Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Confessions of the Fox: A Novel by Aden Hakimi, Jordy Rosenberg

4 reviews

felishacb's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

This novel is an experimental, wild ride. The story features a trans and/or intersex character and is told by a trans scholar and professor. The basis of the novel is the true legend of a historical figure, a white English man named Jack Sheppard whom I had never heard of. In CONFESSIONS, Rosenberg, a trans author, queers the story and imagines Jack as a gender-expansive thief. 

Footnotes tell the story of the narrator of sorts who is translating and interpreting the tale. They are also dealing with a faceless entity who wants to control the translation and treats Jacks's transness with an otherness. These layers give Rosenberg the opportunity to comment on queerness, as well as class, colonialism, and power. 

Another main character based on reality is Bess who in this book is an Asian sex worker. Bess offers a safe place for Jack and teaches him more about class revolution by sharing her own family's tragic story. Her lived experience could connect with Jack's own experience of class oppression (and queer repression) and inform him on how it intersects with racism. 

Although it is fiction, this book serves as a powerful reminder that trans people (and people of color) have always been here and have always been the main characters in their stories even if their history is lost or never told. 

Towards the last third of the novel, I did find myself not picking this up as much. But the authors voice and perspective kept me wanting to see how this story ended and what nuggets of truth they would share.

From the book: "All history should be the history of how we exceeded our own limits."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Genocide, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, and Kidnapping

Minor: Grief

wildeflower's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Sexual content

Moderate: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, and Transphobia

jameslyons's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This is not a fun historical romp and those approaching this book with any expectation of a Nice Time will be disappointed/horrified. It's visceral, confronting, disgusting, and uncomfortable; romantic, riotous, hilarious, and very fucking trans.

Ambitious and almost overwhelming at times. It took a lot of faith in the author for me to get through the wilder parts that didn't make sense until everything Did. Thank god it all pulled together in the end. I remain annoyed at the heavy academic bent, but that's a personal pet peeve, and scholarly sycophants will likely adore that aspect. Everyone else, my advice is to just ignore and skim at will. The rest of the story contains So Much aside from that.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Genocide, Slavery, and Vomit

Content found within, which storygraph doesn't have specific tags for yet: graphic descriptions of public executions (hangings), murder, corpse multination, a VERY graphic surgical scene (which could be skipped by the reader), and medical abuse. That would normally be enough for me to give this just 1* or not finish, but in the context of this book, I valued all of the nasty bits as much as the rest of the story.

sneako's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, and Medical trauma