About the book
Author: Morgan Thomas
Publisher: MCD
More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.
Buy and support indie bookstores (+ I earn a small commission):
Bookshop.org (print or ebook) | Libro.fm (audio)
My review
I’m so glad the National Book Award put this on my radar, because Mad Eden is such an impressive little novel about queerness, transness, and also autism that brings those things together in a really unique, smart way. It’s incredibly creative in terms of structure, not only in how it shapes the reading experience but in how it shapes the actual story.
I’m going to be a sucker for anything with a dragon, and this book is interspersed with sections of an online fantasy serial posted in an online forum that’s entirely crafted out of the words included in a medical report about autism. Meanwhile, the main character, Ro, works as a patient navigator who gives people advice about how they can access gender-affirming care in a version of the US that is even more legally and politically hostile toward trans folks than it is now. All I’ll say is something bad happens with their job, which sends them into quite the overwhelming spiral.
I enjoyed this book, and I reall,y really admire it. But I did find my motivation to pick it up lagging a bit in the middle, and it took me quite a while to read it, even though it isn’t that long. That is probably mostly a me thing because there is no audiobook edition at the moment, and as a toddler parent I depend on them for momentum these days. So don’t take my word for it!
Either way, this was such a compellingly creative way into a character’s experience of two things that I personally have no experience with (being trans and having autism) and that’s something that I will always, always highly value.
Give it a read if it’s calling to you!
Content and trigger warnings
Transphobia, homophobia
Self-harm
Medical content
Suicidal thoughts
