Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Not really what I was expecting? The advice was mainly generic financial things that any cis person could take to heart. It didn't really say anything new and it feels disingenuous to use the same "work hard and anything is possible" advice for a group that suffers one of the highest rates of employment discrimination

This workbook is an example of why one's lived experience doesn't make one an expert of experiences of others.

Overall, I appreciated the solution-focused angle, but still, "Transition to Success" grossly lacked nuance and I'd actually consider some parts harmful. I felt the author emphasised the topic of weight-loss way too much and came across very fatphobic, which truly put me off.

I think not enough sensitivity and emotional support was given towards an ideal reader, which is a person in the process of transition. Some reviewers here already pointed out the capitalistic lens, focus on productivity and performance, instead of being and feeling, and I must agree with this observation.

This workbook is more of a general self-help book with some references to trans people rather than a book made for trans people. To start with the good, the self-esteem chapter was good in a general sense--but as a book focused on trans people, I expected more to be dedicated to the systems that shape our self-esteem and how those specifically shape our views of ourselves as trans people. The health chapter was actively bad. There was a huge focus on weight, BMI, and calories--I actually had to skip a lot of this section. It was just advice that is literally the opposite of what ED recovery is about, which I found odd given the prevalence of EDs in the trans community. The performance chapter also annoyed me, since it is mainly focused on improving your productivity. It was a very capitalistic approach and as a trans workbook, I wish there would have been more (in this chapter and overall in the book) dedicated to inherent value and the importance of rest. Overall, I can't say I recommend this to anyone. Cis people would find it weirdly geared towards trans people, but most trans people would probably be offended or harmed by picking this up.

I thought this book would be much more focused on trans identities and how to over come some of the struggles that we face. I thought it would be more focused on transitioning, whether medically or just socially, and breaking it down into small sections with ideas on how to best go through each stage. Such as name change, coming up with ideas - getting people to try the new names - seeing which one fills best - making steps to incorporate the new name into everyday life - making steps to legally change it with ideas of different ways to do this - to changing ID such as passport with new gender marker (I know there are issues for non-binary people in this way but hopefully we will get there soon)

But it was mainly just a self help book with a little bit of trans stuff included, that focused on confidence, self esteem, setting up goals, financial goals etc. A cis person (someone who isn't trans) could read this book and just skip over all the trans stuff and they wouldn't miss a lot. I expected it to be much more trans focused.

I also found it weird that one of the examples for setting up goals was to lose weight. I know this is just an example and it was probably used because its easy to set up goals around and it's easy to set up lots of min goals for weeks and months etc. But it was not a good example to use when included in a book for trans people. A lot of the trans community have body issues and a lot of the trans community, have eating disorders. Anorexia and other restrictive eating disorders are so common within the trans community. This section could be incredibly triggering when it talks about counting calories etc. A lot of the 'tips' for losing weight are tips that were shared around eating disorder blogs that I saw as a teen. There is also shame around binge eating, which is also an eating disorder. Its not as simple as stopping eating. Hence why it is an eating disorder.

I just thought it was an odd example to use and give tips to, when it is well known that a lot of the trans community has or have had an ED.

One of the things I did like though is that there are a lot of places to write and a lot of questions to help.you set goals and to manage your time etc if that's what you want to do.

(rated 1.5)

*eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

1.5 stars

as a self help book, this was very average, but as a trans self help book, it was actively offensive.
i usually dislike self help books like this as they presume everyone is operating from the same context, but i thought that this one would finally be inclusive of my trans and neurodivergent identities, however i was really disappointed.
i will say that i think it's structured well, interactive, and is a good central source for many self help ideas, however, it treats transphobia not as a source of massive systemic injustice, but something that just makes our lives a bit more difficult sometimes. the onus is placed on the reader to simply get over how they feel about transphobia and transphobic hate crime, without significant acknowledgement of the high rate of severe mental illness in the trans community that makes it a great deal harder to engage in this kind of self improvement. there's pretty much a complete lack of intersectionality - no mention of how neurodivergent/disabled people might find it hard to engage in good health and routines because of executive dysfunction/sensory issues/lack of spoons although there are a high number of neurodivergent/disabled trans people, no mention of how surgery wait times disproportionately affect lower-income trans people (instead the reader is encouraged to use these waiting times as time for self improvement), no mention of aro/ace people in the relationships section, no mention of how dangerous disclosing your trans identity can be to a potential partner, and no mention of how trans people are more likely to experience ab*se in the section about toxic relationships. also a lot of the self-improvement goals are based on weight, encouraging use of BMI and counting calories, which could be very triggering to readers with eating disorders, which there are higher rates of in the trans community.
i'm not denying that people experiencing difficulties in their lives do need to make an effort to implement strategies to feel good, and i don't believe trans people are just destined to be miserable because of systemic discrimination, but i don't think this book will be the thing that helps trans people on the whole achieve better mental health and quality of life.

I did not enjoy this book at all and found that it is written in a very victim blaming way. The author uses patronising and weight loss focused examples, such as setting goals for losing weight and stopping binge eating as if it was as simple as making a goal. This book is very general and not specific to trans people, who are much more likely than their cis counterparts to experience mental illness and body dysphoria / dysmorphia. The author writes as if these are small issues that are easily overcome or are not as important as losing that ‘extra pound’. In a section where you write responses to prompts on your ‘diet’, the first question is ‘how many calories do you consume in a day?’. This is potentially a very triggering question and is posed in a way that made me feel guilty. I do not recommend this book.

Transition to Success by Matthew Waites is a fantastic tool for everyone, not just trans and gender non-conforming folks. Part self-help book, part journal, Transition to Success gives readers the tools and opportunities to explore who they are and what they need in order to achieve their goals.

Wow, this was actually really bad.

Going into this book I hoped for a focus on trans identities in regards to success. I hoped it would discuss the challenges trans people face in the work place, education, with views of our selves. But instead this book mentions trans people struggle every once in awhile and mostly focuses on vague ideas of goal setting. Most examples for the goals are weight loss based. This already is an issue, being that weight loss isn't a goal everyone has and feeds into a very dangerous idea of beauty standards and expectations. However the fact that trans people are at a very high risk for eating disorders and struggling with depression and anxiety, this normalizes these struggles and encourages them as the normal. The book says health is the most important aspect in someone's life and then says to make sure it's good to lose weight and exercise. This is a bad narrative to spread about health because weight is not the only factor in good health and many disabled people can't watch their weight closely or exercise regularly. The author even says that low weight is necessary for gender transition, which is not the case at all. There is much more I could get into that is wrong with this book. This book will not help a struggling trans person but rather it has lots of triggering wording and false positivity. Our struggles aren't an easy fix and even if the author had a very easy time getting past them, not everyone will and there is nothing wrong with that. I felt genuinely mad reading this. I do not recommend this for anyone, especially trans people.