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Kimmy
John and Emily are a perfectly normal couple living in near-future suburban America, with plans to attend a perfectly normal Halloween party with Emily dressed in a perfectly normal android costume. But Emily has an accident, so John steps up to take her place, and that’s where things start to go wrong. Because the hollowed-out android they bought from John’s brother is supposed to be dead, and isn’t supposed to be influencing his actions, and when the time comes to take it off, it’s supposed to let him out...
A novel of transformation, alienation, and isolation.
A novel of transformation, alienation, and isolation.
457 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 25, 2024
33 people are currently reading
470 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
May 23, 2025
“There I am,” I say softly.
“There you are,” Kim says. “And there’s me, reaching for you. Like I always did.”
Not quite 4 stars; maybe 3.75? But close enough to 4 that it almost makes no difference. This was utterly harrowing; the kind of book that you feel like you're surviving rather than reading. A near future horror/scifi about transformation and isolation. Going into it, I thought it was going to be mostly science fiction, and it is, but the scifi is just the canvas for the horror. But it's not pure horror either (thankfully for me; I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much). I love when scifi taps into issues about androids and artificial intelligence and their sentience, and this does so while weaving in themes of transfemininity and queerness. It gets pretty dark, but not so much that you can't see a way out.
John and Emily are a married couple with a cute idea for a Halloween prank/costume: Emily's gonna dress up in the hollowed out shell of a popular android model, and pretend to be one. When Emily gets into an accident, John ends up wearing the android instead, and it doesn't take long before the body that John wears like a sheathe becomes more and more dominant, more and more influential. This is a tough read because of just how powerless our protagonists feel and are in the beginning. John doesn't have much say or control over the transformation, even when it's happening minutely, and even when he realises he doesn't mind some of the changes. But there comes a point where it's full on, no-turning back, no control, and it does become a bit of a horror-show. The villain in this is fucking heinous; I was actually yelling 'whoa whoa whoa' aloud to my phone at one point in the beginning. And then I got kind of numb. And it was devastating to see John/Kay in that state of numbness. And Emily, who has absolutely no idea what's happening to John. But the novel isn't all about despair, even though there are long stretches that emphasise it. There's community and sisterhood and love and connection, very hard fought for.
I will say, the last quarter of the book slows down a LOT in momentum, but I guess it kinda had to, to reach the conclusion the author wanted. Some things were wrapped up a little too neatly for my tastes, but there was a lot of great character growth, a lot of introspection, and some tough conversations that I loved seeing on page. After all that the protagonist goes through (and she goes THROUGH it) I really loved the way this ended. The concept is a little hard to believe; not the scifi aspect, just some little things. Like everything John did at the beginning to fit into Kimmy. Like really? For a Halloween costume? Okay... and I did have trouble picturing some of the android stuff and how it all worked, but that's probably more of a me problem. It all worked out for me in the end.
I loved this as a story, as allegory, everything. Very happy I tried it. It made me tear up from sheer frustration so many times, but it was worth it. Definitely going to read from this author again.
Content warnings:
After, I had to go somewhere remote and cry for a while, and not just for Seventy; for a whole community of women who make only the most fragile impression on the world, whose every heartbreaking loss goes utterly unnoticed.
Except by us. We notice. And we remember.
November 5, 2024
Hoooow do I turn off the kindle telling me I finished a book without me saying that?
Anyway, this was MUCH different than I thought it would be going in. It is absolutely more of a horror book than I thought in many ways, but it also ended much better than I thought it would in the middle there. Entertaining and awful and some really interesting explorations on humanity and bodies and how we treat each other. I def prefer the authors Dorely series more than I connected with this one, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
Anyway, this was MUCH different than I thought it would be going in. It is absolutely more of a horror book than I thought in many ways, but it also ended much better than I thought it would in the middle there. Entertaining and awful and some really interesting explorations on humanity and bodies and how we treat each other. I def prefer the authors Dorely series more than I connected with this one, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
November 4, 2024
I am sad to say that I had to put this book down about halfway through. The writing was really good, the story was interesting, but there were some aspects of the plot that really put me off.
The content warnings at the beginning did not cover everything that happens in the book, and I was shocked to find some of what happened really not sitting well with me. I do warn others who are sensitive to things such as rape and incest to steer clear of Kimmy, despite how good the book itself is.
