dziggetai's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
tense
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Gore, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, and Transphobia
Moderate: Slavery, Excrement, Drug use, Alcohol, Classism, Murder, Colonisation, Cursing, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit
ellenigrace's review against another edition
4.5
I much preferred the narrative about Jack & Bess to the footnote narrative about Dr Voth, but the latter didn't spoil the book for me and in some places did add to it. I didn't like that wasn't expanded on - for the sake of how much it was touched on it could have been left out, for me.
Spoiler
the collective group of queer editors
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Drug use, Dysphoria, Blood, Gore, Body horror, and Medical content
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Transphobia
singlier's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg 4/5 🦊s
This book is weird--part memoir, part unhinged rambling footnotes, part collective memory. It reimagines the life of famous Victorian thief, Jack Sheppard, as a transgender man, exploring the intersections of his identity with period-accurate racism, incarceration, destruction of land, government corruption, and colonialism. It is also a story-within-a-story: told in the footnotes of the memoir is the story of Dr. Voth, a transgender man and college professor, currently grappling with the loss of his love and his debilitating OCD, who imprints onto Jack and uses the footnotes as the pedestal for self-reflection and anti-academia rhetoric.
At the end of the novel, I can't say I understood everything. It is committed to its appearance as an authentic 18th century text, which means it is dense and difficult to parse. The footnotes only add to its difficulty: calling upon a vast array of knowledge from Marxism to queer theory. The plot too, often feels scattered: caught between a mysterious conspiracy of government corruption and Jack's unquestionable love for his partner. But, with all this, I still found myself thoroughly enjoying it. I could not predict where it would lead me, but I enjoyed the journey there.
Minus points for a lot of mentions of piss, even though it does (eventually) become plot relevant.
This book is weird--part memoir, part unhinged rambling footnotes, part collective memory. It reimagines the life of famous Victorian thief, Jack Sheppard, as a transgender man, exploring the intersections of his identity with period-accurate racism, incarceration, destruction of land, government corruption, and colonialism. It is also a story-within-a-story: told in the footnotes of the memoir is the story of Dr. Voth, a transgender man and college professor, currently grappling with the loss of his love and his debilitating OCD, who imprints onto Jack and uses the footnotes as the pedestal for self-reflection and anti-academia rhetoric.
At the end of the novel, I can't say I understood everything. It is committed to its appearance as an authentic 18th century text, which means it is dense and difficult to parse. The footnotes only add to its difficulty: calling upon a vast array of knowledge from Marxism to queer theory. The plot too, often feels scattered: caught between a mysterious conspiracy of government corruption and Jack's unquestionable love for his partner. But, with all this, I still found myself thoroughly enjoying it. I could not predict where it would lead me, but I enjoyed the journey there.
Minus points for a lot of mentions of piss, even though it does (eventually) become plot relevant.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Gore, Racism, Vomit, Sexual content, Blood, Classism, Excrement, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Violence
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit, Xenophobia, Confinement, Death, Dysphoria, Classism, Alcohol, Gore, Racism, Colonisation, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Deadnaming, Grief, Murder, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Police brutality, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Excrement, and Violence
katiewhocanread's review against another edition
challenging
funny
fast-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? No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, and Gore
Moderate: Racism and Deadnaming
Minor: Racial slurs and Mental illness
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: Sexual content and Gore
Moderate: Transphobia, Racism, Racial slurs, and Genocide
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.
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, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Transphobia, and Violence
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: Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, and Gun violence
bookstolivewith's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Okay so I keep trying (and failing) to write a coherent review but here’s the long and short of it: I found Confessions of the Fox endlessly interesting and fascinating and I am definitely not smart enough to understand everything happening here. And that’s okay, because a) I am not the intended audience as a cis-straight woman and b) that leaves me even more room to read it again and again until I figure it out.
I wish this was a book that had been taught in a college course — and I would urge professors, especially those who teach classes that involve discussions of gender and sexuality, to teach it. There is an unbelievable amount to discuss here.
On one hand, it’s a “found” novel that explores the concept of communal writing and memory. It also unpacks sexuality and gender, both in the 18th century and in the 2010s. The footnotes not only include real-life and modern references, but jointly tell the story of the “transcriber” and their struggles alongside the struggles of the fictional characters they’ve found. The manuscript explores the rise of capitalism in England and how it insidiously twists inside every single aspect of life, even death itself. No stone is left unturned here, and all of it is done through beautiful written prose that is as emotional as it is intellectual.
I would highly recommend reading this one, although I will warn you that the manuscript itself can be tricky to read, full of English cant and old words. I’m still trying to figure out the right words to express how I feel about Confessions of the Fox, and in some way, I suspect that it’s the author intention to have the book defy labels and summaries and something so simply said as a single word. However, I do feel that it will probably be one of the most important books I’ve read in a while.
