abi

some of this I vibed with and some of this was absolutely nuts e.g. just sneaking away from work for an afternoon every month to go to the cinema?? (even if you work in an office)

idk about y'all but I had an absolute blast with this!! would happily listen to more and it was so good hearing these characters interact with each other again

trigger warnings for: transphobia, lesbophobia/homophobia, rape mentions, multiple secondary character deaths, amputation, physical violence, emotional abuse

An #ownvoices novel with a teen trans lesbian superhero protagonist!! Sign me up.

Honestly it was the protagonist that completely drew me to this book, and I have come out the other side adoring Danny.

Dreadnought follows Danny Tozer, a 15 year old transgirl who witnesses the death of Dreadnought, the strongest superhero in her city, and inherits his powers as a result. The story then follows her immediate transition (being given Dreadnought's powers gives her her ideal body), her navigating what it means to be a superhero, and subsequent investigation and battle with the novel's Big Bad.

Dreadnought definitely felt like a decent premise for a comic (and I got the feeling that April Daniels might have a little bit of a preference for Marvel), but it also totally works as a book. I LOVE that trans superheroes are coming to the forefront as central characters, with Alters (again those comic leanings) last September, and now with Dreadnought.

Another one of the strong points of Dreadnought, that I wish we saw more of, was the relationship between Danny/Dreadnought and Sarah/Calamity. I loved that they learned things from each other and that Danny finally had someone in her life who she could trust and be safe with, even if she usually seemed to be in the most danger she'd ever faced with Calamity. Their friendship (though I really wouldn't mind if it developed into more) was definitely one of the most enjoyable parts of the story for me.

I think the world building was good, as were the two ending battles. The idea of Danny being able to see a lattice as part of her powers was interesting to me because I haven't read anything like that before, and I'd love to see Danny exploring her powers a bit more in the future.

One of the reasons why I didn't give this book five stars, is the sheer amount of transphobia and homophobia that Danny experiences. It really really made me uncomfortable, but I know that this is probably realistic. Danny receives it from almost everyone she encounters in the book. After coming out to her friend and rejecting him, he says he hopes she gets raped, which is frankly disgusting.
Honestly most of the men in this book are absolute garbage, and the ones who aren't as bad as the rest end up dying, which ended up making me feel tired and distressed on Danny's behalf.

I also think some parts of the story weren't given enough time, like Danny's interactions with the Legion (I thought they'd play a bigger part), Danny discovering and developing her powers, Utopia's motivations, and some of the secondary characters. Some of these may be addressed later but I'm not entirely sure.

The difference between the majority of the female (I'm including Doc Impossible in this) characters and the majority of the male characters really highlighted how strong the female characters were, and I loved it, but I would've liked it better if Danny had some support from some male characters too, or just more support from the ones who did support her.

Whilst Dreadnought isn't perfect, it is mostly a fun read and I am really looking forward to the sequel which is out this July.

Read this book for Danny (and Sarah).
Read this book for on page trans and lesbian rep, with those words being used multiple times.
Read this book for the ending.

the first three chapters were really interesting but honestly i was bored the rest of the time

This was a deeply personal read for me, as I'm sure it will be for a lot of people who pick up this delight of a book.

Growing up, the trans narratives that I was exposed to in the 2000s usually fell into two categories: trauma through either pain or humiliation, and surprise at ‘passing' as cis (in which they were sexualised). Many depictions in the media involved cis people feeling ‘betrayed' when someone disclosed that they were trans and feeling like they were ‘lied to' because they weren't really the gender they presented as, and once a trans person was open about being trans, they were usually subjected to violence.

All the trans people I remember being depicted in the media when I was growing up (because this was my only exposure to trans people until I was about 15) were trans women. Transness was always viewed through a cis lens, and if a trans person did not look like they were cis, they were made fun of. The world has thankfully evolved a little since then, but it can still be difficult for a person to express their gender as they wish to, leading to more fears that they aren't trans enough because they're not doing enough to be trans. Being trans in a cisnormative society is hard, but this book gives hope that you can be trans no matter what other people think.

This book resonated with me so much because it reflected my experiences growing up and growing into my gender identity. Being under the trans umbrella but not feeling like I can claim being trans because I don't identify as a binary gender is something I have struggled with for years. My exposure to transness solely being transmen or transwomen who wanted to both socially and medically transition made me feel like I couldn't be trans. I knew I wasn't cis, but if I couldn't be trans either then what was I? It prevented me from feeling comfortable for years as I didn't know where I fit in. I felt as though I couldn't use the pronouns I wanted to because I wasn't trans enough to do so .It set me back years and I'm sure other people who pick up this book and have either questioned their identity in the past, or are currently doing so, will also be able to identify with.

This book is viewing identity from a trans gaze and providing acceptance for those who may not have had it in the past. Whilst the target audience is primarily people under the trans umbrella, cis allies may also enjoy this as an insight into the anxieties that some trans people have regarding their gender identity and expression. It covers a variety of topics and challenges why people think they may not be trans enough to call themselves trans and how this can be helped.

This book is magic.
Yes, you are trans enough.
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Only you can know how you feel.