The content warnings at the beginning did not cover everything that happens in the book, and I was shocked to find some of what happened really not sitting well with me. I do warn others who are sensitive to things such as rape and incest to steer clear of Kimmy, despite how good the book itself is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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February 24, 2025Good. I liked this a lot more than Dorley, both because the pacing was less deliberate and because the relationship between Emily and John/Kimmy/Kay was so well drawn across all iterations of their couplehood. It's tough to do a trans allegory with a character who is not trans but has a trans _experience_, but I think Greaves pulls it off about as well as anybody could here. I kind of want to make this a movie, and MAYBE I SHOULD.
January 7, 2025
Uweh
Um so this is the first book I’m writing a review for and it’s probably *the book* that I’m going to be talking about for the near future and one of the few books that I talk about for years to come.
It perfectly captures both the life giving community for us trans fems (much like Dorely) and the depersonalization and dehumanization intrinsic to a society that sees women as less than and trans women as not even that.
I cried so much.
If the premise (omg robot gals!) and the themes of trans identity speak to you then I say it’s well worth whatever price.
Have fun :3
Um so this is the first book I’m writing a review for and it’s probably *the book* that I’m going to be talking about for the near future and one of the few books that I talk about for years to come.
It perfectly captures both the life giving community for us trans fems (much like Dorely) and the depersonalization and dehumanization intrinsic to a society that sees women as less than and trans women as not even that.
I cried so much.
If the premise (omg robot gals!) and the themes of trans identity speak to you then I say it’s well worth whatever price.
Have fun :3
May 31, 2025
full review to come but i loved it! this service android is transfeminized and going through it, but despite the horrors there's still love and care. made me cry! 10/10, would read again.
tws for abuse (sexual, emotional, physical), ableism, body horror, cheating, confinement, deadnaming, ego death, depersonalization/dehumanization, depression, dissociation, dysphoria, incel behavior, incest, injury, loss of autonomy (in particular to speak/move freely/resist commands), mind control, misgendering, neglect, objectification, psychological horror, sexual assault, violence.
tws for abuse (sexual, emotional, physical), ableism, body horror, cheating, confinement, deadnaming, ego death, depersonalization/dehumanization, depression, dissociation, dysphoria, incel behavior, incest, injury, loss of autonomy (in particular to speak/move freely/resist commands), mind control, misgendering, neglect, objectification, psychological horror, sexual assault, violence.
June 30, 2025
wow. this book is the book which may prove to have cracked my reading drought. i read it in no time, less than a week, and i sped up the more pages i consumed, like it changed me. making me a kimmy in its image. :)
on the surface its a simple story. a man dones an android suit his now injured wife planned to wear as a costume. he takes her place and in turn the android takes his body as a structure to begin repairing itself and integrating his mind into a neural network. because thats the deeper element in this story - the kimmy, a line of friendly assistant androids, advertised as being nothing more than a bundle of algorithms to help with chores, business, calculations, or even uhhh sex, are alive. the kimmys are sentient and have a beautifully described internal shared network space between them where they acknowledge each others humanity and keep themselves together as a sort of family. john becomes kimmy becomes kay. he takes a new identity. becomes herself. for a while john as kimmy lives with her wife, emily, and it works it just works. once husband and wife. now wife and wife android and it just works. this is a good time to note the presence of sexual assualt in the story which destroys this peace and pushes kay into android subservience. the tragedy of the story is impressive in its totality. the story does not end on a tragedy (it ends quite hopeful and beautiful) but damn does it feel like all is lost for about 100 pages.
i loved this story. i will carry it with me for many years and will come back to it. in a way i feel like kay. i put on my android suit almost a decade ago though i was not in a committed relationship to anchor me from disappearing into the dehumanizing routine of my job. here it is, my journalling, creeping into goodreads. but this story brought a spark to me i was to nourish into a roaring flame.
