DON’T READ THIS BOOK. It is TRANSPHOBIC AF.
SPOILER TERRITORY
It’s impossible to talk about the transphobia in this novel without spoilers, since one of the central characters is revealed as trans in a ‘surprise’ ‘twist’ that changes much of the story arc.
I read this book years ago, soon after it came out, and I was floored by how damn hateful and trans-antagonistic the last-act twist is. The twist is so cliched and tired and gross, insofar as it’s a reveal: main character Boy’s father (Frank, an incredibly abusive and monstrous figure) gets outed as a trans man and Boy’s gestational parent. Then Boy and the damn novel itself proceed to misgender and deadname Frank, all while ‘explaining’ that Frank is probably only trans because he was raped as a young person and transitioned due to trauma. It hits practically every transphobic cliche in quick succession. In a book that plays with and explores gender in a seemingly fundamental way (it’s goddamn main character is a cis GIRL named BOY), this was doubly shocking.
I love a few of Oyeyemi’s earlier books, particularly White is for Witching and The Icarus Girl, but this is unconscionable. Word has been out online for years, but it still has a 3.4 rating on Goodreads, which means that some people haven’t gotten (or don’t care about) the metaphorical memo…I also haven’t ever heard about the author acknowledging or apologizing for the harm enacted by the end of this novel, which sucks.