DETRANSITION, BABY by Torrey Peters is seriously SO GOOD! Right after reading chapter one I was immediately hooked to keep reading based on the unique storyline. This debut novel is about Reese, a transgender woman, and her ex, Ames, who detransitioned and his pregnant girlfriend. It’s a complicated love and parenthood triangle revolving around the baby.
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I really liked how throughout the book we would flip back and forth between past and present to learn the whole arc of Reese and Ames’s relationship. There was one point in the book that even made me cry. I loved all the underlying emotion in this book.
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There were definitely a lot of intense parts to read dealing with sexuality and gender but I was completely invested in this story and these characters. This is a stunning book!

This book is well written and has good character development I just couldn’t personally get into the story and found it a little bit of a struggle to keep reading. Either way it just left a little lacking for me personally. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The premise of this book was so fascinating to me, and Torrey Peters largely delivered on the promise of an intricate and complex look at gender and how we are all socialized to gender norms. My attention was captured from the beginning, and I felt attached to each of the main characters by the end of the book. Peters created complex and challenging characters that were believable and sympathetic.

I think it's crucial for us to keep telling queer stories, and this one was fantastic.

Yes! All the stars for this own voices novel about three women and motherhood. The three main characters were so rich and complex. I loved the idea of family and community that is highlighted in this novel as well as the very prevalent narrative that the way most folks do things is not the only way. Will be on lots of best of lists for 2021, I am sure.

5 million good mango units!

Detransition, Baby brings us into the life of Reese, a trans woman, who is presented with an exciting chance to become a mother. However, the opportunity comes with a hitch: Reese’s ex-girlfriend Amy (now Ames by way of detransition) got his boss pregnant and his proposal to both women is a three-person-parenthood.

This novel is incredibly sophisticated and well written. It reflects upon humanism and encourages the reader to do so as well. From a variety of perspectives, Torrey Peters unravels the complexities of motherhood, the sensitivities of body dysphoria, the fallibility of humans, and the intricacies of gender and being transgender- all of which she handles in such a tender (and sometimes humorous) manner.

I especially enjoyed the psychological references and ideas this novel brought into play. Through engaging storytelling, Peters discusses somatic decision-making and ponders attachment theories with reference to The Elephant Breakdown- an article on the impacts of social trauma. Detransition, Baby is a meaningful and transcendent read; both thought-provoking and enlightening.

Torrey Peters is an excellent writer, her dialog, setting, pace, and detail were all pitch perfect. Even though I learned a lot of new words like detransitioned and seroconverted from this book, it didn't detract from my enjoyment of this riveting, romantic story about how an unplanned pregnancy affects a trio of very varied womxn who could be described as CISgender, transgender, genderfluid, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, or non-binary.

Peters has made the leap from novellas to full-length novels with deftness and grace, scaling her oeuvre (trans politics and experiences that trans and cis people alike prefer to sweep under the carpet for the sake of an easily digested narrative; see for example the reviewers who complained that this, a work of fiction, did not adequately satisfy their voyeuristic appetites for "transsexual psychology") accordingly. Messy and human in the best way.

What an incredible debut novel. I read this in what felt like one sitting, and every time I had to stop reading, the characters lingered with me. Peters is fiercely talented. She managed to write a book that is as emotionally intelligent and compelling as it is flat-out fun to read, and I can't wait to read whatever she writes next. This is one I've recommended to anyone who asks what I've been reading lately.

God, this book is good. Three women's lives, different and complicated and intertwining, all dealing with problems of womanhood and femininity apart and together. I don't have a deep, profound review; I'm too in my feelings for that. There were a number of moments that took my breath away, especially in the early chapters—the writing is absolutely beautiful—and at the very end. The end drew the book together for me; I felt as though I was losing the thread a couple times in the back half, but it ended on such a complex, heart-rending, compassionate, satisfying note. There was the occasional setting that didn't interest me, especially the gala, though I understood how crucial the luxury was to the moment, especially to Reese. Even in these moments, the narrative and characters sang.