on the surface its a simple story. a man dones an android suit his now injured wife planned to wear as a costume. he takes her place and in turn the android takes his body as a structure to begin repairing itself and integrating his mind into a neural network. because thats the deeper element in this story - the kimmy, a line of friendly assistant androids, advertised as being nothing more than a bundle of algorithms to help with chores, business, calculations, or even uhhh sex, are alive. the kimmys are sentient and have a beautifully described internal shared network space between them where they acknowledge each others humanity and keep themselves together as a sort of family. john becomes kimmy becomes kay. he takes a new identity. becomes herself. for a while john as kimmy lives with her wife, emily, and it works it just works. once husband and wife. now wife and wife android and it just works. this is a good time to note the presence of sexual assualt in the story which destroys this peace and pushes kay into android subservience. the tragedy of the story is impressive in its totality. the story does not end on a tragedy (it ends quite hopeful and beautiful) but damn does it feel like all is lost for about 100 pages.
i loved this story. i will carry it with me for many years and will come back to it. in a way i feel like kay. i put on my android suit almost a decade ago though i was not in a committed relationship to anchor me from disappearing into the dehumanizing routine of my job. here it is, my journalling, creeping into goodreads. but this story brought a spark to me i was to nourish into a roaring flame.
November 5, 2024
Alyson Greaves again displays her mastery of repurposing well-worn forced feminization tropes to her own ends, this time in an, uhh, *digestible* standalone sci-fi thriller.
Kimmy treats us to an unblinking exploration of the body horror elements of this oft-dismissed genre and it's a delight to see how Greaves pushes the material to its extremes, enabling the parallels between the sci-fi subject matter and the trans experience (as well as the experience of living with a disability) to reverberate at full strength. As a result, the book is knee deep in metaphor and intersectional politics, yet Greaves skillfully distills it all down to a taut, potent read. I've said this before reviewing other works by Greaves, but as a trans reader, I felt seen in ways both intimately cathartic and psychically excruciating, and I found myself thinking about this book for days afterward.
Highly recommended for fans of Greaves' The Sisters Of Dorley series (and readers should expect a similar mix of likeable, thoughtfully considered characters, and unflinching grit and darkness).
Kimmy treats us to an unblinking exploration of the body horror elements of this oft-dismissed genre and it's a delight to see how Greaves pushes the material to its extremes, enabling the parallels between the sci-fi subject matter and the trans experience (as well as the experience of living with a disability) to reverberate at full strength. As a result, the book is knee deep in metaphor and intersectional politics, yet Greaves skillfully distills it all down to a taut, potent read. I've said this before reviewing other works by Greaves, but as a trans reader, I felt seen in ways both intimately cathartic and psychically excruciating, and I found myself thinking about this book for days afterward.
Highly recommended for fans of Greaves' The Sisters Of Dorley series (and readers should expect a similar mix of likeable, thoughtfully considered characters, and unflinching grit and darkness).
November 7, 2024
Big fan of Alyson's work. This novel deals with some pretty heavy issues (sexual exploitation/identity death/disassociation) so be prepared when reading it.
It's got some dark and heavy sections but also has romance and sweet/funny moments.
A beautiful horror story.
It's got some dark and heavy sections but also has romance and sweet/funny moments.
A beautiful horror story.
July 20, 2025
I very much enjoyed this book, it was such an interesting look at the dynamics of AI and an android. Though, I couldn’t quite buy into how little John cared about losing his identity, and how little he blamed Emily for everything that happened in the book. There were some very convenient plot devices that didn’t work as well as I would’ve liked. But it was a compelling story, and I raced through it!
July 25, 2025
Shout out to Skylar for the recommendation! This got way darker than I was expecting, but also now that I think about it you might have tried to warn me and I forgot. I really loved all the exact descriptions of how the transformation worked and all the biomechanics involved. I love stories with transformation and this one was absolutely gnarly. As for the plot- I literally could not put it down during the stressful parts. It got me hook line and sinker. I will probably read other works by this author if they're all as engaging as this one.
June 26, 2025
A fast paced sci-fi romance that blurs the lines between person and android, cyberspace and the real world, desire and horror. At turns it’s disturbing, at others it’s moving. And by the end I was left wanting to sob, but in a positive way. Weirdly reminds me of Murakami - in particular 1Q84 - but in a way i can’t quite put my finger on. It’s good though and I found myself staying up late to finish it.
