As I read this book, I found myself torn. I enjoyed the insightful quotes at the beginning of each chapter and the therapy work with the family captured my interest. Yet, I couldn’t overlook the red flags that kept accumulating, and often thought I should stop reading as the book is clearly not meant for me as a person under the trans umbrella. In the end, I pushed through because I thought it would be valuable to give an honest review in return for the ARC I received on NetGalley.

I cannot emphasize enough how disturbing I found the transphobia depicted throughout the book; its explicitness felt unnecessary and gratuitous. The well-meaning therapist, despite good intentions and professing liberal viewpoints, allowed for unchallenged, vicious attacks on the trans woman. The whole set up where one therapist treats both the trans spouse and her vitriolocly transphobic ex as well as their kids was also hardly believable.

As for the conclusion of the book, it did nothing to salvage the story for me. And honestly, I found myself disinterested in the therapist’s personal backstory. The book was irredeemably crass and painful to read as a trans person, and I hope my review can spare someone else the experience.

Dawn Reno Langley's novel,“Analyzing the Prescotts”, is almost like stepping into a reality show, bringing us deep into the lives of a family and their therapist after their world is turned upside down when the father decides to transition into a woman. The therapist, Cotton Barnes, took a leave from her practice after the suicide of one of her clients, and now the Prescotts are the only clients she has now. Dealing with numerous personal issues of her own, is she becoming too involved with these people who now seem to occupy her every waking moment? This book covers themes such as identity, the power of narrative in discovering who one is, gender issues, depression, and discrimination and hatred toward those who are different. I learned a lot from this story, especially about how therapy works and how it can help people. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this novel. My opinion is my own.

I have conflicting views about this novel. My expertise in psychiatry is limited but after about half of the novel I began to question whether a fully educated and licensed professional would behave as the main character does on this story. There was a detail at the beginning about how many suicides this doctor has experienced with her clients. Too many ! I did not expect the ending but the violence associated with it has become endemic in our society and that is frightening. I did find it interesting and topical… transgender is being discussed in the media almost excessively.. but the book did not emerge as one I can say I would recommend.