Little fish

meadow reviewed Little fish by Casey Plett

3 stars

A solid 3.5/5. While I appreciated (as I always do) a compelling look into a trans character's life, culture, moments of euphoria and dysphoria, I had expected the central premise to be driving the plot forward more than it did. But it was fairly short and had some compelling moments so I'd still recommend it to someone wanting more good novels about trans lives - it just didn't personally resonate with me as much as other trans lit that I've read so far. It could be very different for you!

Erin reviewed Little fish by Casey Plett

Review of 'Little fish' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

3.5 stars that I rounded up. Overall a pretty good read. There were some really poignant moments, and I was drawn to keep reading.

I enjoyed the friendships between the women a lot, and the situation around Sophie was moving. I wished that we got more of a build up with Sophie. I’d love to have seen Wendy and Sophie’s friendship grow as we’re /told/ it has.

I also enjoyed the portrayal of Wendy’s dad and Anna. Both characters that are complicated to show as multi-dimensional people, but Plett did such an excellent job. Especially with Anna, who could have been a religious villain. She has offensive views in combination with kindness, and Plett handles that so well. It shows that she grew up in a Mennonite community and knows people like this.

One of my main complaints is related the audiobook experience. I don’t know if this book had …

3.5 stars that I rounded up. Overall a pretty good read. There were some really poignant moments, and I was drawn to keep reading.

I enjoyed the friendships between the women a lot, and the situation around Sophie was moving. I wished that we got more of a build up with Sophie. I’d love to have seen Wendy and Sophie’s friendship grow as we’re /told/ it has.

I also enjoyed the portrayal of Wendy’s dad and Anna. Both characters that are complicated to show as multi-dimensional people, but Plett did such an excellent job. Especially with Anna, who could have been a religious villain. She has offensive views in combination with kindness, and Plett handles that so well. It shows that she grew up in a Mennonite community and knows people like this.

One of my main complaints is related the audiobook experience. I don’t know if this book had a lot of ellipses or something, but the narrator chose to read the dialogue with a ton of hesitation, haltingly. It was maddening after a while.

In terms of the book itself, it meandered too much for me. I wish it had focused on Wendy’s friendship with Sophie and Wendy’s grandfather to narrow the experience. Though the book starts with her grandfather, it gets sidetracked. The book felt too episodic to be as successful as a novel as it could have been.

Jennifer reviewed Little fish by Casey Plett

Review of 'Little fish' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Oh, wow, this was such a pleasure. It was recommended to me and i added it my lists before realising Casey Plett also wrote A Safe Girl To Love, which I enjoyed a whole lot, so that was a nice surprise! Little Fish runs along similar themes with a similar style, and I really enjoyed it. The full length story fleshes things out in a really nice way after reading the short story collection, and damn, I'm just hit again by what a fantastic, unique experience reading works by trans women authors is. So many bits hit me right in the gut, in the best, most emotional way possible.