madread8's review
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Beautiful, touching prose. Sprinkled with humorous lines.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity
Moderate: Terminal illness, Sexual content, and Cancer
ameliaszosz's review
emotional
funny
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Grief, Violence, Infidelity, Sexual content, and Terminal illness
kenzie_roonie's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Possibly the most beautifully-written book I’ve ever read. Gender of the narrator is never revealed, so forces the reader to either make assumptions of deconstruct them completely. A must-read for those interrogating their relationship with gender and sexuality.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Cancer, Terminal illness, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
balfies's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I was assigned this book twice at uni and didn't read it either time. Kicking myself now.
A story of how passion and love consumes the flesh and becomes the flesh, this treaty on fluid and gender is lyrical and deep and sinewy. Gorgeous writing, gripping use of language, timeless psychosexual landscape.
A story of how passion and love consumes the flesh and becomes the flesh, this treaty on fluid and gender is lyrical and deep and sinewy. Gorgeous writing, gripping use of language, timeless psychosexual landscape.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Violence, Sexual content, Death, Cancer, and Terminal illness
sonmel2910's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Cancer, and Toxic relationship
scarylavender's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mwah mwah mwah
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
bekahmccue's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Vomit and Cancer
sunbeam_reader's review
challenging
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
Likes: The writing is undeniably beautiful. There were so many passages that I underlined and absolutely see my self going back to and enjoying. I liked the ambiguity of the narrator a lot. Jeanette Winterson is a lesbian and even though the lead character's gender, name, race, etc. are never revealed you can still sense the fact that this is a queer character because of the way that they interact with the world and their lovers. I also enjoyed the first few chapters of the book a lot.
• Dislikes: The plot of the book and the ending really fell flat for me. Things just ended out of the blue with seemingly no explanation and sometimes that's ok but because this story is about a romance having and ending like that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I also feel like even though the beginning really caught me the rest of the book failed to keep my attention (I actually ended skimming some sections towards the end).
• REP: The lead character is bisexual and all the characters that are named are white as far as I know. One thing that struck me as a possible issue is that the villain of the story is a Jewish man. I am not Jewish so I cannot say that the depiction of him was anti-Semitic, however, the trope of the Jewish or Jewish coded villain is so common I felt it needed to be mentioned. I highly recommend trying to seek out reviews for this book by Jewish readers to find out more.
• Final Thoughts: I really just think this book was not for me. I wouldn't discourage people from reading it but it may not be your cup of tea. However, Winterson's writing is beautiful and I own another book of hers that I got for a class at Uni so I might give her another shot and see how I feel.
• Dislikes: The plot of the book and the ending really fell flat for me. Things just ended out of the blue with seemingly no explanation and sometimes that's ok but because this story is about a romance having and ending like that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I also feel like even though the beginning really caught me the rest of the book failed to keep my attention (I actually ended skimming some sections towards the end).
• REP: The lead character is bisexual and all the characters that are named are white as far as I know. One thing that struck me as a possible issue is that the villain of the story is a Jewish man. I am not Jewish so I cannot say that the depiction of him was anti-Semitic, however, the trope of the Jewish or Jewish coded villain is so common I felt it needed to be mentioned. I highly recommend trying to seek out reviews for this book by Jewish readers to find out more.
• Final Thoughts: I really just think this book was not for me. I wouldn't discourage people from reading it but it may not be your cup of tea. However, Winterson's writing is beautiful and I own another book of hers that I got for a class at Uni so I might give her another shot and see how I feel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Antisemitism, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, and Toxic relationship
annaonthepage's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Death
dxisymitch's review
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I have mixed feelings about this book. For the most part I found the narrator unlikable and the way they talked about women and their past relationships was uncomfortable and often times misogynistic. The book was also very slow paced and primarily exposition, which I personally dislike as I find it difficult to follow (though I know that’s down to personal taste).
However, I did find the book somewhat enjoyable and I found the unique storytelling and structure to be very interesting. I also felt like the narrator does, in some ways, redeem themselves and grows from some of the things that bothered me about them in the beginning.
However, I did find the book somewhat enjoyable and I found the unique storytelling and structure to be very interesting. I also felt like the narrator does, in some ways, redeem themselves and grows from some of the things that bothered me about them in the beginning.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Medical content
Moderate: Death and Infidelity
Minor: Miscarriage and Misogyny