I always find it hard to review memoirs as I don’t like critiquing on the authors life. I found it a tricky read with some really important topics. I struggled with the structure of the book and felt like something was missing.

A blend of memoir and manifesto, Transitional is Munroe Bergdorf's story of being a mixed-race Black trans woman living in the UK. To Bergdorf transitioning "is not a process that only trans people go through: transitioning is universal. We all do it." Taking this approach, Bergdorf takes us through the many times transition has shown up in her life. Bergdorf's narrative voice is confident and informative, providing a decent overview of the current state of trans rights and how we can be better allies to the trans community.

inspiring and well written insight into the life of an absolute icon! highly recommend to anyone who knows bergdorf's other work or not

The kind of 'own voices" book that is so important to be available, this memoir of Munroe Bergdof's life as a queer person of colour is fascinating but difficult reading. It is a short, sharp read, and it wouldn't surprise me if there was an updated version/longer new title from Bergdorf down the line, as I definitely feel she has a lot more to say than what was included here.
Having a book where someone is so open and honest about their struggles and what they have overcome is so important - for people in general, as well as members of the Trans community who may identify with very specific elements of this.

“None of us ever becomes someone else entirely — regardless of how we identify — but nor do we stay the same for ever. We all transition. It's what binds us, not what separates us. Be it through moving from childhood into adolescence, our sexuality, our gender, in our relationship with love, our racial identity or individual purpose, every aspect of our lives is in transition; and if we can apply transitional thinking to our lives, we can begin to deconstruct both the internal barriers within ourselves and the external barriers between each other. This benefits us all, both as individuals and in order to create a global consciousness.” Munroe Bergdorf’s luminous, original memoir Transitional explores a life lived as a series of transformational moments as a means of understanding the transformational underpinnings of the human condition, and to situate transness accordingly within that great tradition. As transition is “merely a discovery of self”, transness is less of a departure from what was and more an arrival at what has always, in secret perhaps, been. At times heartbreaking in its explorations of shame and the trauma cycle, and at other times galvanising in its clear and uncompromising view of sexual, racial, social justices, this is the memoir-as-manifesto that generations of trans people have needed, let alone queer people of colour. Bergdorf, who has overcome much in her pursuit of transparency since her famous (totally accurate) summation of whiteness propelled her into the spotlight, is a beacon of hope for intersectional progress and her dazzling new memoir only amplifies this.

This was a very dense and at times difficult read, but it was also fascinating, and it's doing well for us in the shop!

A hugely well thought out, well written and important piece of work. This needs to be put in the hands of anyone who doesn't understand the current violence and danger shown towards the trans community.

In this confident and erudite memoir Munroe Bergdorf has written not only a moving story of her own life as a biracial trans woman in the UK she has also provided an excellent introduction to the experience of trans and BIPOC people in love, in work and in society. While telling us of the many transitions in her own childhood and adolescence, the realisation of her transness she also shines a light on the wider attitudes of society, largely determined by a gaze that is white, cis and heteronormative. By aligning gender identity and the process of transition, medical and otherwise, with other transitions such and puberty, aging and growth she recognises this changeableness as an essential part of humanity and challenges the otherness ascribed to gender transition, fluidity and non-conformity. I would have loved to see this powerful understanding focused on a little more, as it is a little lost amongst the other themes. Nevertheless, this is a reasoned, passionate and smart work from a woman whose tenacity and insight has provided her with a platform that she is using for the benefit of all of us.

An interesting, emotional account of a Black trans woman and the traumas she went through growing up. But more than that, it speaks of transitional moments we all go through in our lives, and how to recognise them as such. After reading this, I'm more aware of pivotal moments in my past, and I found there was a lot I could relate to. Recommended reading for teenagers, young adults, and anyone who feels lost due to their past.

A compelling story with a strong narrative voice. It's a quick read but jam packed with info. Harrowing at times but deeply hopeful.

I always find it difficult to critique someone's memoir when it's their life, and they have chosen where to draw the lines in terms of sharing. That being said, I feel like Munroe really held back in terms of what was shared. She describes a period where she was suicidal and then sectioned. The next paragraph literally jumps forward with "I got through university and graduated with a 2:1".

I feel like this book is informative and concepts like intersectionality and transgender experience are well written, but the book lacked something I'm not sure I can put my finger on.

