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harukoreads's review
4.0
When people talk about speculative fiction and scifi challenging societies preconceived notions by exaggerating our current reality, I think this is what they mean.
chessakat's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
stguac's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
i really liked this. i know this story got a lot of flack for people assuming fall was a secret transmisogynist and the unnecessary and incorrect naming korean name of the main character (that one i agree with). if you follow my reviews you know i love a good metanarrative and isabel falls narrative is probably as interesting if not more so than her infamous short story of gender being literally transformed, weaponized, militarized. to me, her story is interesting because her own gender was transformed, weaponized, and militarized the second this story was published against her...by her own community. you can look up the 2021 vox interview but its quite tragic.
trans people who assumed this was a hit piece on the community still dont believe fall is trans which has led her to say that she is essentially never coming out...and as someone eternally trapped in his own closet, i can only watch and mourn. i dont blame other trans people for our paranoia. lots of trans people are also right wing and transphobic too, so we shouldnt automatically embrace everyone either, but in this instance i just dont think isabel fall did anything wrong except write a fairly transgressive short story.
you can call it problematic or whatever but gender is meant to be fucked. gender is weaponized. against us, against the marginalized, against the third world, and in favor of the powerful and in favor of the first world, which is partially why i think fall chose to have nonwhite protagonist (though she should have been much more careful with the naming). i think it was a good story with a lot to say about relationships, imperialism, power, control, militarism, and of course, gender and sexuality, but the metanarrative of isabel fall and the greater community is a tragedy that resonates with me like no other.
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