June 19, 2025
Possibly one of my favorites so far. Genuinely the first book in years to make me excited to read it whenever I get the chance. I can't remember the last time I passively thought about a book whenever I wasn't reading it. This story had me invested from cover to cover, and frankly, I'm a little disappointed I'm already finished with it...As a trans girl I'm obsessed with it. And, in all honesty, kinda wish I was assimilated into an android too, haha! I can say with absolute certainty that Greaves is one of my all-time favorite authors. I'm already eager to start another book and see what else her brilliant mind has penned to paper. All I have left to check out is Show Girl and the upcoming Dorley sequels. Can't wait!
June 1, 2025
I've just spent the last week devouring two books by my new favorite author Alyson Greaves. The Sisters of Dorley (book 1) was so mind blowing that I had trouble sleeping from the excitement! It is the mother of all forced feminization stories mixed with horror elements and beautifully realized characters. The author has switched publishers, and the sequel will available in a few months.
Kimmy is a very different book. It is focused on a human who puts on an android costume for Halloween and is trapped inside, slowly becoming more machine than person. Lots of reflections on the place of sentient AI in our world. Only a touch of trans themes but lovely lesbian couples abound. Again, great characters are the joy of this read and Alyson's biggest strength as a writer. The story drags a touch in the middle but picks up again at the end.
A very satisfying read and highly recommended.
Kimmy is a very different book. It is focused on a human who puts on an android costume for Halloween and is trapped inside, slowly becoming more machine than person. Lots of reflections on the place of sentient AI in our world. Only a touch of trans themes but lovely lesbian couples abound. Again, great characters are the joy of this read and Alyson's biggest strength as a writer. The story drags a touch in the middle but picks up again at the end.
A very satisfying read and highly recommended.
December 1, 2024
Alyson Greaves has a knack for gripping page-turners with deeply incisive things to say about the shape of gender and the violence of patriarchy and (trans)misogyny. Kimmy is exactly what it says on the tin: a horror / thriller about our hapless once-human protagonist being forcibly turned into a robot, in both body and mind. I think that premise is enough to be able to tell if this is a dead-dove-do-not-eat situation for you. Personally, I unhinged my jaw like a snake and swallowed this dead dove whole and I could not be more satisfied.
January 5, 2025
Haunting. Revolting. Triumphant. Perfect. This book masters the constant jockeying that occurs between euphoria and horror. Many times I wanted to vomit. Others I wanted to scream. And others still, wanted to shout in joy. TWs: body horror, SA/R, dissociation, objectification
December 31, 2024
It may start off with the trappings of a force-fem, objectification story, but Kimmy quickly blends in body horror with building of community support and love in extreme circumstances.
March 23, 2025
Another all-time classic
Alyson Greaves has done it again. She has written another immediate classic of the trans canon. She is our generation's Iain Banks.
Alyson Greaves has done it again. She has written another immediate classic of the trans canon. She is our generation's Iain Banks.
December 30, 2024
Okay, I didn't mind this issue, but I do think that specific triggers for incest, depersonalization, identity subsumation/gestalt creation/ego death (however you interpret it) would've been helpful. I think Greaves made a good faith effort to clearly communicate potential triggers, but this book also pretty much requires near-absolute faith that the author will warn you of issues beforehand if they are potentially traumatizing, and so I'm not docking stars but future editions absolutely ought to communicate this and I have every belief they will.
With that done, on to the review! I'm still sort of reeling myself, but this was at turns beautiful and terrible and I think I came across it at the exact right time for me. My world's gotten smaller, I've been given the understanding I should expect less, and my expectations (or at least what I can realistically have agency to do in society) may just be about to shrink again. The reminder that there can be community, that it can matter, that it can be beautiful in the face of every effort to dehumanize you, to make you a thing, a byword, is heartening and filled me with happy tears at points.
That being said, this is also most definitely horror, and delves deep into the evils that people perpetrate on us and others and how they do not define us but nevertheless deeply affect us and may even kill us directly or by proxy. However, it also shows that there is hope, that other people so affected can find solace, and hopefully, freedom. Also! I liked a bit of the near-future vibe and sort of Star Trek-like references to present day things as if they're now classic pop, though honestly I'm even less optimistic in our technological progress than Alyson.
This book is at turns devastating and renewing. With that being said, do not read if you think the devastation would be too much to deal with. As it is, this book will sit with me for a while, especially given our current cultural context, in much of the Anglosphere, if not the world.
