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So Many Stars: An Oral History of Trans, Nonbinary, Genderqueer, and Two-Spirit People of Color
From the acclaimed novelist, a first-of-its-kind, deeply personal, and moving oral history of a generation of trans and gender nonconforming elders of color—from leading activists to artists to ordinary citizens—who tell their own stories of breathtaking courage, cultural innovations, and acts of resistance.
So Many Stars knits together the voices of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, and two-spirit elders of color as they share authentic, intimate accounts of how they created space for themselves and their communities in the world. This singular project collects the testimonies of twenty elders, each a glimmering thread in a luminous tapestry, preserving their words for future generations—who can more fully exist in the world today because of these very trailblazers.
De Robertis creates a collective coming-of-age story based on hundreds of hours of interviews, offering rare snapshots of ordinary kids growing up, navigating family issues and finding community, coming out and changing how they identify over the years, building movements and weathering the AIDS crisis, and sharing wisdom for future generations. Often narrating experiences that took place before they had the array of language that exists today to self-identify beyond the gender binary, this generation lived through remarkable changes in American culture, shaped American culture, and yet rarely takes center stage in the history books. Their stories feel particularly urgent in the current political moment, but also remind readers that their experiences are not new, and that young trans and nonbinary people today belong to a long lineage.
The anecdotes in these pages are riveting, joyful, heartbreaking, full of personality and wisdom, and artfully woven together into one immersive narrative. In De Robertis’s words, So Many Stars shares “behind-the-scenes tales of what it meant—and still means—to create an authentic life, against the odds.”
So Many Stars knits together the voices of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, and two-spirit elders of color as they share authentic, intimate accounts of how they created space for themselves and their communities in the world. This singular project collects the testimonies of twenty elders, each a glimmering thread in a luminous tapestry, preserving their words for future generations—who can more fully exist in the world today because of these very trailblazers.
De Robertis creates a collective coming-of-age story based on hundreds of hours of interviews, offering rare snapshots of ordinary kids growing up, navigating family issues and finding community, coming out and changing how they identify over the years, building movements and weathering the AIDS crisis, and sharing wisdom for future generations. Often narrating experiences that took place before they had the array of language that exists today to self-identify beyond the gender binary, this generation lived through remarkable changes in American culture, shaped American culture, and yet rarely takes center stage in the history books. Their stories feel particularly urgent in the current political moment, but also remind readers that their experiences are not new, and that young trans and nonbinary people today belong to a long lineage.
The anecdotes in these pages are riveting, joyful, heartbreaking, full of personality and wisdom, and artfully woven together into one immersive narrative. In De Robertis’s words, So Many Stars shares “behind-the-scenes tales of what it meant—and still means—to create an authentic life, against the odds.”
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First published May 13, 2025
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About the author
Carolina De Robertis
19 books755 followersCarolina De Robertis is the author of Perla and The Invisible Mountain, which was an international bestseller translated into fifteen languages, the recipient of Italy’s Rhegium Julii Prize, and a Best Book of 2009 according to the San Francisco Chronicle, O, The Oprah Magazine, and BookList. She is the translator of Alejandro Zambra’s Bonsai, which was just made into a feature film, and Roberto Ampuero’s internationally bestselling The Neruda Case. De Robertis has been awarded a 2012 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.
De Robertis grew up in a Uruguayan family that immigrated to England, Switzerland, and California. Prior to completing her first book, she worked in women’s rights organizations for ten years, on issues ranging from rape to immigration. She lives in Oakland, California, where she is currently elbow-deep in writing her third novel, which explores migration, sexual frontiers, and the tango’s Old Guard in early twentieth century South America.
De Robertis grew up in a Uruguayan family that immigrated to England, Switzerland, and California. Prior to completing her first book, she worked in women’s rights organizations for ten years, on issues ranging from rape to immigration. She lives in Oakland, California, where she is currently elbow-deep in writing her third novel, which explores migration, sexual frontiers, and the tango’s Old Guard in early twentieth century South America.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
October 14, 2025
Caro De Robertis is clearly someone with talent and heart - no question there. But despite all that promise, this book just didn’t work for me.
I’m a huge lover of oral history. It is one of the most difficult forms of writing because it requires bringing together hundreds of voices, then wrangling them into a cohesive narrative that tells a tale. Oral History masters like Garrett Graff and Studs Terkel are some of my favorites because they show how people experiencing the same event can come away with deep insights only insiders can discern.