The book was about class and transness and family, what it is to *be* a woman and what it is to *do* womanhood and how they are different and the same. Because this book is written from a trans perspective, Katrina's cruelty, well meaning or intentional, was felt. Everyone in this book is a mess, but compassion edges in around everyone's sharp edges again and again, whether or not offered in tandem with forgiveness. But the element that landed most with me was Amy's detachment: it was so convincing and so felt, her ambivalence to such major events, an impression only unspooled in flashbacks when we see her embodying a more joyful life only to have it unspool. Especially contrasted against Reese's eventual quest for unfeeling, it rang: Amy abandoned the elements of her presentation that were most meaningful, that made her feel the most, because that act of feeling hurt too much.

Shit, man. I don't have an analytical review for this because I'm too busy feeling my own feelings. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time. Eagerly watching for the next thing Torrey Peters puts out, and so excited to recommend this book far and wide.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I did not like this book, and not for reasons many will assume. First of all seriously, that was the end?? But that is a personal issue as I simply hate completely unfinished finishes. But what really bothered me was I wanted to finish this book feeling like I gained a better understanding the transsexual psychology involved in a very interesting story premise. Instead I got too deep an explanation of some of the transsexual psychology in the story, to the point where I found myself skipping paragraphs, and absolutely no explanation of other points of transsexual psychology, to the point where I feel unable to understand certain parts of the story. It simply left me dissatisfied with the story.

So, I have been on a mission to read more diverse authors and fiction topics lately -- to open my mind and my world to different views and experiences. This book explores the lives of transgender women (male to female). It was interesting that a portion of the book referenced that the term "transgender" did not even exist until the HIV/AIDS crisis and was created by the CDC as a distinct category for the purposes of resource allocation vs. a thoughtful consideration of the actual gender/sexual experience. So yes, I learned some stuff. The book centers around three women: a transgender woman (Reese), her former girlfriend (Amy/Ames/James) who lived as and detransitioned from life as a transgender woman, and Katrina, the cis-gender (maybe) woman Ames becomes involved with. When Katrina becomes pregnant, Ames proposes that the three raise the baby together as a family and that part of the novel is quite good. So, on the plus side, there was lots of interesting insights into alternative family structures, the LGBTQ experience and the complexity of relationships. On the con side, it was kind of convoluted at the front end, really hard to keep track of characters and a bit too much sexual content for my taste. This is kind of a niche read...can't really recommend broadly.

What an unusual, interesting, beautifully written book! Peters has a deft skill for writing complex, unusual, human characters, which is really what this novel most succeeds at as the three women explore the definition and limitations of femininity and womanhood. As a cis woman, I loved gaining insight into the trans community and found this novel to be both exquisitely poignant and deeply thought provoking.

This book focuses on three women and a potential baby plot (one cis, one trans, one now a man again). I honestly requested this book because I liked the title and the cover. I didn't expect to be so engrossed in this story. This is definitely an Own Voices novel primarily about transwomen in New York City, but is also about much more. The main character, Reese, is complex and mysterious, and yet vulnerable and transparent in so many ways. A 34-year-old white, trans woman, she craves the kind of normalcy (husband, children, nice clothes) afforded to the cis women with whom she identifies, even as she pursues affairs with married cis men who treat her badly, and has given up any belief in fairy tale endings. She was in a relationship with Amy, another transwoman, but we meet Amy as Ames after he has de-transitioned. I honestly knew next to nothing about detransitioning before reading this nobvel. I feel like I really gained a new perspective on trans culture. I put myself into a new mindset through Reese, Ames, and their friends. As a cisgender woman, I have never viewed the world through the eyes of a trans person before. I feel like I learned a new outlook on motherhood and even relationships through the process of this story. The writing is beautiful and honest. The characters are well-developed but flawed. I loved this book.

Review based on an ARC generously sent to me via Netgalley!

