Valid is a brutal dystopian novel about what can happen when prejudice, fear, and complacency take the place of compassion, acceptance, and action.
Foreword, STARRED REVIEW
Valid draws a canny portrait of one very real trans woman in a world full of compromise, punctuated by energizing moments of corporate-algorithm-busting truth.
Montreal Review of Books
This novel is so utterly unique that it is difficult to find many comparison points. Due to its highly theoretical and philosophical nature, Valid will undoubtedly find its way into many a college syllabus. However, anyone interested in queer history, theory, the evolution of feminism, and the dangers of AI will find something of interest in this novel and it is accessible and interesting enough that it could very well find a wider audience as well.
West Trade Review
In this intelligent and rather audacious ‘autobiographical science fiction novel,’ which pushes many boundaries and preconceptions, Chris Bergeron sensitively portrays the delicate journey of a transgender woman who tries to assert her ‘validity’ in a highly formatted universe, a dystopian world plagued by health and ecological crises that are all too easy to imagine. Canada has given us a queen of SF: Margaret Atwood. Chris Bergeron does not need to shy away from the comparison.
L'Obs
A superb and moving novel. Valid is an inventive and didactic, esoteric and activist novel, which uses literature as a key to open up imaginations, activate empathy, and disarm preconceived ideas.
Elle France
Quebec literature is fascinating, and Chris Bergeron confirms this with Valid, a delightful identity thriller.
Têtu Magazine
From self-confessions to confessions to the machine, a revolution is underway … An identity thriller written with brilliance and finesse.
Public Magazine
Brimming with references to popular culture, from Star Wars to Black Mirror, and including Sylvie Vartan and Cirque du Soleil, and benefiting from an enlightened view of society and a formidable sense of expression, Valid transports us about thirty years into the future … While [her] first novel offers a fine philosophical reflection on society, Chris Bergeron considers it more as a cry from the heart.
Le Devoir
A gripping identity thriller where autofiction meets science fiction … With her sharp vision, [Bergeron] imagined this dystopia set in 2045, which is chillingly realistic.
La Presse
Chris Bergeron signs a novel full of sensitivity about the life of a transgender woman in a dystopian world that is not so unimaginable ... It is captivating, intelligent, and necessary.
Clin d'oeil
An autobiographical science fiction novel with a dystopian flavor, a hybrid object both unusual and powerful.
Elle Québec