Oral history authors must organize all of these wildly varied opinions and takeaways into a solid story arc. It brings an honesty to their work that makes traditional storytelling pale in comparison. But in order to achieve this, the author must be both a creative writer AND a human database. The best oral history storytellers are masters at sorting these short quotes, then carefully arranging them so they reveal a beautiful, much larger cohesive picture.
Unfortunately, this book just never achieved this. It was just scattered. I kept waiting for a moment of clarity, a grounding theme, or even a glimpse of narrative momentum to pull me through - but instead, it felt like I was floating through fragments. Pretty fragments, for sure. But they rarely added up to something I could hold onto.
The writing style is poetic. I’ll give it that. There’s a musicality to the way De Robertis writes that can be genuinely lovely at times. If you’re the kind of reader who’s in it for the rhythm of words and the meditative experience of language, you might actually enjoy it more than I did. But for me, the book ended up feeling more like a mood board than a memoir - lots of shimmering feelings, but not much shape.
It’s not that I need a traditional narrative arc. I’m all for experimental forms and nonlinear storytelling, but there’s a difference between poetic ambiguity and total detachment. So many of the pieces felt like they were written for the author, not for the reader - which, of course, is totally valid in a journal or personal notebook. But as a reader, I couldn’t find a way in. I kept turning the pages hoping I’d eventually land on a section that would draw me in emotionally or intellectually. Unfortunately, that never really happened.
One of the recurring themes is queerness and identity, and I was genuinely excited for that exploration. De Robertis clearly has a rich inner world and an important perspective to share. But again, it often felt like we were hovering around big ideas without ever settling in long enough to truly explore them. Just as a thought or emotion would begin to take shape, we’d pivot to something else. There’s a thin line between subtle and elusive, and I think this book leaned a little too far into the latter.
Another thing that surprised me was how similar the tone and texture of each entry became after a while. Because the structure was so fragmented, and the language so uniformly lyrical, everything started to blur together. I think I was craving some variation - some tension, some grounded story, maybe even a dash of humor or grit. Instead, it felt like floating through a cloud of incense with no exit in sight.
That said, I do think there’s an audience for this book. If you’re someone who enjoys meditation, stream-of-consciousness poetry, or philosophical journaling, So Many Stars might resonate more deeply with you. I can imagine someone reading a single page each morning as a contemplative ritual and finding beauty in that. But as a sit-down-and-read-it book, it just didn’t give me enough to stay connected.
In the end, I came away admiring De Robertis’s bravery and voice, but I also felt like I’d been gently pushed out of the experience. There were glimmers - certain turns of phrase or emotional flashes - that made me pause. But the stars, for me at least, remained too far away to touch.
So yeah… So Many Stars? Maybe. But I needed just a little more gravity to hold them together.
I’m a huge lover of oral history. It is one of the most difficult forms of writing because it requires bringing together hundreds of voices, then wrangling them into a cohesive narrative that tells a tale. Oral History masters like Garrett Graff and Studs Terkel are some of my favorites because they show how people experiencing the same event can come away with deep insights only insiders can discern.
Oral history authors must organize all of these wildly varied opinions and takeaways into a solid story arc. It brings an honesty to their work that makes traditional storytelling pale in comparison. But in order to achieve this, the author must be both a creative writer AND a human database. The best oral history storytellers are masters at sorting these short quotes, then carefully arranging them so they reveal a beautiful, much larger cohesive picture.
Unfortunately, this book just never achieved this. It was just scattered. I kept waiting for a moment of clarity, a grounding theme, or even a glimpse of narrative momentum to pull me through - but instead, it felt like I was floating through fragments. Pretty fragments, for sure. But they rarely added up to something I could hold onto.
The writing style is poetic. I’ll give it that. There’s a musicality to the way De Robertis writes that can be genuinely lovely at times. If you’re the kind of reader who’s in it for the rhythm of words and the meditative experience of language, you might actually enjoy it more than I did. But for me, the book ended up feeling more like a mood board than a memoir - lots of shimmering feelings, but not much shape.
