Book Review: Attack of the 50 ft Trans Woman by Caledonia Fife

Lily just wants to be accepted for who she truly is. Unfortunately, she is in an unaccepting world and has to go to extreme measures to match her body to her true self. A new company has developed an experimental transitioning process that turns out to have some unfortunate side effects, such as growing to be 50 feet tall. With her newfound strength and size, Lily is able to express her rage at a bigoted world and terrorizes England.

Attack of the 50 foot Trans Woman by Caledonia Fife is a satirical romp that will have you bouncing from one emotion to the next. Sometimes you are chuckling at the witty narrator, other times you are feeling sad for Lily and her partner, Catherine, as they navigate their new status, and for a lot of the book, you are angry alongside Lily as she faces harsh discrimination.

There are several points of view throughout the book and like all multi-pov books, some are more enjoyable than others. My favourite parts of the book were when the author focused on Lily’s story, or when we were with Ben, a reporter who has sold his soul to support his family. Some characters, like Karen, are much harder to connect with, and I would have preferred more time spent with Lily and Catherine.

Lily has come out as trans in secret to her wife, Catherine, and Catherine, thinking she had married a man, has some struggles with this. I enjoyed how Catherine was not demonized in the narrative, despite not starting out in the best place. She is given the chance to grow and learn to understand. The same goes with Ben, the reporter. The author takes the time to let the reader see these people struggle with their morals in this harsh world, and by doing so, show us how ordinary people can mess up, but can also learn to be better.

The story is relayed to us by an alien creature who controls the narrative. They edit out boring and irrelevant bits in a way that reminded me vaguely of the book version of The Princess Bride. With so much heavy subject matter, the narrator breaks the tension with its comedic timing. Sometimes, the specific humour did not work for me, but I don’t typically read comedy, so your mileage may vary. I did laugh when they described someone as having “the type of scrawny, scraggly beard that fourteen-year-old boys grow in the belief it will help facilitate the purchase of alcohol” as well as at a few other points.

Most of all, this book hits on a lot of key issues that are dominating the media today. The author, Caledonia Fife, runs the Rebel Wrath website and tumblr which are dedicated to activism through art. The book is meant to draw attention to the issues of trans rights, which are under attack especially right now around the world. I was aware of this, but reading a book like this from the perspective of someone with first hand knowledge, I feel, is important.

This book is for people who enjoy satire, nuanced characters, appreciate experimental styles of writing, and want to read more trans characters written by trans authors.

You can buy this book here: books2read.com/b/4Al150 or on Amazon.

Thanks for reading! 

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