My Life in Transition: A Super Late Bloomer Collection By Julia Kaye
I received this comic collection from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.
The second A Super Late Bloomer collection and I was hyped to see Julia's comics combined into a book once again. I will definitely be adding this book to my physical collection when it is out! I am writing a short review for this book as I feel I have addressed most of the big things in the review for the first book (which I also ABSOLUTELY loved). We continue reading about Julia's transition, heartbreak, relationships, struggles with how people address her, daily life, and more. It details the years late-2018 to mid 2019. Most of the comics I already know as I try to keep an eye on Julia's twitter. But since I am following so many people and twitter only shows a couple, it hasn't be easy. But I don't mind. That way I get some new things to read. I really loved reading this one. I love seeing Julia's art get even prettier! I loved the written parts at the beginning/the end. All in all, recommended to everyone! Paperback Julie Kaye is doing something very hard, baring her soul for all to see, as she goes through transitioning to a new life, losing a love, trying to date new people.
Like all sequential art memoirs, there are a lot of sad things, things that one wouldn't want to talk about, and yet she bares all.
It is hard to bare your soul every time you draw a comic strip. This continues her story, past the coming out, and getting estrogen To being misgendered, and standing up to people to let them know that.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. Paperback (Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.)
Julia Kaye is such a gift.
For those who wondered where she went after Super Late Bloomer, Kaye has returned to show us! There is something so refreshing and so joyful about a trans woman documenting the real ups-and-downs of her life when she has already begun to pass. Kaye writes about strangers generally recognizing her as a woman, and her LGBT friends, and tons of romance; and also about the aspects of her transition she still hopes to complete, her struggles with transphobic family, and days that seem impossible to get through.
For many trans people, it's hard to imagine what it will be like to live happily as yourself. I have a vision of who I want to be, but they often seem completely out of reach. Kaye happily proves that, while you may change during your transition, the other side isn't so mysterious after all. You're still you, and you still have your good and bad days. A lot of your trans-related problems dissolve just slightly with transitioning. It could not possibly be overstated how important an accessible, good-hearted, honest autobiographical comic from a trans woman can be, and this one delivers on every front.
In terms of the comic medium, this book pleases me every time I look at it-- cute style, skilled flexibility, cohesive tone, easy to read, so so so difficult to put down. I happily took an hour out of my day just to sit down and enjoy Kaye's work. There wasn't a strip I disliked seeing, and there wasn't a moment I wanted to step away, which is not just surprising but incredibly impressive for daily comics. I hadn't even considered a second collection after SLB, but here it is, and it's just as good as the first.
In general, I really can't overstate how happy I am with this book. And the chance to read it and review it early! Fantastic. Highly recommend if any of the above-- autobiographical comics, trans memoirs, etc-- appeal to you. I'm confident both cis and trans people will enjoy it (though perhaps trans people will laugh a little harder at some very relatable moments.) Already excited to see Kaye's next collection, and going to bed smiling thinking about this one. Paperback Graphic novels and comics aren't usually my cup of tea, but I couldn't resist this one, and I'm glad I didn't. I love everything about it. Julia Kaye has a really impressive way of showing nuance in a series of 3-panel cartoon strips; she doesn't even need words to make you feel things. I've not read the first one, but even without that context I really appreciated how this book covered her life after she was already several years into her transition; it showed a different side to the transition narrative we usually get, in which an individual's transition is often portrayed as the natural conclusion to their life's greatest journey, and so on and so forth. Even though her gender is a huge part of her identity, Julia's life isn't magically perfect just because she's overcome that initial hurdle and has reached a point at which she's living happily as a trans woman and is almost always gendered as female. She still has to get through breakups, men being men, work pressures, friendships, the works. It made her feel a lot more authentic and three-dimensional as a protagonist and author.
That said, she also very clearly shows how her transition will always be a tangible part of her life through the hardship of misgendering, the trauma of her own family rejecting her, the constant worries about whether she's performing femininity 'enough' or 'correctly'. I think these were my favourite panels, when Julia writes (?) about how, as a trans woman, the pressure to perform a certain type of femininity in order to almost justify being trans can be a roadblock to authenticity. She feels a constant guilt over not doing enough (her phrase, not mine) to avoid misgendering, whilst being objectively aware that it's absolutely not her fault at all, and that the general gendered aspects of the society she lives in are to blame. It was an interesting aspect that, as a cis woman, I've never had to consider; I can wear trousers or a baggy jumper without getting misgendered, for example, and it was illuminating to be forced to confront the inherent privilege of that.
Literally the only thing I would nitpick over is that it only covered 6 months of her life and I would have liked to live alongside her longer. That's it. Oh, and sometimes the art style made people difficult to differentiate, particular her first girlfriend and her therapist. They looked very similar and it could be jarring. Still, there are limits to black and white cartoons, so that's really more of an issue of medium for me than anything else.