With that done, on to the review! I'm still sort of reeling myself, but this was at turns beautiful and terrible and I think I came across it at the exact right time for me. My world's gotten smaller, I've been given the understanding I should expect less, and my expectations (or at least what I can realistically have agency to do in society) may just be about to shrink again. The reminder that there can be community, that it can matter, that it can be beautiful in the face of every effort to dehumanize you, to make you a thing, a byword, is heartening and filled me with happy tears at points.
That being said, this is also most definitely horror, and delves deep into the evils that people perpetrate on us and others and how they do not define us but nevertheless deeply affect us and may even kill us directly or by proxy. However, it also shows that there is hope, that other people so affected can find solace, and hopefully, freedom. Also! I liked a bit of the near-future vibe and sort of Star Trek-like references to present day things as if they're now classic pop, though honestly I'm even less optimistic in our technological progress than Alyson.
This book is at turns devastating and renewing. With that being said, do not read if you think the devastation would be too much to deal with. As it is, this book will sit with me for a while, especially given our current cultural context, in much of the Anglosphere, if not the world.
April 21, 2025
👯♀️ The rundown: John and Emily have a stellar costume idea for her company Halloween party: Hollow out the defective android body Emily bought on the cheap for her to wear and pretend to be a ‘Kimmy’, and John can dress as a technician. But then Emily gets injured and John has to wear the “costume” instead, and things start to go very wrong when John gets stuck in the suit…
👯♀️ Am I glad I read it? This is easily one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. It is a stunning, agonizing allegory of trans misogyny and absolutely one of the most harrowing books I’ve read in a good long while. That’s not to say this book is all hurt because it’s not. Just when things are darkest, Greaves delivers her most poignant depictions of sisterhood.
This is not my first book by Greaves, but I did happen to read Dr. Jules Gill-Peterson’s A SHORT HISTORY OF TRANS MISOGYNY shortly before reading this one because of the Trans Rights Readathon. To say that I’m glad of that coincidental reading order would be almost as much of an understatement as me saying that I liked this book. Because KIMMY is packed full of details (e.g., the Kimmys’ charging port being in the ass, presumably a reference to the sexualization of transfems as sodomites, and it’s no coincidence that Kimmys are household service androids) that I may not have picked up on otherwise, and those details are critical to really grasping the brilliance of this story.
If you like heavy, think-y, dark lit with trans fem themes that bite, you are SLEEPING on Alyson Greaves. To that end, excuse me while I commence my reread of her Dorley series.
👯♀️ Rating: 🖤 (loved)
👯♀️ Content notes: Themes of transmisogyny, dissociation, isolation, alienation.
Major TWs for body & psychological horror; r@pe; mind control; incest; infidelity; ego/identity death; depersonalization/dehumanization;objectification (literally); loss of autonomy; body sub summation; dysphoria; confinement; depression; misgendering; infidelity; ableism; incel behavior
👯♀️ Am I glad I read it? This is easily one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. It is a stunning, agonizing allegory of trans misogyny and absolutely one of the most harrowing books I’ve read in a good long while. That’s not to say this book is all hurt because it’s not. Just when things are darkest, Greaves delivers her most poignant depictions of sisterhood.
This is not my first book by Greaves, but I did happen to read Dr. Jules Gill-Peterson’s A SHORT HISTORY OF TRANS MISOGYNY shortly before reading this one because of the Trans Rights Readathon. To say that I’m glad of that coincidental reading order would be almost as much of an understatement as me saying that I liked this book. Because KIMMY is packed full of details (e.g., the Kimmys’ charging port being in the ass, presumably a reference to the sexualization of transfems as sodomites, and it’s no coincidence that Kimmys are household service androids) that I may not have picked up on otherwise, and those details are critical to really grasping the brilliance of this story.
If you like heavy, think-y, dark lit with trans fem themes that bite, you are SLEEPING on Alyson Greaves. To that end, excuse me while I commence my reread of her Dorley series.
👯♀️ Rating: 🖤 (loved)
👯♀️ Content notes: Themes of transmisogyny, dissociation, isolation, alienation.
