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sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
The writing is good. I found that her structure was a little hard to follow at times, nevertheless it was very strong and provided great imagery. My main issues came with characterization and pacing. First, I just did not like Josie. I wanted to, and I understood her perspective, but I found her too stubborn and repetitive to be likable. Also, this story is clearly about the power of women and mothers, but the scenes depicting misogyny were just so black-and-white it felt redundant. I don’t need to be told so explicitly what’s happening is wrong, I’m a woman! I know how to read between the lines!
There was also only one woman of color specifically mentioned, and she was hardly present for the story. This also gave it a white feminism vibe that felt really dated and not fitting to modern feminist movements. Again, while the story and world is so incredibly interesting, Josie’s perspective felt so limited I wonder if a multi-POV would have helped bring it more to life.
Finally, to end on a sort of better note, I loved the last 70-ish pages. The rest of the story lagged for me and I considered DNFing multiple times, but I am happy I didn’t! The end was action-packed, poignant, and perfect for this story. I truly loved those last few pages which helped give it as many stars as I did.
I’d recommend this book to Margaret Atwood fans for sure, especially since it’s reminiscent of The Handmaid’s Tale with its themes of femininity, motherhood, and pregnancy. Maybe this book just wasn’t my cup of tea, as so many reviews seemed to love it, so hopefully my review won’t scare you off if you’re already interested!
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Spoilers range from minor to major, just was too lazy to categorize them, sorry!sharkyjenny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Minor: Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
glammster's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Rape, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Miscarriage, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Alcohol
Minor: Drug use, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, and Kidnapping
bexi's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, and Lesbophobia
mcbadger's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Sexism
Moderate: Self harm and Pregnancy
lexxie98's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexism, Blood, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury
lyx_sq's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
celinewyp's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Essentially, this book is about women gaining agency and finding solidarity. It is a beautifully feminist story, really epitomizing how life can feel like it’s women against the rest of the world, even other women, at times. During Josie’s quest to find her mother, she finds her admiration of her “father” challenged, in which I see parallels to battling internalized misogyny. Besides, the Girls come across atrocities perpetrated by men who objectify and sexualize them, who view them as monstrous witches, crimes against nature and God. These events mirror the real-life experiences that women go through every day. Except these Girls are blessed with powers, which help them gain the upper hand. Even so, they barely manage to get out of the scrapes they stumble into.
Beyond all this, the book is very suspenseful and thrilling. It was so hard for me to try and guess what would happen next, where the twists will come in, and how everything will end. The writing style is solid. It’s not immersive or particularly beautiful, but it serves its purpose. I would like to think that because the book is written from the perspective of Josie, a scientist herself who’s trying to discover the secret of parthenogenesis herself. So the writing is to the point but still descriptive.
This really makes it into an amazing read for me and the book is one I would recommend to everyone.
The reason why this isn’t a 5-star read for me is because it gets kind of confusing with the number of mother-daughter pairs there are. I think some characterization suffers because of it as well. The author does use this opportunity to add a bit about how women of colour experience different kinds of prejudice compared to white women, which was great.
I think the book explores the consequences of “virgin births” quite well, including reactions of the public and how the Girls go through life being products of these births. However, the science isn’t completely explained. I like seeing some stronger scientific basis in my sci-fi, so I found it somewhat difficult to get into how the parthenogenesis works in humans or how the powers came about.
Still, I loved the book! After some consideration, I like the ending as well. The Girls all learn that they’re stronger together, and something else happens that’s really good but also a spoiler haha.
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexism
Minor: Rape