Now I have to pick up the first one... Paperback Read Early via NetGalley
I was so happy to pick up a copy of Super Late Bloomer at FlameCon 2018 and My Life in Transition is an excellent follow-up. It's a very well done slice of life that makes the most of a 3 panel structure, while showing the ups and downs of not only queer life, but of coming into one's own self. There's a wonderful balance of humor and deeply touching personal moments that really resonate for me as a trans person, but also express it in a way that most readers could understand. It's very rewarding to read Julia's work because it always feels like she is challenging herself to be vulnerable, and you feel like you are getting to know the author. Paperback
The follow-up to the critically acclaimed autobiographical comics collection Super Late Bloomer, documenting transgender artist Julia Kaye’s life post-transition.
My Life in Transition is a story that’s not often told about trans lives: what happens beyond the early days of transition. Both deeply personal and widely relatable, this collection illustrates six months of Julia's life as an out trans woman—about the beauty and pain of love and heartbreak, struggling to find support from bio family and the importance of chosen family, moments of dysphoria and misgendering, learning to lean on friends in times of need, and finding peace in the fact that life keeps moving forward.
After the nerve-wracking, anxiety-ridden early transition period has ended and the hormones have done their thing, this book shows how you can be trans and simply exist in society. You can be trans and have a successful future. You can be trans and have a normal life full of ups and downs. In our current political and social climate, this hopeful, accessible narrative about trans lives is both entertaining and vital. My Life in Transition: A Super Late Bloomer Collection
I haven't read Super Late Bloomer, so this was my first time reading Julia Kaye's comics. But this book can be easily read as a standalone, and I really enjoyed it.
One of my favourite comics in this collection was the one where a little kid completely accepts and validates Julia as a woman. It just radiated joy. Overall, I liked how balanced this collection was - there's so much trans joy, but also difficult issues, like the comic about her grandmother who she's not out to. As someone who's not out to their grandparents either, that one really hit home. Another comic that really spoke to me was about how after coming out as trans, you start to change as a person because you can finally be honest about who you are.
Overall, I think it's so impressive how Julia Kaye was able to convey so many of the joys and complexities of being trans in three-panel comics.
CWs: sexual assault (groping in a club), gender dysphoria, mentions of misgendering, estrangement from parents/family Paperback Have you ever been so lucky to find yourself a new favorite author? I feel like 2020 is just filled with amazing gems that I’m utterly grateful.
This is the second graphic novel I read by the author and I totally love the way she draws her daily life, since I think we all can relate to funny, wholehearted moments with friends, as well as the loss and grief of someone loved, perhaps you don’t know what are you doing with your life, but that’s OK. The beauty of life is that nobody really knows what the future would hold and pretending to have it all figured it all is more painful than not. We have both good and bad moments, and we should cherish them all. Life should not be taken for granted and we all should make the effort to live the way we really want to.
Anyway, Julia takes us into her private life and she show us her doubts and struggles with dating, or the exciting feeling of meeting new people. She lets us know she has the best friends as well as the important moments of solitude: those we need to heal from past relationships and maybe, even learn how to take care and forgive oneself.
I seriously loved every single page and it made me chuckle the same way it made me realize that perhaps we don’t see big changes from day to day life, but after six months, a year or more, we surely change –hopefully into someone better, kinder.
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review via NetGalley.
PREVIOUS REVIEWS:
Super late bloomer: my early days in transition Paperback This is a wonderful and honest comic strip depicting 6 months in the life of the author/artist, a trans woman. It will be relatable for those who have transitioned or are thinking of it, but it's also relatable just as a human dealing with insecurities, breakups, grief, toxic family members, friendships, etc. It is not a funny comic strip but it's an ultimately hopeful, poignant, interesting and impactful one. Highly recommended.
I read a temporary digital ARC of this book via Net Galley for review. Paperback My Life in Transition is a collection of short biographical comics strips, with three panels covering each day over the course of roughly half a year.
Julia Kaye chronicles the way she feels each day, mostly in relation to her experiences as a trans woman who started transition three years ago.
Topics feature dating and relationships, family, transition, dysphoria, as well as healing, grief and forgiveness.
The art style is simple and effective. I have not read any of the author's other works, and I sometimes struggled with the context of the comics and who was who, as characters generally weren't really introduced (which makes sense, as these seem to have sprung from a sort of diary in comic form.) Since the style was so simple, a lot of the characters also looked very similar, which additionally made me mix them up. This was however not detrimental to getting the point each comic was trying to get across.
I received an ARC and reviewed honestly and voluntarily. Paperback A nice follow-up visit with a fascinating and charming woman. I hope a third book will be forthcoming. Paperback
