Nevada follows the story of Maria Griffiths, a trans woman living in Brooklyn, who embarks on a road trip headed towards the West Coast where she meets James, a Walmart employee questioning his gender.

Because Nevada is a work of fiction, Binnie said she approached writing it as a transgender story written for trans women.

[2] Binnie told W magazine that she was inspired by interactions she had in both online and offline transgender communities saying:[3] Everybody who was like 'This is how to be trans' was doing it in a way that didn't resonate, so I wrote a book about somebody who was trying to tell somebody else how to be trans and it didn't resonate.In an interview with Niko Stratis for Autostraddle, Binnie stated that while she shares similarities with the characters of Maria and James, Nevada was not meant to be autobiographical.

[6] In June 2021, it was announced that Nevada would be reissued in Fall 2022 by MCD Books' FSG Originals due to its enduring popularity.

On a Sunday in October, over brunch, Steph confesses to Maria that she cheated on her with a mutual friend, a transgender man named Kieran.

After seeing Piranha for the last time, Maria buys heroin using the money she had been saving for her bottom surgery, and begins heading west in Steph's car.

While at the restaurant, Maria gives further criticism of Kenneth Zucker, and recalls calling into a show on NPR to excoriate him on air, but getting too nervous to say anything.

The book ends with Nicole giving James a ride home; the fates of the main characters are left unclear.

Maria frequently lapses into long inner monologues throughout the book, reflecting on gender, heteronormativity, and social conditioning,[11] as well as referencing other queer women authors by name, including Michelle Tea and Julia Serano.

[15] Nevada inspired other trans women writers, like author Casey Plett, who said the book was "very bleak and it ends in a tough way,"[15][16] but ultimately made her feel that "nothing was off-limits" to write about.

[19] In 2022, transgender academic, Stephanie Burt, credited Nevada as having "changed the landscape of trans fiction—in part because it made no concessions to tourists."

Writing for the novel's inclusion on the list, critic Lily Meyer called Maria "a great character" and said that getting to know her through the text of the book "is worth doing again and again".

[20] On January 17, 2023, director Jane Schoenbrun announced a casting call on their Twitter account seeking actors for a film adaptation of Nevada.