My sister Danna recommended this title to me. I'd heard of it, but hadn't given it any prominence on my to-read list until she suggested it. Danna is as or more prolific a reader as I am and went to better undergrad institutions than I did, so I thought it would be fun to read at the same time as she did, and see what she thought. As of 5/2/15 she hasn't posted a review yet, so keep an eye out.
My take on it is that it's an important book and readable enough. It suffers a little from do-gooderism. The author is a physician who was profoundly affected by her first interaction with an intersex woman. She immersed herself in the community and literature, but the story still suffers from a distance, one that I think comes from Gregorio's didactic mission. She wants to fix or heal women struggling with a new Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) diagnosis and to educate other people about the condition.
The protagonist, Krissy, isn't especially evolved herself, as evidenced by this somewhat homophobic thought:
Vee and Faith shrieked as they stepped out onto the freezing deck. When they dropped their towels and slid into the hot tub I tried not to stare, tried not to be that creep in the locker room who checked out other girls.
Krissy does eventually form an important friendship with a lesbian, without judgment or concern, but I feel like that's more about Gregorio's commitment to having diverse characters. I appreciate that the doctors in the book are all women and that there are plenty of characters of color. Gregorio is a founding member and on the executive committee of We Need Diverse Books.
The obligatory romance coming together at the end irked me, but I did like Gregorio's long author's note which comes soon after the denouement. :) She says stuff like
"...Caster Semenya's story hi, and it became clear to me that intersex was a perfect jumping-off point for a discussion of tolerance, feminism, and gender essentialism. It begged so many questions: What does it mean to be a woman? What happens when you don't fit perfectly into the gender binary? And what role does your biology play not only in who you love, but who loves you?
That last question is important because while some of the story is focused on Krissy's self-acceptance, it's clear that she's not in charge of other people's reactions to her invisible-to-the-naked-eye XY chromosomes.
I also love a book that comes with a recommended reading list. I'm putting Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin on my to-read list.