Author: Torrey Peters
Genre: Literary Fiction/LGTBQ
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: January 12. 2021
Book Description: Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn’t hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.
Ames isn’t happy either. He thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese—and losing her meant losing his only family. Even though their romance is over, he longs to find a way back to her. When Ames’s boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she’s pregnant with his baby—and that she’s not sure whether she wants to keep it—Ames wonders if this is the chance he’s been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family—and raise the baby together?
This provocative debut is about what happens at the emotional, messy, vulnerable corners of womanhood that platitudes and good intentions can’t reach. Torrey Peters brilliantly and fearlessly navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships, gifting us a thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel.
Rating: 4 1/2 Stars
Review: I have had this ARC for awhile, and until the past week, have not heard much press about this. This is a book you will want to read with no distraction, as there is just so much to take in.
Reese is transgender and longs for a child of her own. Ames, formally Amy, is with Katrina. When Katrina let’s Ames know she is pregnant, the story takes flight.
This story navigates years before this announcements and the weeks after. The author Torrey Peters gives us this rich story about motherhood and queer woman and can they make this work for the sake of a child.
This is a story you will want to savor. I read this slowly, at points re-reading passages. I am not going to lie there are some complicated story lines, especially in the beginning, however we get a beautiful story, that I predict will be nominated for many book awards.
If you are looking for a cut and dry ending to a story, than this is not the book for you. However, if you don’t mind being left reeling and questioning, but feeling so satisfied, this is right up your alley. Highly recommend this for books clubs, as there is so much to discuss.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Obsessed Bookaholic 