that needed to be told.

Thank you very much to NetGalley, Torrey Peters and Random House Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC to review this book. Buy Detransition, Baby now!