It’s not that I need a traditional narrative arc. I’m all for experimental forms and nonlinear storytelling, but there’s a difference between poetic ambiguity and total detachment. So many of the pieces felt like they were written for the author, not for the reader - which, of course, is totally valid in a journal or personal notebook. But as a reader, I couldn’t find a way in. I kept turning the pages hoping I’d eventually land on a section that would draw me in emotionally or intellectually. Unfortunately, that never really happened.
One of the recurring themes is queerness and identity, and I was genuinely excited for that exploration. De Robertis clearly has a rich inner world and an important perspective to share. But again, it often felt like we were hovering around big ideas without ever settling in long enough to truly explore them. Just as a thought or emotion would begin to take shape, we’d pivot to something else. There’s a thin line between subtle and elusive, and I think this book leaned a little too far into the latter.
Another thing that surprised me was how similar the tone and texture of each entry became after a while. Because the structure was so fragmented, and the language so uniformly lyrical, everything started to blur together. I think I was craving some variation - some tension, some grounded story, maybe even a dash of humor or grit. Instead, it felt like floating through a cloud of incense with no exit in sight.
That said, I do think there’s an audience for this book. If you’re someone who enjoys meditation, stream-of-consciousness poetry, or philosophical journaling, So Many Stars might resonate more deeply with you. I can imagine someone reading a single page each morning as a contemplative ritual and finding beauty in that. But as a sit-down-and-read-it book, it just didn’t give me enough to stay connected.
In the end, I came away admiring De Robertis’s bravery and voice, but I also felt like I’d been gently pushed out of the experience. There were glimmers - certain turns of phrase or emotional flashes - that made me pause. But the stars, for me at least, remained too far away to touch.
So yeah… So Many Stars? Maybe. But I needed just a little more gravity to hold them together.
did-not-finish
May 4, 2025DNF @ 56%
I didn't realize this was entirely consisted of transcriptions of oral histories. There were a lot of people to keep track of and it was hard to remember who was who. Their backgrounds and personal histories started to blend together because the transcription format stayed the same throughout each chapter.
I thought there'd be more background history about the cities or countries where each person was from, or more reflections from the author. Or even pictures to break up the transcriptions.
I liked what each individual shared about their lives, but it was a lot to remember because each section would just jump straight into their responses with no introduction. There wasn't a lot of breathing room before having to read each person's response, which also varied in length.
Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for this arc.
I didn't realize this was entirely consisted of transcriptions of oral histories. There were a lot of people to keep track of and it was hard to remember who was who. Their backgrounds and personal histories started to blend together because the transcription format stayed the same throughout each chapter.
I thought there'd be more background history about the cities or countries where each person was from, or more reflections from the author. Or even pictures to break up the transcriptions.
I liked what each individual shared about their lives, but it was a lot to remember because each section would just jump straight into their responses with no introduction. There wasn't a lot of breathing room before having to read each person's response, which also varied in length.
Thank you to Algonquin Books and NetGalley for this arc.
Read
November 19, 2025This is one of Book Riot’s Best Books of 2025:
I named this a Best Book of 2025 So Far and had to bring it back for the finale, a collection of beautiful stories of self-discovery, activism, resistance, and survival from queer elders of color. These testimonies are a necessary record of lived experience and hard-won progress, a love letter to queer history, and a reminder of the gift it is to have living elders among us. The joy in each of these stories is what has stayed with me, a joy that persisted even in periods of profound struggle and loss. We hear all the time that joy is resistance; this is the kind of work that really drives that point home and gives me hope for a better future.
- Vanessa Diaz
I named this a Best Book of 2025 So Far and had to bring it back for the finale, a collection of beautiful stories of self-discovery, activism, resistance, and survival from queer elders of color. These testimonies are a necessary record of lived experience and hard-won progress, a love letter to queer history, and a reminder of the gift it is to have living elders among us. The joy in each of these stories is what has stayed with me, a joy that persisted even in periods of profound struggle and loss. We hear all the time that joy is resistance; this is the kind of work that really drives that point home and gives me hope for a better future.
- Vanessa Diaz
June 27, 2025
the community challenge made me read some books that I now am glad of. one of these was this book.
The title is an honest one it is a compilation of interviews with immigrant trans women.
the interviews are divided into different parts and different chapters and are put together in a format that allows the reader to see the different answers and views of a specific subject.
I think it is important for trans people to get familiar with their history and those who have paved the way for them.
