Wait, this was 412 pages? I read it on Scribblehub, and, uh, did not expect that length. Because there's so much that happened (and because I'm already 6 chapters into the next book) I'll paint broad strokes, but I hope that's okay.

First of all, I've felt everything. I'd say, as a trans woman, only the Grandmother scenes are extremely triggering (especially given the oblique references to right-wing British politics and the upcoming election in the United States, I was wound taut at points). Nevertheless, I see myself in both Stef and the burgeoning cast of characters who aren't (as far as they say) transgender. Adam, certainly. Christine as well. It's just, despite the horrible premise, a beautiful look at overcoming trauma and finding family- rebuilding after monumental changes and our capability to grow. It's astonishingly sweet, despite everything, and while I'd never condone it in real life, I...might be a bit Dorleypilled, perhaps. These characters and their journeys- the questions Greaves asks about what the implications of the whole "after" time would be in all the standard forced-fem tropes- are treated empathetically and sometimes I just want to hold them and cry with them.

Now to my quibbles: I really don't think I'm one to talk, but the writing here can be a little fan fiction-y sometimes- I forget how much I read that someone "waggled their fingers" in greeting. And I'm not sure I fully buy the book's theory of gender. It feels a bit like "eh, David Reimer can deal" when the record shows he decidedly could not. I don't fully think that's what Greaves is going for here- i think she's more conceiving of "what if gender was situated in a swath of the spectrum but not infinitely malleable, how would things work then?", and I don't know, not sure how into the thought experiment I am but the good thing is the book is also far more than that.

It kind of seems like that whole baby elephants passage from Detransition, Baby, to be honest- people (generally trans-coded if not actually calling themselves trans) feeling lost, acting out, and somehow, despite every obstacle, making something out of it. More a deconstruction of a genre than a condoning of it, and a reflection on the traumas we bring and how we rebuild 

The first few pages pulled me in because I wanted to find out what happened to the missing students, but as I started to get red flags when I found out

men were being turned into women without their consent

I’m not trans, but I was interested in reading a trans person’s perspective on gender. However, this book just didn’t sit right to me. Perhaps I should have given it more of a chance but after Stefan

was abducted

I lost interest.