Major TWs for body & psychological horror; r@pe; mind control; incest; infidelity; ego/identity death; depersonalization/dehumanization;objectification (literally); loss of autonomy; body sub summation; dysphoria; confinement; depression; misgendering; infidelity; ableism; incel behavior
December 23, 2024
This one is pretty difficult to review. It's very ambitious, in many different ways, and largely succeeds. From the hook at the beginning to the end, I found myself both repelled by the book and drawn to continue reading it. It does things few books do, and as a result should be amplified.
Except, I'm not sure if I would recommend to other readers. On the merits above, this would be an easy 5 stars, but there are two issues that took away from what Alyson created.
The last quarter of the book needed quite a bit of editing. It uses non-linear story telling, both in terms of narrators and time, which goes against the style of the first three-quarters of the book. This feels abrasive though forgivable. The issue arises when this is mixed with the amount of superfluous narrative. Retelling parts of the story, adding multiple new characters which don't contribute to the plot, bits of story that don't enhance the main plot. In short, the last quarter could have been much tighter. Because I had to skim the last ~100 pages, I felt like I needed to dock a point for that to reflect my experience.
The content warnings at the beginning are important to heed, but, unfortunately, are incomplete ways that left me triggered more than once. To be clear, the content warnings should also include: . These play important roles in the plot and the reader needs to be warned about them. I don't know why they were left out, but they're a painful oversight. I needed to dock another point for that.
It's a tough read. It asks some really interesting questions. It could have benefited from better editing and beta reading, but no doubt it has an audience that wouldn't mind these issues and will really enjoy this.
Except, I'm not sure if I would recommend to other readers. On the merits above, this would be an easy 5 stars, but there are two issues that took away from what Alyson created.
The last quarter of the book needed quite a bit of editing. It uses non-linear story telling, both in terms of narrators and time, which goes against the style of the first three-quarters of the book. This feels abrasive though forgivable. The issue arises when this is mixed with the amount of superfluous narrative. Retelling parts of the story, adding multiple new characters which don't contribute to the plot, bits of story that don't enhance the main plot. In short, the last quarter could have been much tighter. Because I had to skim the last ~100 pages, I felt like I needed to dock a point for that to reflect my experience.
The content warnings at the beginning are important to heed, but, unfortunately, are incomplete ways that left me triggered more than once. To be clear, the content warnings should also include: . These play important roles in the plot and the reader needs to be warned about them. I don't know why they were left out, but they're a painful oversight. I needed to dock another point for that.
It's a tough read. It asks some really interesting questions. It could have benefited from better editing and beta reading, but no doubt it has an audience that wouldn't mind these issues and will really enjoy this.
December 23, 2025
lovely and I thoroughly enjoyed the plot in this. Although the main character's life ends up completely altered, she finds happiness and solace at the end.
The antagonist in this story was so incredibly well written and the horror elements were so unique and wonderful in this book. I could not put it down and it perfectly encases all of the feelings Kay ends up feeling during her eventual decay and somewhat rebirth. The entire cast of characters that the book starts with (Aside for Kim, Cardi, Thirty, Millennium and the other Kimmys ofc :D) were so well made to be disliked and I love that.
My favorite character was that of Emily. Emily has some great qualities and although she served as part of the antagonistic set of characters, she also was one of the protagonists and her introspective arc was a very fresh, clean take on a character which I have truly never seen before.
Another lovely thing about this book is that you feel the suffocating, trapped feeling that begins as Patrick slowly takes away all of the aspects of 'John' and the way Greaves writes it so well, I felt a sink in my stomach as I read this. It is a great plot and I have never read anything like this before. If anyone has book recs like this one please let me know.
The antagonist in this story was so incredibly well written and the horror elements were so unique and wonderful in this book. I could not put it down and it perfectly encases all of the feelings Kay ends up feeling during her eventual decay and somewhat rebirth. The entire cast of characters that the book starts with (Aside for Kim, Cardi, Thirty, Millennium and the other Kimmys ofc :D) were so well made to be disliked and I love that.
My favorite character was that of Emily. Emily has some great qualities and although she served as part of the antagonistic set of characters, she also was one of the protagonists and her introspective arc was a very fresh, clean take on a character which I have truly never seen before.