The title is an honest one it is a compilation of interviews with immigrant trans women.
the interviews are divided into different parts and different chapters and are put together in a format that allows the reader to see the different answers and views of a specific subject.
I think it is important for trans people to get familiar with their history and those who have paved the way for them.
June 19, 2025
*audiobook*
Easily one of my favorite books of the year. This felt like a collective memoir, which in a way, I suppose it is. The narrators so beautifully captured the good, the bad, the ugly, and the endless love and hope that surrounds LGBTQ+ history and futures. The narrators so effortlessly showcased how their different intersectional identities impacted their lives, but also gave them hope for the future. Every story was so thoughtful and hopeful for upcoming generations. I wish with all my heart this could be a book required for high schoolers to read, rather than ultimately, probably ending up on a “banned books” list.
Easily one of my favorite books of the year. This felt like a collective memoir, which in a way, I suppose it is. The narrators so beautifully captured the good, the bad, the ugly, and the endless love and hope that surrounds LGBTQ+ history and futures. The narrators so effortlessly showcased how their different intersectional identities impacted their lives, but also gave them hope for the future. Every story was so thoughtful and hopeful for upcoming generations. I wish with all my heart this could be a book required for high schoolers to read, rather than ultimately, probably ending up on a “banned books” list.
September 25, 2025
An excellent book (an oral account) for those who feel they don’t belong, those seeking identity or validation, a kind of camaraderie within a community. It was almost nostalgic reading people’s memories of how they surpassed gender roles and stereotypes. Oh the days of playing with Polly Pockets one day and beating the shit out of boys during soccer at recess while wearing my brother’s clothes the next day😌
August 24, 2025
I wavered around whether to rate this book 3 or 4 stars because I wasn't fond of the structure, but it grew on me and I understood the author's reasoning for organizing it that way, even if it didn't flow as much as it could have if the author's voice framed up more of the oral history. It was also very clearly written last year and some of the messages of respectability politics and radical hope in younger generations hit different with just how fast trans rights have regressed in the U.S. and how many so-called allies have thrown us under the bus for political expediency.
But I decided on a 4 because I think history of queer and trans elders, especially those of color, are even more important in times of oppression. Ultimately that gave me hope in this cruel political climate, that we have been here before and will survive again if we find community, found family, and strive for seeing each other as human and doing no harm. Their perspectives were powerful.
I'm genderqueer but I'm white, so I found the messages around gender identity resonated strongly with me but I clearly didn't have the cultural experiences around it, so that part was enlightening.
This oral history is organized around direct transcripts from a variety of trans and gender-nonconforming elders, mashing their voices together within chapters with loose themes. The author's voice, a poetic one, only appears in the introduction and I wish we'd had more of it. I understood the author wanted the voices of the elders to shine, but they sometimes blurred together, became repetitive and were hard to tell apart. I did however appreciate the photographs and biographies of each participant at the very end, which helped personalize them for me and put a face to a name. Almost wish that had been at the beginning.
Overall I am glad to have read this book as I find myself reaching for more queer and trans history before it is censored out of existence once again. We are here, we have always been here and we'll be here in the future. That's the hopeful message I took from this book and I appreciate that.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
But I decided on a 4 because I think history of queer and trans elders, especially those of color, are even more important in times of oppression. Ultimately that gave me hope in this cruel political climate, that we have been here before and will survive again if we find community, found family, and strive for seeing each other as human and doing no harm. Their perspectives were powerful.
I'm genderqueer but I'm white, so I found the messages around gender identity resonated strongly with me but I clearly didn't have the cultural experiences around it, so that part was enlightening.
This oral history is organized around direct transcripts from a variety of trans and gender-nonconforming elders, mashing their voices together within chapters with loose themes. The author's voice, a poetic one, only appears in the introduction and I wish we'd had more of it. I understood the author wanted the voices of the elders to shine, but they sometimes blurred together, became repetitive and were hard to tell apart. I did however appreciate the photographs and biographies of each participant at the very end, which helped personalize them for me and put a face to a name. Almost wish that had been at the beginning.
Overall I am glad to have read this book as I find myself reaching for more queer and trans history before it is censored out of existence once again. We are here, we have always been here and we'll be here in the future. That's the hopeful message I took from this book and I appreciate that.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 20, 2025
Just wow. My heart is bigger for having read this book.
By piecing together segments from interviews they conducted with more than a dozen individuals, Caro de Robertis created the book equivalent of a powerful documentary film.
