stories have a way of changing faces

OR: ESTRO JUNKIES - A SPOILER-LESS (ISH) REVIEW

*taking the fattest fuckin’ whiff of my bubblegum cigar* bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you tunglr? Heh heh…well let’s just say…holy shit this book,

(YOU CAN PRE-ORDER ESTRO JUNKIES HERE. IT COMES OUT MAY 24TH!!!) 

I think if I had to pick one way to describe this book, it would be this: There’s a lot of love in Estro Junkies. It’s not the type of love that unconditionally puts up with your bullshit, nor is it the type of love that will therapy-speak you; it’s the kind of love that bonks you over the head with a paper towel tube and goes, “hey, get your shit together.” But it’s sincere; it’s the kind of love that sincerely, truly cares about you, about the characters, about the story being told and the very real issues being talked about in the story. It’s a love that actually shines a light on the vibrancy of the human experience, on the complexity of it, without flinching. 

This is not just a compilation of the serial it’s inspired by (Ranked Competitive Breast Growth); it’s, dare I say, genuinely a lot better than the serial. The humor is still there, but in a far more mature way. The arcs are different in ways that help make the story more cohesive, the major plot beats that are preserved from the serial have been integrated into the story in ways to make them hit infinitely harder, this book is serious. It’s taken what I enjoyed most about RCBG, and grounded it, refined it, and made it into something I can picture on a shelf in a bookstore. 

Like, one thing that’s always hit me about representation is that after a while, you want to see trans and queer characters who are genuinely crashing the fuck out. You start craving the ugly, the messy, the evil; it’s just a really hard thing for most writers to pull off. This book pulls it off. I loved this version of these characters so much. I could feel their pain, their motivations for why they act the way they do, but the book pulled absolutely no punches. These girls are toxic. Chernobyl nuclear reactor level toxic. And it’s treated in a way where I still feel that they’re human. The text doesn’t treat them like caricatures or stereotypes, nor does it sanitize their behavior. This isn’t a book about making fun of cringe, or stoking up flames; this is a book about actual, genuine, feeling. Also the messiest lesbian drama you’ve ever seen in your fucking life, which is totally awesome. 

One thing I always talk about when I’m reading RCBG is its depiction of race, so I’d like to dip into that for a moment with Estro Junkies. I’m not sure how much the average white reader will get on first read, but this book has a lot to say about racial dynamics, especially in queer spaces (especially in trans woman majority spaces!). This book really understands the subtle ways in which racism seeps through into all spaces, the subtle ways in which the centering of whiteness can impact day-to-day interactions that go completely ignored, the way racism impacts the very perception that the white characters have of the characters of colour. This is not a cartoonish depiction of racism; there is the more overt depiction, of course (much more fine tuned in my opinion, to keep it grounded), but also the more covert aspects; the expectations placed upon someone when you’re stuck in a white majority space, the subtle dehumanization, the entitlement to your body. I can’t get into details or else I’ll be getting into spoiler territory but this is not just “one racist white girl who acts like a cartoon.” This is, indeed, the Deep Lore. 

I really love Rashmi. I really love that she’s got such a heart to her that shines through this book. I don’t know if I could’ve trusted anyone else to write her the way she’s written in Estro Junkies, because she means the world to me here. I really love Rupali here too; I really love her part in this story, and I love the way her personality shines through. I love Tahani, and I hope we see more of her in the next book (if there’s not more Rashmi and Ru in the next book, we, of course, riot). I’m really happy that there’s a book out here with south asian queer characters, specifically south asian lesbians, and south asian lesbian trans women, and that they’re treated like human beings – not just that, but human beings who have grounded struggles, who are complex, who aren’t perfect moral paragons but also aren’t the villains of this story. Who have actual, honest-to-God personalities, who don’t spend every single second on page explaining to you shit that you should be looking up on Wikipedia, and who instead delve right into the heart of who they are and what they’re going through; the book doesn’t flinch at depicting what their lives are like. It’s like…I don’t know about you but I feel like it’s really hard these days to find something that isn’t “Everything Is Fine :)” or “Whiteness = Freedom,” if you know what I mean. Rashmi, Rupali, and Tahani aren’t “liberated” by the white queers, nor do these characters serve the function of teaching the white people in this book any magical life lessons. They’re people. They’re real people. They have their own arcs, their own complex motivations, they don’t exist to be ultra traumatized or Unproblematically Good And Wholesome or inspirations or whatever. This book actually sees them as worthy characters. That’s….it’s just really nice to see. It’s just really, really nice. 

But yeah, this book fucked hard and nasty (figuratively) (I won’t spoil about whether or not I mean that literally…hehe). This book is genuinely fucking funny, not in a “haha just a shitpost” way, but in a way where it’s written to actually be funny. This book is not afraid to put the real issues on page, nor is it afraid of its own emotions, nor is it afraid of its characters being flawed. The plot is different from RCBG and better off for it; the character arcs are more cohesive and better planned; this is an actual, genuine, honest to god book, and will rock your shit whether you’ve read the serial or not. Like, I actually genuinely think everyone should read Estro Junkies. It uses the medium of fiction to depict serious topics in a much more easily digestible and visceral way, I think, than an essay might be able to. It’s critical, but not cynical. It’s satirical, but full of heart. It’s got an absurd premise that it makes use of in a very strong way, it’s grounded. It’s got representation that we need in the big 2026. If you really do want to read stories about women who are allowed to just be people – read Estro Junkies. If you really do care about queer stories, about lesbian stories, stories about trans women, stories about what it means to be south asian in these spaces and navigate that on top of lesbophobia/transmisogyny – read Estro Junkies. Read this book. The ending genuinely made me tear up. 

With all my heart: Thank you for letting me read this early, and thank you for creating something so wonderful, something that I can share with my friends who have been craving books like this, something that I hope takes the wider reader-y audience by storm. It’s better than cherry vape.

AKA: PREORDER ESTRO JUNKIES! OR ORDER IT IF YOU’RE SEEING THIS WHEN IT’S ALREADY DROPPED (MAY 24TH) GO GO GO!!!

XOXO Okay now for the funnie bit, here are some actual (completely contextless) spoilers below the cut:

For fans of Spider-Verse, Motorcity, Ghost Rider, Initial D, Fast and Furious, Heated Rivalry, or John Carpenter's Christine!

Lucky's mother disappeared nearly 14 years ago. He'd always wondered what drove such a respected member of their community to not only leave, but never come back. On his 24th birthday, Lucky discovers his mother's secret hidden within Grandad's barn: a race car, old, rusted, and forgotten. With the help of his long-time-crush Vick, Lucky enters an illegal street racing tournament to find answers about his mother's past.  As Lucky is questioned about a hit-and-run murder, chased by police, and stalked by a demon-hunting cult leader, he realizes the car has hidden secrets of its own.

This campaign goal is to print chapter 3 in a hardcover comic book for the first time!

Tennessean Charlotte McLeod, 28, was the 2nd US trans woman to obtain gender-affirming surgery in Denmark after Christine Jorgensen. I love this 1954 photo with her father. You clearly see the love and support in his eyes. He adored his daughter and celebrated her for who she was.

At first, Charlotte McLeod's father didn't support her medical transition. However, after her surgery, he explained, "now that it’s over, I’m ready to accept Charlotte as my daughter[...] It's a little hard to get used to after all these years, but I will, you can bet on that."