It’s likely impossible (especially given the day and age we live in) to say you didn’t like a book about trans people and not be accused of transphobia. But let me try, anyway,
I didn’t really like this book. I understand its appeal, it’s supposed to be the granddaddy of all transliterature - and it’s a teenager of a granddaddy because the field is so young, the book is only about 15 years old and set 20 years ago, at the time of this review’s publication.
Nowadays, that the trans conversation is much more prominent, from tv shows (Transparent) to blockbusters (the new Matrix), the publishers jumped on their opportunity at relevance and rereleased this book, complete with essay length afterword by the author. I did like the afterword, it stands tom mention. Considerably more than the book itself. In it the author, among many things, says something like she often ends up kind of hating trans characters in literature. Well, guess what?
The main protagonist in Nevada isn’t really likeable. Not hateable as such, just not likeable. There are two of them, technically. The book is split up between a post-transition 29-year-old transwoman and a 20-year-old potentially pre-transition stoner.
The older character lives in NYC, the younger in Nevada, but the two eventually meet (in Nevada) and the older one proceeds to try to mento the younger one.
The older one is tediously self-involved, obsessing every waking moment over being trans, emotionally shut down person who rides her bike, works in the (unnamed) Strand bookstore and contemplates her moribund relationship. She’s terrible at both her job and her relationship, not that good of a friend either. Too self-obsessed. Nothing compelling here.
The kid is a stoner in a small town with no future outside of a Wal-Mart career and an obsession with women’s bodies and clothes. The kid gets fascinated by the other character when she blows into his dusty nowhere town, but comes to find out that maybe not all she says is relevant to him, because, you know, advice is like that.
The novel is meant to have this hyper-realistic awareness of its time and of its character’s struggles, but mostly it comes across as young and striking in a gutterpunk way, like you can’t help but notice it but for the wrong reasons (mostly smell and dirt).
It isn’t terribly written as such and I can appreciate the significance as far as pure representation and visibility goes that it must have had for the trans community, but as a narrative work of literature it leaves a lot to be desired. At least, it reads quickly enough. Thanks Netgalley.

Deeply interior exploration of two complicated characters, both fearless and messy in a way I connected with. But, in the end, I found my experience weakened by the repetitive, casual style of writing and a stilted sense of pacing. Still, a worthwhile book that embodies a particular digital spacetime and the raw but tender hearts of its protagonists.

When I flipped the page from the final chapter to the Afterword, I sat up and said "WOAH!" From a literary perspective, the book was incredibly engaging—the plot was interesting and nothing like I've read before, and the characters, while not necessarily that likable or reliable, were people that I wanted to keep hearing from. Beyond the book itself being spectacular, I also really appreciated the afterword. I unfortunately hadn't heard of the book before hearing about this edition, but the context Binnie provides in the afterword is both incredibly interesting (and continues to convey the strong voice she uses throughout the novel) and serves a dual purpose of providing an autobiographical history of the Queer 2000s, which is really important archivally!! Knowing that this book was really important to Torrey Peters makes so much sense, I can see so many similarities between Peters' approach and Binnie's, especially as it comes to breaking stereotypes about trans women and telling real stories, even if they aren't all rainbows and flowers. Anyway, this is just a great book. Read it :)