The structure is ideal for how it reveals the individual contributors’ stories in a way that speaks to a universal experience. It moved me deeply while also teaching me so much.
By piecing together segments from interviews they conducted with more than a dozen individuals, Caro de Robertis created the book equivalent of a powerful documentary film.
The structure is ideal for how it reveals the individual contributors’ stories in a way that speaks to a universal experience. It moved me deeply while also teaching me so much.
May 14, 2025
Beautiful, necessary new nonfiction book from novelist Caro de Robertis.
December 31, 2025
The beginning of this book was great. I love the format; there were multiple people interviewed but then the interviews are broken up/intertwined to tell a similar story. I think it was a cool way to show how these queer poc stories have similar themes throughout, even when they felt isolated especially growing up. Towards the end it felt a little repetitive, but overall it was very inspiring and a great read.
June 21, 2025
Thank you to the publisher (and Caro!) for an ARC giveaway copy of this book.
This was just as described—in form, content, and heart. What a great resource and touchstone for anyone who could be uplifted and supported through the experiences shared in this collection. While I’m not necessarily the intended audience, I appreciate the opportunity to learn a little more about a community I care about, and I’m happy to pass along my copy to increase the reach/access to this wisdom. I’m grateful this exists!
This was just as described—in form, content, and heart. What a great resource and touchstone for anyone who could be uplifted and supported through the experiences shared in this collection. While I’m not necessarily the intended audience, I appreciate the opportunity to learn a little more about a community I care about, and I’m happy to pass along my copy to increase the reach/access to this wisdom. I’m grateful this exists!
August 7, 2025
Audiobook
June 2, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
So Many Stars is a powerful and necessary collection that captures the voices and lived experiences of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, and Two-Spirit people of color through an oral history format. The stories shared in this book are deeply moving, honest, and illuminating. I’m so grateful to Caro De Robertis for taking on this monumental and essential project. The representation here is profound, these voices matter, and this book ensures they are seen, heard, and honored.
What held me back from giving it a full five stars was the way the narratives were organized thematically. While that structure allowed for deep dives into topics like childhood, chosen family, activism, and more, it also made it more difficult to follow individual voices across chapters. I found myself wanting to connect more deeply with each person’s full arc, to really get to know them beyond snippets tied to themes. Once I let go of trying to track who was who across the entire book and just appreciated each story in the moment, the reading experience became more enjoyable.
That said, the thematic organization is still a valid and thoughtful choice, especially for highlighting the richness and diversity of experiences around specific aspects of identity and community. Ultimately, this is a deeply meaningful and important contribution to queer and trans history, and one I’m very glad to have read.
So Many Stars is a powerful and necessary collection that captures the voices and lived experiences of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer, and Two-Spirit people of color through an oral history format. The stories shared in this book are deeply moving, honest, and illuminating. I’m so grateful to Caro De Robertis for taking on this monumental and essential project. The representation here is profound, these voices matter, and this book ensures they are seen, heard, and honored.
What held me back from giving it a full five stars was the way the narratives were organized thematically. While that structure allowed for deep dives into topics like childhood, chosen family, activism, and more, it also made it more difficult to follow individual voices across chapters. I found myself wanting to connect more deeply with each person’s full arc, to really get to know them beyond snippets tied to themes. Once I let go of trying to track who was who across the entire book and just appreciated each story in the moment, the reading experience became more enjoyable.
That said, the thematic organization is still a valid and thoughtful choice, especially for highlighting the richness and diversity of experiences around specific aspects of identity and community. Ultimately, this is a deeply meaningful and important contribution to queer and trans history, and one I’m very glad to have read.
April 9, 2025
I loved the oral histories but the format really hindered getting to know each person as well as created an annoying repetition at the beginning of several chapters.
Read
July 10, 2025I made it 80 pages in and DNF. I slightly understand why the author organized the book the way they did, but I feel like it did the interview subjects a disservice.
The chapters are broken up by themes, and then there’s paragraphs of all 20 of the people who were interviewed and their responses… but all mixed together. Sometimes the author would have person A’s transcription, a line or two from person B, and then switch back to person A. It was confusing to know who was speaking and getting their stories straight.
There is important content in here and I really wish the chapters were broken up by one person at a time telling their full story.
