Nevada by Imogen Binnie
★★★★✩
i bought this book from the queer shelf at a bookstore in Reno, NV, after reading the synopsis; poetic, i know. cities? trans people? punk? that's, like, right up my alley. the first thing i noticed about Nevada is that it doesn't utilize any dialogue tags. characters talking are shown through the narrator, Maria Griffiths, telling you that a character is speaking. it definitely takes a bit to get used to, but i think it kind of enhances your experience reading it. a lot of the book is Maria narrating her mundane yet similtaneously stressful life with long inner monologues about heteronormativity, gender roles, and the trans experience. if you're looking for an action-packed super spy thriller... this probably isn't for you. it takes a while to really get into it, but that doesn't mean that the beginning of the book is boring by any means. the way that Binnie sets up the world is immediately intriguing. the "call to action" of the plot (Maria quitting her job, stealing her girlfriends car, and taking it on a roadtrip with no set destination using her bottom surgery savings) happens really unexpectedly, and kind of out of nowhere (which isn't out of the ordinary for her at all). after she meets James along the way, who she suspects to be trans, the entirety of her plan starts to unravel as she tries to let him know what he doesn't want to admit. she brings him in her car to a casino, and abandons him which literally comes out of NOWHERE and the last line of the book is James wondering if theres enough room for him to get head in the back of his girlfriends car.
one of the few things i didn't really like about the book are in regards to Maria's views on trans masculine people. her character is kind of jealous of trans masc people and sees them as having it easier than trans fems. i dont think it should be taken out of the book or anything, as i think it adds depth to her character and gives us more insight on her relationship to the trans community. it's just kind of sucks having to read that. Binnie actually talks about this in her added afterword for the rerelease of the book.