I wish this was a book that had been taught in a college course — and I would urge professors, especially those who teach classes that involve discussions of gender and sexuality, to teach it. There is an unbelievable amount to discuss here.
On one hand, it’s a “found” novel that explores the concept of communal writing and memory. It also unpacks sexuality and gender, both in the 18th century and in the 2010s. The footnotes not only include real-life and modern references, but jointly tell the story of the “transcriber” and their struggles alongside the struggles of the fictional characters they’ve found. The manuscript explores the rise of capitalism in England and how it insidiously twists inside every single aspect of life, even death itself. No stone is left unturned here, and all of it is done through beautiful written prose that is as emotional as it is intellectual.
I would highly recommend reading this one, although I will warn you that the manuscript itself can be tricky to read, full of English cant and old words. I’m still trying to figure out the right words to express how I feel about Confessions of the Fox, and in some way, I suspect that it’s the author intention to have the book defy labels and summaries and something so simply said as a single word. However, I do feel that it will probably be one of the most important books I’ve read in a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Violence
Moderate: Xenophobia, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, and Confinement
caidyn's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
On a reread, I was able to appreciate this book more. It's a very good read and I loved both stories with how they intertwined.
ORIGINAL
ORIGINAL
CW: racism, sex work, graphic sex scenes, surgery, and gender dysphoria
All at once, this book was made for me but also not. It was a hard book for me to read and rate. I’m still not quite sure how I feel about it, so welcome to me rambling about the book.
While reading this, I was under a lot of stress. (Still am stressed but a lot less than I was.) When I’m stressed, I don’t always pay attention to books I’m reading. I just, well, can’t focus. And this book takes a lot of focus to read. I couldn’t dedicate my mind to it as much as it deserved. So, this is kind of on me.
So, what is this book about?
It’s told in two ways. One through the actual story of Jack Sheppard and Bess, a thief and a sex worker in 18th century England. The other through Dr. Voth, a college professor. Dr. Voth finds a manuscript in the library and takes it home, reading it and finding that it’s another work about Jack Sheppard, an infamous thief. But, this document isn’t like the others. Like Dr. Voth, Jack Sheppard is a transman. And his accomplice (usually a man) is an Indian or South East Asian sex worker.
Obviously, it’s super diverse right off the bat. Even better, it’s ownvoices. Rosenberg is a transman writing a story with two transmale MCs. I mean, that’s amazing. I’ve talked about it before, but transmen get forgotten. We’re the invisible ones in the world. It’s not always bad, but it’s hard when you’re trying to find a role model.
Dr. Voth tells his story — both his life story as a transman and his journey annotating this work — through footnotes. Now, I don’t like footnotes in fiction stories. I can barely tolerate them in nonfiction. Footnotes annoy me because they pull me out of the story in the middle of a sentence or paragraph. I can handle footnotes that are one word or a quick sentence, but the ones in this book can be pages long. I think I counted three pages one time. And I hated that. So, not only was I stressed, but I was reading a story told in a way that pulls me out of the story.
It was also hard to read because Jack Sheppard’s story is written in 18th century English. Not easy to read at all, although it was easier to keep track of when there were no footnotes.
This is also a very literary story. Dear Rosenberg is a professor of 18th-century literature and queer/trans theory. That’s what this book is largely about, too. I found it overwhelming because I don’t have any expertise. I actually recommended this book to my friend who studied queer/gender theory because I thought she might get more out of the story than I did. As a layman, it was overwhelming, though. A lot of it went over my head, admittedly.
I also wasn’t crazy about the ending, although how much I liked the message.
And that’s what it comes down to. I love the message but not the carry-out. I want to own the book to reread it at my leisure later, but the message is amazing.
I actually texted myself something I thought of while I was reading the ending. And the ending got me a bit emotional, at least from Dr. Voth’s perspective. Jack’s, I wasn’t crazy about, but I liked what Dr. Voth got out of the story because it was what I thought of.
But, here’s what I texted myself:
We are here. We have always been here. It is you who have denied our existence and our humanity. But we have always been here. We have always been normal.
Throughout history, queer and non-white stories have been suppressed and denied. As a transman, it’s like I’m some “new” and “radical” thing when, really, people AFAB (Assigned Female At Birth) but don’t fit the “normal” gender roles have always been there. I wouldn’t exactly call them transmen, but people who feel more comfortable in male roles have always been around. Same with non-white people.
And that’s what this book is about at its heart. We have always been here. It’s just that the masses have tried ignoring us.
In short, this book was one I thought I would love and give five stars to. But, due to life circumstances, the way the story was told, and the direction the story took, I didn’t love it. However, I think that if you want to read a very affirming ownvoices story about transmen throughout history, I highly suggest it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, Sexual content, Vomit, Blood, Gore, and Dysphoria
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