I really appreciated Jacques push back on the ‘born in the wrong body’ narrative and her push towards being ‘born in the wrong society’. She mentions in the epilogue how writing this gave her some nostalgia specifically around her pre-transitional exploration, those were easily my favourite aspects of the book as they felt incredibly relatable and informative as a 20-something nonbinary person myself. Jacques's forthcoming and blunt style of writing made this an easy read and I enjoyed the reflections on confessional journalism, the politics of being transgender in the media, and her relentless honesty. This was really insightful.

TW: mentions of; transphobia, sexual assault, suicide, suicide ideation, misgendering, misogyny, terfs, depression, anxiety, surgery

A great commentary on trans memoirs, as well as recording Juliet's life journey, not just her trans path, but her many intercrossing traits and experiences.

I enjoyed this a lot.
I'm conditioned by the contemporary moment to expect virulent transphobia at every turn whenever I read trans narratives — both within the text and externally in coverage of it. And while there is, naturally, moments of transphobic violence in this book (and thus in Jacques' life), I find there are many more moments in which it is demonstrated that acceptance and support do exist and can exist.
Her relationship with her parents is extremely moving, and I found her journey with them in particular to be very poignant.

Trans: A Memoir jumped out at me when I saw it on the shelves. It wasn't mystically titled, trying to apply a soft focus to what the book was really about so that people would pick it up. A blunt title that told you everything you needed to know and I wanted to read it. Jacques' articles were vaguely familiar to me although I've heard from numerous people that she was someone to look into (note, I intend to read more of her work after reading this book). Jacques doesn't just discuss her transition process, she discusses films, music, literature and football, and it was nice to see a collage of her interests around her story. There were moments where I found reading this book difficult due to my own experiences; maybe some people could find this book purely helpful whereas I found it, in some segments, triggering. However, this is a really strong memoir about an even stronger woman, and I'm sure anyone who is going through the same things, knows someone who is, or merely has an interest in gender itself, will thoroughly enjoy as well as appreciate this book.

rating memoirs is weird so just 5 starring to increase the gr average! this was so insightful, definitely interesting to read more about the medical transition process