Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - A Dream of a Woman

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

A Dream of a Woman by Casey Plett

16 reviews

cailynreadsbooks's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A collection of short stories, each featuring a trans woman main character. Most of them focus on relationships and sexuality. They're all really good, but the standout for me was "Obsolution," a story that's cut up into several parts and is revisited throughout the book. The second-to-last story, "Enough Trouble," was unfortunately a bit of a slog to get through, but you may attribute this to my inability to focus. I found the main character of that one likeable & somewhat relatable (for better or worse), and it all came together in the end, so I'm not complaining.

A lot of stuff in these stories hit pretty close to home for me (which is something I often don't get out of fiction), and it quickly became obvious that this is not something I could read at work (crying while at work is a bad look, as it turns out).

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finnthehuman217's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Casey Plett is a great example of how to write fiction as a trans person. She writes characters who are complicated and have issues with alcohol. The interesting thing is that Vera who is portrayed in Obsolution and Sophie who is portrayed in the story Other Women, have both experienced nonconsensual sexual encounters with cis women sexual partners and it seems to be a theme that repeats throughout Plett’s writings, cis women are just as bad as cis men when it comes to fetishization.

The focus of Enough Trouble, Gemma is a complicated person who struggles with sobriety and her failing memory. I love Gemma because she is so honest and her scenes with Olive and Holly are so perfect because with Holly she is able to be the drunk girl with the shared faith and the similar upbringing and with Olive, somebody else who loves Ava as much as Gemma does but in a sisterly way. The mini family is so sweet and the way Gemma and Ava end up happy is my favorite ending!!!

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iforgotilivedhere's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I want to like this book a lot, mostly because my friend wanted me to read it. I did, but sometimes the characters hurt so much. There’s good commentary in intersectionality in trans feminism and it talks about all the things that happen to trans women in Canada and North America, but I wasn’t prepared for the amount of pain that was in this book. I liked it, but I would get so annoyed at characters like Iris and how the main character in that story refused to leave her or chose to be friends when Iris had been a rapist.
Anyway, this was pretty good.

Content Warnings

dazzle_spider_reader_1212's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.75

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lrgluck's review

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emotional reflective 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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theinkwyrm's review

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

This story collection was, as many are, a little uneven. The standout for me was the novella-in-sections, Obsolution, which was really the backbone of these interconnected stories. The other stories weren’t bad necessarily, but all the characters felt really similar to me. The inclusion of Mennonites throughout the stories was interesting, particularly in the penultimate story, Enough Trouble, which really drew a connection between a Mennonite community in Canada and the protagonist’s experience as a trans woman. Overall, a good reading experience, but one that I think could have been great if it had been edited a bit more.

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booksjessreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A Dream of a Woman is a short-story collection, largely about trans women trying to live their best adult lives, navigating complicated friendships, relationships, identity and the idea of home. I really enjoyed the way that Absolution was a longer story and intertwined throughout. For me, this was an incredible coming-of-gender story with great character arcs and developments and multi-dimensional, believable characters.

I thought Plett told her stories so vividly and the imagery used to convey thoughts, feelings and behaviours was so striking, graphic and raw. Plett does not hold back on anything - so do bear in mind that there is graphic love/sex, transphobia etc. so do check out the content warnings. In places, I also thought the audio did some of the stories incredible justice - listening to these made it even more immersive. There is absolutely no doubt that Plett is a really talented writer and writes very evocatively.

I think the thing that most let me down was the format with which I listened. Despite the audio working really well in places, I felt really disjointed between all the stories at times and I only really followed what happened with Absolution and the first story or two. Towards the end, I definitely lost the flow of the book and felt a print book would have afforded more clarity to me, personally. I think I would like to re-read this in a different format to see if my thoughts are still the same.

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I am familiar with framing devices in short story collections, but the second time "Absolution" appeared I was surprised because I thought it had been a one-off story of a person navigating a relationship and the possibility that it wasn’t quite what he wanted. Then, a couple of stories later, "Absolution" appeared again with the next chapter of his life. It formed a refrain, a transformational core, running through the heart of this collection, allowing for a slow unfolding and twisting of story in a single character. I let each of the various segments of what eventually is her life get to stand alone, having room to breathe, allowing for a transformation across decades in a way that would normally be harder to get across in a short story. There are many ways of being trans, and of being a trans woman. Most of these stories focus on trans women navigating relationships and interpersonal interactions in a way that’s very focused on their underlying thoughts and feelings to whatever degree they’re able to process or express them. Some stories take place over years or even decades, and others occur in just a few days.

Some of the stories convey the shifting weirdness of existing in a body that changes in ways which other people aren’t expecting, and the range of reactions to that reality. People living lives that are shaped by this thing that they have in common, told in a manner that allows for meandering meandering and blurriness around the edges. This is an absorbing and fascinating collection, and I highly recommend it.

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

An intimate novel that explores the messiness of gender identity, I really appreciated how Plett depicted the lives of trans women in her short stories with such care and nuance. It’s as much a celebration of being trans as it is a recognition of the struggles that come with it.

I was particularly taken to the short story, “Obsolution,” which was actually broken up into parts and told between other stories, following the protagonist’s arduous journey towards discovering herself. It was a complicated story, too, that didn’t shy away from complicated topics and how this particularly impacts trans women, ranging from gender dysphoria to toxic relationships (platonic and romantic).

Something that needs to be highlighted is that this collection is very heavy on sex content, though it’s not smut. I read all these scenes more like Plett wanting the readers (especially cis readers) to get over the discomfort of trans women having sex and that it’s as much a part of their lives as it is for others. It’s not an educational moment; it’s more a coming-to-terms moment.

Much to think about in this collection, but it’s definitely an impactful one.

Content Warnings

atuin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This book had some of the best dialogue and most human characters I've ever had the pleasure of encountering. The writing style had me hooked from start to finish, and you will empathize with flawed people trying to live their lives the best they can.

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