Nevada by Imogen Binnie

Read Nevada by Imogen Binnie ( )

Maria Griffiths is almost thirty and works at a used bookstore in New York City while trying to stay true to her punk values. She’s in love with her bike but not with her girlfriend, Steph. She takes random pills and drinks more than is good for her, but doesn’t inject anything except, when she remembers, estrogen, because she’s trans. Everything is mostly fine until Maria and Steph break up, sending Maria into a tailspin, and then onto a cross-country trek in the car she steals from Steph. She ends up in the backwater town of Star City, Nevada, where she meets James, who is probably but not certainly trans, and who reminds Maria of her younger self. As Maria finds herself in the awkward position of trans role model, she realizes that she could become James’s savior–or his downfall.

I understand why Nevada is a classic, alright? I really do. It’s messy and unapologetic and the story is good and it explains things without feeling like a lecture and yes, it captures lots of trans experiences. Or, well, transfeminine experiences? I felt like many pieces of the description could apply to me, but Imogen…