Wow, I’m completely blown away. I read (and loved) both of Torrey Peters’ novellas that she has released (Infect Your Friends and Loved Ones, The Masker) earlier this year, and I was extremely excited upon learning she has a new full length coming out next year. For reference, as it informs my reading of the novel: I’m a trans woman myself, somewhere in the liminal space between closeted and fully out. The main narrative follows three characters: Reese, a trans woman who longs to settle down and have a “normal” relationship/life, complete with a husband and baby; Amy/Ames, a formerly out trans woman now detransitioned and living as a man; and Katrina, a cis woman who finds herself pregnant and unexpectedly thrust into the queer world. We see the different ways that all three characters view both womanhood and motherhood, while all working towards a common goal of starting a family.

Peters tells the story from Reese’s and Amy’s/Ames’ points of view, alternating expertly between two timelines: one after Katrina realizes she’s pregnant with Ames’ child, and one from years before, from when Ames was still living as Amy and in a relationship with Reese. Every single character is written with such a degree of care that it’s hard to not empathize with everyone, as you can clearly see where they’re coming from and why they would think that way. The parts that got to me the most were the internal monologues of Reese in the present timeline regarding her feelings toward motherhood, and those of Amy in the past timeline toward sex, particularly in Chapter 4. As you can imagine, Peters gets into the many uncomfortable realities that being trans entails, including things not very often spoken about, and many of the things that various characters in this book say or think deeply resonated with me, or made me reconsider something that I had previously accepted as fact. As trans fiction is not exactly the most common genre, this novel was a breath of fresh air, and I’m grateful to have a new favorite author to follow for years to come.

Despite this being a (very) queer novel, I feel that it could be enjoyed by anyone, trans or cis, who enjoys contemporary stories about well-written, realistic characters trying to make the best out of a situation that none of them expected to be in. The book is alternately hilarious and devastating, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I received a complimentary copy of Detransition, Baby from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

This was an interesting novel. It answered questions I didn't know I even had and then some. Very eye-opening. Definitely not for everyone, but it sure made me think about the pursuit of happiness (and how lucky most people are).

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Can this be my book of the year if it doesn’t actually come out until 2021? Beautifully written, engrossing, poignant. I felt as though I were invited into a world that looks and moves like mine but isn’t entirely—and that’s what makes it so especially enchanting. Moments of familiarity bleed into fragments of difference and yet it all feels so intimate and recognizable that I couldn’t help but want to live in this book. Torrey Peters is now an author I’ll forever be on the lookout for; I am grateful to her for sharing this story and these characters with the world.

such an incredible cover. i love the colour scheme a lot. this book had me hooked from the start, such a poignant read and one i'd read again

I have a lot of feelings about this book— wow! The way Torrey Peters writes this nuanced experience of being trans femme (specifically being a white trans woman) is raw and honest in a way that brings validation to an experience that I think a lot of trans folks have.

The story/plot is also really honest. Three people coming together over the idea of raising a baby in an unconventional way. The topic of queerness in family dynamics is explored in a way that isn’t dramatized, stigmatized, or romanticized. It’s hard to navigate, and Peters brings this struggle to life with such a delicate blend of the present and past. Shaping potential parents while they each come to terms what it actually means to be (or not be) one.

Also it’s FUNNY! Reese is such a cynical character and I love her so much. Especially the irony of Wim Hof. And the juvenile elephant analogy. Torrey Peters’ brain is so outstanding.

CW: transphobia, suicide, miscarriage, accidental pregnancy, abuse, abusive relationships

This was a thoughtful book on a subject that's difficult to talk about in the LGBTQ community. I thought it was done very respectfully and appreciated its perspective.

Detransition, Baby is unlike any queer novel I’ve read. While I am queer myself, I will acknowledge that I have a lot to learn and am eager to explore the stories of queer people, as the stories are extremely diverse. The idea of de-transitioning was completely new to me and I found myself wanting to read more stories, especially non-fiction stories, that would help explain this process in more detail. It’s a beautiful book about trying to connect and find oneself, which is the universal experience. Beautifully written and extremely engaging. Cannot wait to share this with friends.

(Book Pub Date: 12 Jan 2021 #DetransitionBaby #NetGalley)