I think this is another case of someone with an online presence being encouraged to write a book, when actually they could write a much better book in a few more years.

5/10

Thoroughly and more importantly, highly recommend this to schools and libraries, it should be encouraged to be on their shelves to be available to LGBTQIA youth and also to hetero youth too for education. This is so interesting and informative, Munroe is such an inspiration and to being this out during a time of extreme right wing bile, is so much more inspiring, There are so many really interesting considerations in this but especially how society is failing to challenge the organisations, people and governments, education is the way forward , so I really want this to be made available in libraries everywhere

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is such an interesting story of the transitions in one person’s life and then an exploration of how those transitions were shaped by society and how everyone within society goes through similar transitions too. The book was broken down into chapters - age, gender, sex, race and purpose - investigating the dominant narratives and norms that are set by society and that make transitioning through life in any alternative way so much harder, more dangerous and more painful. It was both self-reflective and outward looking, showing how society is failing and challenging people, organisations and governments to change. In particular, anyone working in the education system should be made to read this and realise the impact that they are having on LGBTQIA youth, and the aftereffects that their treatment in schools has for the rest of their lives.

I thought this was going to be more of a memoir, but actually it's a bit more haphazard than that. Its more part life guide, part affirmations part train of thought and as a result it just feels a bit messy with no solid structure. I liked that the chapters had an overall theme, but feel more could have been done to make the whole thing feel more cohesive. I also felt like Munroe was holding a lot of themselves back, presenting only one side of their personality and remaining very guarded about the more private aspects of their life. And while that's OK, I found that I couldn't really see the real Munroe here. They've had such an amazing, interesting life and I just wanted a more personal glimpse at it.

I'm always so interested in what Munroe has to say and this was no different. An honest personal account mixed with an informative essay style. Releasing something like this isn't easy in the current landscape but that makes it all the more needed.

I really wanted to love this but unfortunately I didn't. It was interesting and informative but didn't fully meet my expectations.

This seemed to be a memoir of sorts but lacked the depth and richness of a memoir. It felt like a lot wasn't said or expanded upon which would have benefited the book if it was. As a result I didn't feel like I got to know Munroe Bergdort by reading this book

Transitional is a memoir and manifesto by Munroe Bergdorf, trans model and activist, exploring her childhood and growing up, finding love, sex, and fame, and living as a Black woman. Each chapter is focused on a theme—'Adolescence', 'Love', 'Gender', 'Race' etc—and is mostly a memoir, with some parts moving more into guide and manifesto around the central theme of the idea that everyone transitions in some way.

I was expecting from the blurb for this to be more of a manifesto than a memoir, when really it's the other way around for a lot of the book, with a lot focused on Bergdorf's own experiences and drawing out her conclusions from that, but by the end the book moves more towards her activism and the importance of activism and spaces and communities for making change. From growing up black in a mostly white area to being fired by L'Oréal for a social media post denouncing racism, the parts exploring race and racism were particularly interesting, and by the end of the book this is connected up with Black feminist theory, linking personal together with theory. At other points in the book, there were some generalised statements about how, people are viewed in society that felt less backed up, for example how bisexuality and gender intersect, and it would've been good to know if that was based on statistics or was more of an opinion as it was presented as a fact without comment.

There are a fair number of mainstream trans memoirs out there now and this one goes over a lot of the expected areas—growing up, sex, transitioning, mental health—whilst also getting into things like the fashion industry and social media algorithms. It covers a lot in a short space, and whilst I wish there was more within the book to build upon the idea from the introduction and ending that everyone transitions in life, it offers an insight into Bergdorf's life and what has impacted her life.

I'm in two minds about Transitional - I found the first half in particular extremely engaging and well-written, and I highlighted quite a few sections. However, as the book progresses, it loses track of its theme of "transition" somewhat. At times, this train of thought is replaced by strong feelings and righteous anger, and is significantly affecting - however, at other times the aim of the book becomes slightly confused. Transitional walks the line between being a memoir and an essay collection - sometimes more successfully than others. There are some really interesting considerations of various aspects of society here - not just being trans, but race, gender more generally, eating disorders, and sexual violence (and please do pay attention to any trigger warnings linked to these topics!). At points though, especially if you have read a lot of other books on these topics, there is a slight lack of both depth and emotional connection. I found Transitional to be a really interesting read, but the implementation could have been refined somewhat.
3.5 stars rounded up to 4.