Reviews

Any Man by Amber Tamblyn

mgm9816's review

challenging dark fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

poison_princess's review

5.0

4.5

dblue236's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

pranphetamine's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

Uncomfortable read, but eye-opening. There is a lot of sensitive material in this book, so definitely be in the right mental headspace before reading this. The marriage of social commentary and mixed media viewpoints is done really well. What stuck out the most to me was the writing style. It’s so beautifully written. Also, the audiobook paired with reading the physical book is an even more immersive experience (highly recommend doing it this way). Looking forward to explore more of Amber Tamblyn’s work. (Fun fact: Amber Tamblyn is an actress! She’s been in The Ring, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, and other pretty big named stuff. It’s always cool to see creatives shine in different mediums.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Transphobia

jennifercrowe's review

challenging dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

4.75

gwendolyn_kensinger's review

3.0

 

Before I get started on my thoughts I wanted to suggest for anyone out there interested in this book to have a physical copy (because of the formatting), but to listen to the audiobook as well, because the full cast narration is an absolute delight. It is well produced and really brought the characters and the story and even the format to life.

The topics in this book are important and timely, but also difficult to read about. This is the story of five men, all of whom have been the victim of a serial rapist known as Maude. It is the story of how the media handles rape, and how society handles rape. How we speak about it, how we shame, how we lay blame. It’s about the questions we ask, how we ask them, the assumptions we make and how we try to make ourselves feel more comfortable in the presence of someone else’s trauma. It’s about how survivors grapple with their new reality and their upended perception of themselves, their relationships, their bodies and the world around them. It’s about gender equality and gender roles and gender assumptions. It’s about the groups we align ourselves with, the lines in the sand we draw as tribes. The hate we have. The resentment we have. How women feel about social history and how it doesn’t matter until it happens to a man. It’s about how blind we are to our shared wants and needs. And how if we just worked together we could change things. It’s also creepy with elements of suspense.

It’s not a narrative novel in the typical sense. There are no scenes of a detective on the hunt, scene-setting, descriptions, or even really a defined time. It is abstract in its prose, but it’s in this abstract style that you are hit with so much raw, unflinching emotion that it becomes impossible to look away and impossible to stop reading. The story itself is woven together with poetry, prose, journal entries, radio show dialogue, tweets, dating app chats and monologues and erratic thoughts. You live within the characters as they speak; you watch the news, you read the tweets, you see the texts. It places you on the outside of society, looking in. 

Any Man paints a searing portrait of survival and is a tribute to those who have lived through the nightmare of sexual assault.

 

_margaret_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

jodiereadsbooks's review

challenging dark emotional reflective

4.5

paru_site's review

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

4.0

The characters have their own unique voice. I didn't read the blurb before i started reading so i was genuinely surprised it was from the point of view of male victims. Really enjoyed (not in a gross way) the psychological effect the assault on men was written in context of hyper masculinity and the shared feeling of shame and brokenness that's there for all victims. The part with the social media storm (and the debate panel before it) genuinely made me sick and anxious. The introduction of the gay libertarian victim was also definitely something i forced myself to read - not because it was written bad (it wasn't) but because i avoid engaging with them irl. 
Overall, i loved that it focuses on the survivors. It really was ANY man. Assault depictions got GRAPHIC.

zuly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5