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liesbethvv's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
It’s always hard to give a rating to an essay collection and this one was no different. I would definitely check the trigger warnings for this collection, because it broaches quite some heavy topics. Don’t let the title lead you to believe this book only contains sexual content, because the topics vary greatly and are not chronologically ordered (in order of Gabriela Wiener writing them). Some of them bored me (the Allende one), others irked me (the one about prostitution and trans people) but others were thoughtful and loving.
Enter at your own risk!
(Note: I read this with a bookclub and we noticed this English re-edition is not just a translation of the original Spanish collection, but actually contains a different set of essays (with some overlap) and less context and some other adaptations)
Enter at your own risk!
(Note: I read this with a bookclub and we noticed this English re-edition is not just a translation of the original Spanish collection, but actually contains a different set of essays (with some overlap) and less context and some other adaptations)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Deadnaming and Abortion
Minor: Infidelity, Transphobia, and Pregnancy
curatoriallyyours's review
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
4.0
This essay collection intrigued and challenged me. Not every essay sat well with me - there was one about two transgender people that was difficult to follow because it kept using both current names and deadnames seemingly interchangeably (I don’t know whether there are different naming conventions in Peru or Spain, or whether it was ignorance on the author’s part, but it didn’t sit well with me); another essay was painful to read as it spoke very frankly about the author’s strong, negative feelings toward her body. Generally speaking though, the essays were insightful and, at times, relatable. The title of this collection is confusing as it doesn’t seem to reflect the content of all of the essays. I’d like to finish this review by giving a shout out to the translators, who did a beautiful job of translating this work into English - it read poetically and that was a huge part of the appeal of this essay collection.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use
Moderate: Body horror, Cancer, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Dysphoria