Pretty, a debut memoir by KB Brookins, is out now!

Praise for Pretty:

“Pretty is one of the most brilliantly constructed memoirs I’ve read. There is not one wasted paragraph or scene here. The language cradles but never ever coddles. Some art just makes you thankful. I am so thankful.” —Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy

“KB Brookins’s debut memoir, Pretty, is not what I’d call an easily classifiable reading experience; the book mixes poetry into the tenderly and skillfully narrated story of Brookins’s life. There are joyful anecdotes, musings on pop culture, and reckonings with familial and sexual trauma in the book, but at its heart is a carefully sketched-out—and often devastating—portrait of what it means to be Black and transmasculine in Texas, a state that continues to criminalize both of those identities.” — Emma Specter, Vogue

“This book, above all, offers a potent narrative of learning to live authentically, no matter the circumstances and challenges. Brookins relays their experiences and opinions with candor. . . . The most compelling threads of the text relate the author’s journey of self-actualization, from questioning ideas of gender to shedding shame. ‘My life’s work is to make Black people, queer people, and masculine people fall in love with who they are and shed the daily violence of betraying themselves and others,’ they write. This book is a powerful testament to that. An inspiring and deeply human work.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A moving and vulnerable foray into what it means to navigate and embody desirability/desire, tenderness, softness, love, and masculinity as a queer and trans person, Brookins’ Pretty radiates honesty and authenticity.” - Kayla Thompson, GLAAD

“This book blew me away. Seamlessly transitioning between poetry and prose, Pretty is as fearless, incisive, and brilliant as they come. It’s a gorgeous memoir that, despite pain and rejection, insists on hope, forgiveness, and Black trans joy. ‘You see gender, spinning and fusing into something freer?’ Brookins asks. Thanks to their life-changing book, I do, I really do. There’s no doubt about it: Brookins is the real deal.” —Marisa Crane, author of I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself

“If you don’t already know the name KB Brookins, prepare to be forever changed.” - Barnes & Noble

“KB Brookins’ debut memoir arrives when we need it most. . . . Striking. . . . Pretty offers far more than just pretty words—Brookins tells their side of the story as an act of resistance against those who would silence them.” — mónica teresa ortiz, BookPage

“Voice is the key to KB Brookins' memoir, with poems. The voice is angry, hilarious and proud …"Pretty" is less than 200 pages, but it covers a lot of ground: childhood sexual abuse and racism, rebelling against the family's fundamentalist church and grappling with identity… It's a passionate book that demands better for Brookins' Black, LGBTQ peers but also insists that, while we are "a long way from queer and trans people feeling fully safe in any place in the U.S.A, it isn't out of reach."“ - Chris Hewitt, Star Tribune

“I learned and empathized so much…my heart broke over and over… then I shook with rage… If there was no hope, then the memoir wouldn’t exist. If there was no hope, then Black queer people wouldn’t exist. This book is an extremely emotional read… but there is always hope written between the words, and I feel so fortunate that this book exists and we can read it.” - All The Books podcast

“A hybrid memoir of transmasculinity, Blackness, belonging and unbelonging in Texas, reckoning with sexual violence and adoptee identity, cultural criticism, and joy, Pretty is an essential addition to the contemporary trans memoir canon. I read it in a single sitting at my desk in Minneapolis, loving its lyricism, its incisive insight, and the warmth and generosity with which KB brings their speaker to a broad audience. I felt cared for reading this book.” —Krys Malcolm Belc, Split Lip Magazine

“Our own Austin poet KB Brookins has just come out with their memoir Pretty, being hailed as fierce and deeply human. It’s a compendium of short stories, poetry, and photography, and it’s drawing the kind of breathless early praise that makes an impression. It’s going to save someone’s life, probably many people’s. KB has really knocked it out of the park with this one.” - Reverie Books, Texas Book Festival

“[KB’s] writing is candid, hopeful, uplifting, and very informative.” - Bay Area Reporter

“Brookins’s writing thrives on well-observed juxtapositions. . . . Linguistically, Brookins pulls equally from playful internet slang and queer theory, often joining both syntaxes in the poems that punctuate each chapter. . . . Dazzling. . . . Brookins is a writer to watch.” —Publishers Weekly