Shae is about a girl navigating life after teenage pregnancy, drug addiction, and longing for someone she’s not destined to be with.
This book feels like something I would’ve read in AP Lit. If you’re looking for a book with the vibes of Giovanni’s Room (gay pining, unstable characters, be gay do crime), Shae feels like a modern version of that.
The writing was amazing, and Shae’s character always shone through in every word—a deeply flawed character who I still found interesting . I'm truly in awe of the way Maren makes the narration feel so perfectly unreliable.
This is very much a no-plot, just-vibes book. I would refrain from reading the synopsis because, while simple, it tells you pretty much everything that happens in the book.
Altogether, this isn’t a book I’ll probably think about in the future, but it’s a book that I had a good time with and I’m glad I read.

CW: pregnancy, childbirth (& medical trauma), sex work, drug addiction, homophobia/transphobia

SHAE by Mesha Maren is honest and heartbreaking, a tragic story masterfully told. What happens to Shae is completely outside my lived experience, but I felt connected to her from start to end and rooted for her at every turn.

I had intended to pace myself and only read a set amount of this novel each evening, but the more I read, the more I wanted to keep reading. I read most of it over the course of one day. The pace speeds up as the book progresses and the situation changes for Shae. Through it all, I felt like I was right there with Shae, pulled forward with her by the momentum of the choices she makes. I would love to dissect this book and figure out exactly how the author achieved this effect. Whatever techniques Mesha Maren used were baked into the novel, everything working together perfectly. As a reader, I was never aware of what the author was doing to make me feel so invested in this story and the characters.

I was already a fan of Mesha Maren's writing, and this is my favorite novel of hers to date. I recommend this book 100%.

4.5 Stars

Set in a small town in West Virginia, Shae is sixteen when she first notices Cam, who is new in town. They quickly become friends, and eventually, more than friends, which results in a pregnancy. Not long after, Cam begins wearing Shae’s clothes, and begins their own transition as a female.

When Eva, their daughter, is born following an agonizingly painful C-section, it changes everything as Shae is given opioids to manage her pain, and as time passes, she needs more to manage the pain, and becomes addicted, which just escalates as time passes. Meanwhile, her life is falling apart in other ways, as Cam begins to keep a distance between them, and eventually that distance grows even more.

This is a story about family, home, loss and pain. Physical pain as well as emotional pain, and the cost of losing the life they had planned.



Pub Date: 21 May 2024

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Algonquin Books

This book was heavy with issues that hit close to home for me.
Great writing and emotion put into the book.

Thanks for the opportunity .

Engaging and immersive. This is a recommended purchase for collections where queer litfic is popular.

This book took my breath away. I read it cover to cover on a transatlantic red eye flight, unable to sleep for a moment. Even two weeks later as I write this, I think of the characters every day. Devastating and beautiful.