1st paragraph is my own gender troubles reflected in the book. 2cd is broader literary discussion for those interested!
Basically, I got hooked and read the novels in two days...but I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I have been on-and-off HRT for about two years, and really identified with Ames/Amy's struggle with living trans. In particular, his experience with disassociation and retreating into masculinity as a distancing mechanism really resonated with me. I gained a lot of insight into my own life and feelings through reading. At the same time, I couldn't see myself doing gender like anyone in the book. I don't know what part of that is my internalized transphobia and fear of being more obviously trans in a hostile world, and what part of that is my not fully fitting into the binary trans role.
Another big piece of sand stuck in my craw with the novel is that I perceived a lot of it as a novelized 'trans 101' and fictionalized ethnography of the main themes in trans life for the non-trans audience. Of course, given how small the trans community is it makes sense that writing for the masses means writing for cissies but there were a few moments that really struck me. In particular, the spelling out of the function of Truvada and Spiro as particular moments. Contrast this with the movie 'By Hook or by Crook' which is a pretty straightforward slice-of-life movie where the three main characters are trans, does not explain trans-ness to the audience, and is still comprehensible to a general audience. Writing this, I realize I'm being a bit of a crank (why can't I have a mass-market by-trans-for-trans novel boo hoo) and that having a nuanced explainer and introduction to (white, college-educated) trans culture is also really valuable.
I'm also interested in hearing from people who did not like the book, and from cis audiences too! Also apologies for rambling I'm not a very good writer. I have a lot ideas that make sense in my head that I can't seem to translate to written words very clearly or concisely. :)
idk if it's "mass-market" per se, but you might like the Dreadnought series. It's a "by-trans-for-trans" superhero novel,and its really good trans woman rep. It does include other rep (an NB character in the 2nd book) but their character doesn't really have depth because A) side character and B) the strength of the main character lies in the author pouring her heart and soul into her, and she can't really write an NB character to the same extent because the author is a trans woman. Other than that the series is WONDERFUL, I love it so much
In the homestretch of Dreadnaught now! Thanks for the rec but I'm really torn on it. Mostly the magical trans(ition/formation) keeps messing me up because I have a lot of toxic fantasies about magically waking up a cis woman or able to pass. There was also a bit of Danny's internal monologue when her family is trying to get her to transition back where she talks about how the traces of femininity would always be there in her body and in her bone structure so that HRT is pointless that struck me the wrong way.
Overall I'm really enjoying the novel and I think it's a really creative and fun use of the genre. I think especially for younger people it could be really empowering. I also enjoyed Danny's psychological reality, I think that that often goes underexplored in superhero media.
Yeah, you hit the point I was trying to put into words.
Read Sovereign a couple days ago, too! Those books just zip. Good (lampshading) of the erasure of non-white trans people and their accomplishments. I'm a big sucker for cape fiction. If you haven't read the webnovel 'Worm' by WIldbow I strongly recommend it! It's almost a speculative fiction novel bent on exploring the question 'Superheroes exist and are intergrated into the world, so what does that world look like?' And it holds no punches, and gets no one out of trouble with technobabble or here-to-fore unmentioned powers. Be warned it's incredibly addictive and almost as long as the harry potter series a few times over—I finished it in the course of a 13 day bender.