#BookReview : Fierce Femmes & Notorious Liars by Kai Cheng Thom

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir by Kai Cheng Thom is the highly sensational, ultra-exciting, sort-of true coming-of-age story of a young Asian trans girl, pathological liar, and kung-fu expert who runs away from her parents’ abusive home in a rainy city called Gloom. Striking off on her own, she finds her true family in a group of larger-than-life trans femmes who live in a mysterious pleasure district known only as the Street of Miracles. Under the wings of this fierce and fabulous flock, Dearly blossoms into the woman she has always dreamed of being, with a little help from the unscrupulous Doctor Crocodile. When one of their number is brutally murdered, the protagonist joins her sisters in forming a vigilante gang to fight back against the transphobes, violent johns, and cops that stalk the Street of Miracles. But when things go terribly wrong, she must find the truth within herself in order to stop the violence and discover what it really means to grow up and find your family.

Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars is a fictionalized memoir written by Kai Cheng Thom & published by Zubaan Books. The debut author is also a performance artist, social worker, fierce trans femme and notorious liar who loves lipstick and superhero cartoons. She is also a mental health community worker and co-founder of the collective Monster Academy: Mental Health Skills for Montreal Youth.

This book revolves around our fierce Asian trans-woman protagonist trying to find her way in the world & while doing so discover some ‘mystical & magical creatures’. As she leaves her house where she faces constant abuse to start her new life, she comes across several friends & people who became her family. While being with her new family she eventually finds her true self and evolves to attain her actual identity. But as another fellow femme friend gets murder in a hate crime, our protagonist along with her friends decide to fight the hate by themselves & form their own little vigilante group named the ‘Lipstick Lacerators’. But as it happens, things go wrong & our protagonist need to now introspect how should they mend their ways while also protect themselves. Get this book here to get the whole experience,

This is my first fictionalized memoir to start with & honestly I wasn’t that sure about it, but the first paragraph of the book itself made it sure that I am in for a treat. The author made sure that the fictional parts didn’t ruin her experiences and they came out beautifully. Kai Cheng Thom’s story is that of sisterhood, loss and so much more. Her relationship with her sister is endearing and fills you up with joy as you read it. I can go on and on how much I loved reading this book but I will surely give away a lot of spoilers in doing so & hence can just urge you to please pick it up.