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yourbookishbff's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Lesbophobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Abortion, and Colonisation
unfiltered_fiction's review against another edition
funny
informative
slow-paced
4.0
This book does exactly what it promises on the tin: it is a ribald and energetic exploration of the history of sex. Definitely not for those of a sensitive disposition, it takes a deep dive into a side of history which is rarely addressed in an accurate or accessible way.
I've docked a star as my academic background definitely made me quite strongly biased against elements of the book, in ways which probably won't matter much to the commercial audience of this book - I generally find commercialised academic writing a little bit of a struggle. With this book, sometimes the argument was a little incoherent, some of the content was presented in what felt like an inauthentic way to fit a social agenda or even for shock factor, which is not a great fit for academic writing. I was particularly irritated by how often the images printed in the book were never directly referred to or analysed in the main body of the text. Similarly, extended quotes from historical sources were not often properly unpacked appropriately with definitions of archaic language and a serious effort to otherwise open up their meanings to the modern reader.
However, overall, I think this is an excellent read that opens up a wealth of knowledge and presents it to readers in a funny, thoughtful, and very readable manner.
I've docked a star as my academic background definitely made me quite strongly biased against elements of the book, in ways which probably won't matter much to the commercial audience of this book - I generally find commercialised academic writing a little bit of a struggle. With this book, sometimes the argument was a little incoherent, some of the content was presented in what felt like an inauthentic way to fit a social agenda or even for shock factor, which is not a great fit for academic writing. I was particularly irritated by how often the images printed in the book were never directly referred to or analysed in the main body of the text. Similarly, extended quotes from historical sources were not often properly unpacked appropriately with definitions of archaic language and a serious effort to otherwise open up their meanings to the modern reader.
However, overall, I think this is an excellent read that opens up a wealth of knowledge and presents it to readers in a funny, thoughtful, and very readable manner.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Forced institutionalization
reocalabra's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Sexism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, and Forced institutionalization