Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Canções em Ursa Maior

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Canções em Ursa Maior by Emma Brodie

10 reviews

moonlightreads007's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Wow, this one was a ride! This is a story about a courageous young woman who chooses herself in an industry and society that consistently tries to tear her down, to pressure her to mould herself into someone she doesn't want to be, and to sacrifice her biggest dreams just so that she can "get in line" with everyone else. Janie Q paves her own path in life and doesn't allow anyone or anything to deter her from her dreams and ambitions. In turn, she achieves more than she ever could have imagined for herself. It goes to show that saying yes to the things that are meant for you first requires you to say no to the things that are wrong for you, even when it's hard. Furthermore, what people feel they want might not be what they actually need because maybe they deserve better and are meant for more than they could have ever imagined

(This was especially evident in the way that her relationship with Jesse was portrayed; even though she clearly loved Jesse, she didn't want to be known solely as his love interest and managed to foresee how his addiction issues could affect their relationship down the line. It must have been a really hard choice for her to make to walk away from someone she dearly loved, but I understand how important it was for her to set that boundary with Jesse so that she could be there for him without having their relationship be completely engulfed by his issues)

. The story progression was well-paced, from her career beginnings with her band to her solo debut, and all of the transitional phases in between. Thematically, the book covers a lot of different topics such as women's rights and freedoms, mental health and addiction, family dynamics and friendships, music publishing and rights, just to name a few. I loved seeing how the different characters evolved, how the dynamics of their relationships changed over time (especially with her former band), as well as how their choices influenced their life experiences. There were also lots of unexpected twists and turns which kept the readers on their toes

(I did kind of foresee her mom's mental health issues because there was quite a bit of foreshadowing there, but it was also ambiguous at times so it was kind of hard to tell for sure. It definitely came as a bit of a shock when Jesse initially confronted Jane about it but thinking back, it does make sense because some elements of her story didn't really add up)

. Another issue that was highlighted in this book is about how men are often asked serious questions about their music while women are often questioned for their fashion choices or scrutinized for the relationships they pursue. As an example, it makes me think about how Taylor Swift's relationships are more dissected in the media than those of literally any other artist. Jane's songs were about Jesse to some extent, but they were also about more personal life experiences that she went through which had nothing to do with him

(she did write some songs about her mom's mental health issues and about the connection she feels to her, after all)

. I think I have written out pretty much most of my takeaways and I should probably stop writing now before Storygraph caps my book review limit (if there is one), but overall TL;DR this is an excellent book and I would highly recommend it to music lovers who are passionate about social issues. To whoever ends up reading this full review, thank you for taking the time to do so - I know it's long and sort of in a rant style but I appreciate the time you have taken to do so and I hope you enjoyed it lol 😂

Content Warnings

emmlxxi's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

the characters are lovable with the exception of Jesse. Idc that he had his character developement, he still gives me the ick✊🏻

Content Warnings

jessy_reads's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed the experience of reading this book a lot, but I believe the author has more growing to do in their writing. Important events were not described in action but only after the fact, and some events were vague and only became clear later. This made the themes not come across as clearly as they could have. That is a shame, as I really liked the message this book wanted to bring across, about women in music and how much a womans reputation depends on her relationship, as well as dealing with mental health, describing schizophrenia and addiction. On top of that a healthy dose of music that i could feel vibrating through the pages, and this book came alive before my eyes.

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lilianmelanie's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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sophiao's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Personally not a favorite of mine because it moved into the story super fast. Marketed as a romance story when that really isn't the main focus of the book and the romance seems forced and unrealistic. Would like to see the story lean into its historical context a bit more.

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bxcvi's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

maddiet425's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

laurataylor's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

czerny's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book was impossible to put down. It wasn’t without flaws (pacing felt off at times, weird twist like 80% in that I didn’t particularly enjoy) but I love it all the same. Jane Quinn is an addicting character who you want to see succeed despite her faults. Songs in Ursa Major is the perfect book for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid who want more messy fictional rockstars in their life. An immediate addition to my favorites shelf!!!

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