i had high hopes for this book and while it is very interesting i just think it fell a little flat for me. i feel like i would have enjoyed it a lot more if it weren’t for the weird ways the author tries to handle gender. they are so close to saying something meaningful but it just falls flat and ends up spreading weird and kind of harmful ideals of trans identities. especially after reading an interview with the author where they talk about the eunuch character and how he is supposed to represent a trans-man, all the gender conversations just do not feel properly rooted in queer theory. overall it was still an enjoyable read but it could have been a lot better