The chapters are broken up by themes, and then there’s paragraphs of all 20 of the people who were interviewed and their responses… but all mixed together. Sometimes the author would have person A’s transcription, a line or two from person B, and then switch back to person A. It was confusing to know who was speaking and getting their stories straight.
There is important content in here and I really wish the chapters were broken up by one person at a time telling their full story.
August 20, 2025
2.5/3 ⭐️ I started this book as a pride month read and holy moly it took me forever to get through. I liked that the book shares people’s personal stories of being trans/non-binary/queer in the 70’s and 80’s and I learned so so much about how different things were, even just a short amount of time ago. With that said, I really struggled with the way the stories were broken up into short segments. I wish I’d been able to read each person’s story in its entirety, or at least longer pieces of it at a time.
June 14, 2025
4.5 Stars
July 27, 2025
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Vakaris
My Opinion: I say this a lot, but I mean it this time too: this book is very important. Very. Only by learning from those who came before us will we ever be able to do better and not repeat awful mistakes. Yes, empathy is very personal, and doesn’t need a history lesson to develop, but it won’t hurt to learn to navigate it with more care. This book is full of wild tales of queer people getting seen, memories from childhoods, teen years, how those moments shaped their lives right after, or all the way to today. I’d say this is an especially important book for those who still think that gender-queer identities shouldn’t exist, but such folk will neither see the recommendation, nor take it anyway. So, read it for yourself instead, affirm yourself to yourself, and be prepared to help others up too.
A 5 out of 5, can’t recommend this book enough, to everyone. Doesn’t matter what’s your identity, just read it, treat yourself.
My Opinion: I say this a lot, but I mean it this time too: this book is very important. Very. Only by learning from those who came before us will we ever be able to do better and not repeat awful mistakes. Yes, empathy is very personal, and doesn’t need a history lesson to develop, but it won’t hurt to learn to navigate it with more care. This book is full of wild tales of queer people getting seen, memories from childhoods, teen years, how those moments shaped their lives right after, or all the way to today. I’d say this is an especially important book for those who still think that gender-queer identities shouldn’t exist, but such folk will neither see the recommendation, nor take it anyway. So, read it for yourself instead, affirm yourself to yourself, and be prepared to help others up too.
A 5 out of 5, can’t recommend this book enough, to everyone. Doesn’t matter what’s your identity, just read it, treat yourself.
Read
July 9, 2025First a few practical notes:
- This book is not an interview per chapter, but a topic per chapter
- If you are on audiobook: It's first the name, then the quote
This is such an important book. To listen to the stories of elderly queer people of color is fascinating and inspiring. We can learn so much from their pasts and from how they have handled growing old. I unfortunately had a hard time keeping track of who is who (partially because for the longest time I thought the name came after the quote, but also because I'm bad with names), partially because of this I would have preferred to have it be one person per chapter versus the current set-up. But I still valued listening to all these diverse stories.
- This book is not an interview per chapter, but a topic per chapter
- If you are on audiobook: It's first the name, then the quote
This is such an important book. To listen to the stories of elderly queer people of color is fascinating and inspiring. We can learn so much from their pasts and from how they have handled growing old. I unfortunately had a hard time keeping track of who is who (partially because for the longest time I thought the name came after the quote, but also because I'm bad with names), partially because of this I would have preferred to have it be one person per chapter versus the current set-up. But I still valued listening to all these diverse stories.
June 19, 2025
4.5 rounded up.
This is such a profoundly special book. The stories from these elders in the Trans community were inspiring, heartbreaking, and empowering. As someone who identifies as Cis gendered, I was wanting to learn more about the trans experience. Can’t recommend this one enough.
The only thing that held this back from being 5 stars for me was the formatting of the interviews. The book consists of interviews with 20 elders of color who all identify somewhere on the trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming spectrum. Going in, I was expecting each chapter to be an interview with one person, but instead, the book breaks up all the interviews into specific categories, so each chapter features stories from everyone who was interviewed. This made the first section of the book a little harder to read for me, as it was difficult for me to keep everyone’s stories straight. I kept having to flip to the back About the Orators section so I could keep the names straight with the faces. This definitely slowed me down a bit, but once I had become familiar with each of the story tellers, I didn’t mind the formatting as much. Still, I could see how the formatting could turn someone off early on in reading, however I highly encourage anyone who feels that way to push through it like I did, because the stories the people tell are so important and deserve to be heard. Mine was a library copy and I want to purchase for my personal collection.