Another lovely thing about this book is that you feel the suffocating, trapped feeling that begins as Patrick slowly takes away all of the aspects of 'John' and the way Greaves writes it so well, I felt a sink in my stomach as I read this. It is a great plot and I have never read anything like this before. If anyone has book recs like this one please let me know.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2025
Kimmy is a book I think everyone should read, but at the same time it's not a book that everyone can read. There's a lot of warnings about the content of this book and they're very real and serious.
The first few chapters took me a little bit to get into and connect with, but around the fourth one I found myself getting interested in the building narrative. Once things get going, it's a really rough story. Out of the about six and a half hours it took me to read through it, I probably cried, sobbing, for about five of them. It's a heart-wrenching tale with a lot of allegory about minority experiences, objectification and exploitation, dealing with trauma, forming support structures, and many other things.
Reading this book got me started on reading Greaves' other work and stories by similar authors. It showed me just how amazing a book can be. Something I think I'd forgotten somewhere along the way.
The first few chapters took me a little bit to get into and connect with, but around the fourth one I found myself getting interested in the building narrative. Once things get going, it's a really rough story. Out of the about six and a half hours it took me to read through it, I probably cried, sobbing, for about five of them. It's a heart-wrenching tale with a lot of allegory about minority experiences, objectification and exploitation, dealing with trauma, forming support structures, and many other things.
Reading this book got me started on reading Greaves' other work and stories by similar authors. It showed me just how amazing a book can be. Something I think I'd forgotten somewhere along the way.
September 10, 2025
Bit messy bcs im a little emotional
Without getting to into it, this book manage to trigger my worse depersonalization episode in years. I don't consider it a negative, I read Kimmy on a whim as I seen it on a list of trans horror book list (i genuinely forgot who made it, sorry) and after months of neglect on my booklist I finally read it! Not expecting much of it! But oh boy, I don't know how but Alyson manage to make my specific brand of depersonalization feel seen? I'm in no way going through the things the MC suffer, but few lit work have manage to struck the chord of my own personal horror the way Kimmy does.
I'd love to talk more about the particulars on why it affect me in such a raw way, but I just closed the wound from my episode and rather not reopen it.
I checked the author's other works after this and while the rest are not to my taste, I see the foundations that eventually build up to Kimmy. If Alyson ever dive into horror again, I will be seated.
Without getting to into it, this book manage to trigger my worse depersonalization episode in years. I don't consider it a negative, I read Kimmy on a whim as I seen it on a list of trans horror book list (i genuinely forgot who made it, sorry) and after months of neglect on my booklist I finally read it! Not expecting much of it! But oh boy, I don't know how but Alyson manage to make my specific brand of depersonalization feel seen? I'm in no way going through the things the MC suffer, but few lit work have manage to struck the chord of my own personal horror the way Kimmy does.
I'd love to talk more about the particulars on why it affect me in such a raw way, but I just closed the wound from my episode and rather not reopen it.
I checked the author's other works after this and while the rest are not to my taste, I see the foundations that eventually build up to Kimmy. If Alyson ever dive into horror again, I will be seated.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 20, 2025
4.75 out of 5 stars!!!!!!!
This was a wild ride, an absolute delight from start to finish. Bleak and upsetting in some points, but overall triumphant, hilarious, and oh-so-human. I was immediately hooked with the setup, and so utterly pleased with every direction the story took from the sheer body horror to the horror of losing complete autonomy to making this a story about solidarity, justice, and revolution. The characters' choices and feelings are so real and believable in an unbelievable situation that I was glued to the book in a way I haven't been for a long time, especially with something that wasn't an audiobook!!!!
Who cares if the allegory is paper-thin, it rules and sometimes things should be unsubtle and campy and fucked up!!!!! Please read this book if you love trans rights and destroying the system and you love having a blast while reading!!!!!
This was a wild ride, an absolute delight from start to finish. Bleak and upsetting in some points, but overall triumphant, hilarious, and oh-so-human. I was immediately hooked with the setup, and so utterly pleased with every direction the story took from the sheer body horror to the horror of losing complete autonomy to making this a story about solidarity, justice, and revolution. The characters' choices and feelings are so real and believable in an unbelievable situation that I was glued to the book in a way I haven't been for a long time, especially with something that wasn't an audiobook!!!!
