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rafdee13's review
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I read comfort woman and found it pretty good I was hoping as her second book that fix girl would be even better.
It was worse.
Not worse in a content way. Sexual assault and the intersection between imperialism, military dominance, and sexual violence are prominent themes in both. Fox Girl is just...too obvious in its metaphors and symbolism. Maybe that's the point. Maybe Keller thought Americans needed her to spell their guilt and crimes out with red letters on a wall. But God. The thirtieth time I read "it's American so it betters" "American, shiny and new, just like me" etc etc I rolled my eyes.
The characters are all incredibly unlikable. Again, maybe that was the point in how trauma makes people hard. But they felt unlikable in a way that was completely flat. I didn't see nuance in any of the characters. The dialogue was boring and stuff I've heard before from any melodrama on the air. The main characters transformation from barely knowing what sex was tobecomign infamous for having sex on a public stage without many qualms thr ending of the novel felt extremely rushed. The average situation of these women were bad enough, but the extra complications added by the author without fully fleshing these characters out was making their suffering verge on narm.
Despite everything, I gave it two stars because any work on these events by a Korean person is valuable. White people have written books of varying quality about people of color for centuries. If there's a book I don't like written by the demographic its portraying, then I'll still accept it. I just feel disappointed.
It was worse.
Not worse in a content way. Sexual assault and the intersection between imperialism, military dominance, and sexual violence are prominent themes in both. Fox Girl is just...too obvious in its metaphors and symbolism. Maybe that's the point. Maybe Keller thought Americans needed her to spell their guilt and crimes out with red letters on a wall. But God. The thirtieth time I read "it's American so it betters" "American, shiny and new, just like me" etc etc I rolled my eyes.
The characters are all incredibly unlikable. Again, maybe that was the point in how trauma makes people hard. But they felt unlikable in a way that was completely flat. I didn't see nuance in any of the characters. The dialogue was boring and stuff I've heard before from any melodrama on the air. The main characters transformation from barely knowing what sex was to
Despite everything, I gave it two stars because any work on these events by a Korean person is valuable. White people have written books of varying quality about people of color for centuries. If there's a book I don't like written by the demographic its portraying, then I'll still accept it. I just feel disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
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