This is such a profoundly special book. The stories from these elders in the Trans community were inspiring, heartbreaking, and empowering. As someone who identifies as Cis gendered, I was wanting to learn more about the trans experience. Can’t recommend this one enough.
The only thing that held this back from being 5 stars for me was the formatting of the interviews. The book consists of interviews with 20 elders of color who all identify somewhere on the trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming spectrum. Going in, I was expecting each chapter to be an interview with one person, but instead, the book breaks up all the interviews into specific categories, so each chapter features stories from everyone who was interviewed. This made the first section of the book a little harder to read for me, as it was difficult for me to keep everyone’s stories straight. I kept having to flip to the back About the Orators section so I could keep the names straight with the faces. This definitely slowed me down a bit, but once I had become familiar with each of the story tellers, I didn’t mind the formatting as much. Still, I could see how the formatting could turn someone off early on in reading, however I highly encourage anyone who feels that way to push through it like I did, because the stories the people tell are so important and deserve to be heard. Mine was a library copy and I want to purchase for my personal collection.
June 25, 2025
There's so much history I didn't know about. So many organizations for specific marginalized queer groups I had no idea existed. A lot of them are stated, explained, or founded by one of the narrators of this novel. It's times like these that I need a way to contact specific people, as I have so many questions about the lives they led, the work they did, and their feelings about all they had to do. The multitude of narrators in this novel seems like the kinds of people you fall in love with, whether that be platonically or romantically, for their personalities and the way they treat others. If ever I grow up to have even the slightest amount of bravery they hold, I think I'd be able to do anything.
November 14, 2025
I think this book and the stories it contains are important, I just did not like how it was organized. I felt like dividing the stories of individuals then chopping them up into bite size pieces and sorting them into thematic chapters made it so I couldn’t really get to know any of these important and influential people. Additionally, although this is an oral history collection, I do not think the audiobook is a good format to read it. The book contains pictures and there is just one narrator. I would have really loved to hear the voices of the people whose stories I was learning.
December 1, 2025
This book felt important to read. especially right now. It had a lot of hope woven through the histories. I think my only real issue was I had a hard time keeping the different people straight in my head because their quotes were all mixed throughout the book. I was listening to it so that could be different when reading it.
June 25, 2025
4.5 rounded up. I didn't try to keep the individuals "straight" (ha), but enjoyed their voices as many experiences throughout the book. I enjoyed the natural progression of personal discovery of identity, then outward expression of identity, and family and community acceptance or rejection of that identity. The sweetest thing was hearing from the 60 year old trans woman, she is still here and she is shocked by that. I definitely recommend this.
June 22, 2025
Rating 4.5/5 ⭐️
I really love the switch from each person. It constantly kept the stories fresh. This also made it easier to follow. It felt less like a history book & more of a deep personal conversation bubble where each figure was sitting in a living room with you. This structure was extremely appealing for me. Everyone got to talk about the specific topic & share stories/perspectives from their lives. Honestly if more NonFiction - History books were written like this I would only be reading those. A perfect book for Pride Month and an even better selection of Queer humans to share with the world.
I really love the switch from each person. It constantly kept the stories fresh. This also made it easier to follow. It felt less like a history book & more of a deep personal conversation bubble where each figure was sitting in a living room with you. This structure was extremely appealing for me. Everyone got to talk about the specific topic & share stories/perspectives from their lives. Honestly if more NonFiction - History books were written like this I would only be reading those. A perfect book for Pride Month and an even better selection of Queer humans to share with the world.
August 23, 2025
5 stars for intent and content; 3 stars for the editing and organization.
December 29, 2025
What an important archive of stories from queer elders in their own words. Caro De Robertis has clearly put an immense amount of labor and love into this book, and I am so glad it exists.
Read
July 29, 2025with a good queer non binary heart I cannot rate this. full review to come
June 21, 2025
Such an important piece of oral history, especially for younger generations of trans or gender non-conforming individuals. To hear these stories directly from trans and queer elders was super powerful! I listened to the audiobook, and was moved not only by their struggles, but by the overall message of hope and inspiration. In a time of such vitriol against people who are ‘different’, it’s more important than ever to listen to their stories and gain understanding of their lived human experiences!
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