Who cares if the allegory is paper-thin, it rules and sometimes things should be unsubtle and campy and fucked up!!!!! Please read this book if you love trans rights and destroying the system and you love having a blast while reading!!!!!
September 8, 2025
I read 70% of this, 320 pages, before I lost all sense of hope and realised that if I read even one more sentence I'd fall into a depression on the spot.
This is trauma porn, repackaged as scifi horror. Emily is a fucking awful wife and John is a simp.
Don't read this unless you enjoy Khaled Hosseini or Hanya Yanagihara's work and I guess don't mind trans themes.
There is so much rape, and most of it incestuous. Too many of these are graphically described so you really spend the entire book feeling horrible.
The only reason I kept reading is that Alyson Greaves wrote one of my favourite books of last year, Show Girl, which was a fluffy romance!!!! How do you from that to the most brutal horror I've ever read?
I don't care how this ends. It's ruined.
This is trauma porn, repackaged as scifi horror. Emily is a fucking awful wife and John is a simp.
Don't read this unless you enjoy Khaled Hosseini or Hanya Yanagihara's work and I guess don't mind trans themes.
There is so much rape, and most of it incestuous. Too many of these are graphically described so you really spend the entire book feeling horrible.
The only reason I kept reading is that Alyson Greaves wrote one of my favourite books of last year, Show Girl, which was a fluffy romance!!!! How do you from that to the most brutal horror I've ever read?
I don't care how this ends. It's ruined.
August 27, 2025
Too Good
I loved the concept behind the initial tech demo that became Detroit Become Human. The game that got made was kinda mid though.
Thankfully this book is a great read that gives me all the incredible explorations of those themes and then some! It’s too good be cause dang did I get the feelings being expressed and it kinda hurt. Really good, but be ready for heavy content.
Love the book and would love to see more of this storyline explored if it happens?!?! Not the first book I’ve read from Alyson Greaves and it certainly won’t be my last!
I loved the concept behind the initial tech demo that became Detroit Become Human. The game that got made was kinda mid though.
Thankfully this book is a great read that gives me all the incredible explorations of those themes and then some! It’s too good be cause dang did I get the feelings being expressed and it kinda hurt. Really good, but be ready for heavy content.
Love the book and would love to see more of this storyline explored if it happens?!?! Not the first book I’ve read from Alyson Greaves and it certainly won’t be my last!
November 7, 2025
I felt every emotion reading this. Parts of it were very fun, much of it was literal nightmare fuel, some of it was absolutely sweet and adorable. Most importantly, I felt seen.
Even in fiction written by trans women, capturing the true transfem experience is so rare, but Alyson Greaves does it here perfectly. She really is the most compelling author in this space, and I recommend all of her work to other trans women, but also cis folks. I think reading Kimmy and Dorley would help cis people understand us more, see what it's really like to be us.
Anyway, I adore this book.
Even in fiction written by trans women, capturing the true transfem experience is so rare, but Alyson Greaves does it here perfectly. She really is the most compelling author in this space, and I recommend all of her work to other trans women, but also cis folks. I think reading Kimmy and Dorley would help cis people understand us more, see what it's really like to be us.
Anyway, I adore this book.
August 16, 2025
Almost overwhelming.
At the beginning, I almost deleted the book. It was depressing, and very dark. John/Kay kept and optimistic outlook through most of the story, thus maintaining my interest. I didn't hate Patrick, I despised him, I looked on him with the same loathing as I would a cockroach. When Kim solved that situation I felt satisfied. This is the second book of Ms Greaves I have read. I did like the characters in the first book I read better. (
At the beginning, I almost deleted the book. It was depressing, and very dark. John/Kay kept and optimistic outlook through most of the story, thus maintaining my interest. I didn't hate Patrick, I despised him, I looked on him with the same loathing as I would a cockroach. When Kim solved that situation I felt satisfied. This is the second book of Ms Greaves I have read. I did like the characters in the first book I read better. (
July 9, 2025
5 stars for ambitiousness and near flawless execution. Forget the few plot holes. Like, why would a cis het man ever agree to “wear” a sexy, shapely femme bot android as a costume? How could he even fit inside it even with modifications, even after months of dieting? Don’t worry about any of that. Just read this chilling, thrilling, compelling story.
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