Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult

2 reviews

bookb1itch's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thank you to Better Reading for an advance prrof copy of this book.  This is the review I submitted to them:

Jodi Picoult delivers!  Told in her trademark addictively realistic style, supported by research into the lives of real characters, she asks: did Shakespeare deserve the accolades showered upon him over the past four centuries?  Did he even write most of the plays and poems?  Picoult has me convinced - how did he alone achieve such a huge body of work, whilst acting full-time?  Also, how could a man who most likely never left England write so convincingly about the Danish court and life in Italy?  Not to mention how a humble actor could write with such knowledge of the legal process.  Emilia's story is addictive - I just had to know how it was all going to work out for her, if indeed it would.  The parallels with Melina's story in the present are extremely unsettling- have we made much progress on the road to equality in over four hundred years?  Bottom line, this is a gripping and highly entertaining combination of the stories of two remarkable women, fighting for recognition where men control the narrative.  Highly recommended!
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astoriareader's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

SYNOPSIS
  • Melina Green is an aspiring playwright. Unfortunately, the theatre world often overlooks female writers. Despite this, she has written a play that shines a light on the life of her ancestor, Emilia Bassano. Melina chose to write about Emilia after doing in-depth research and discovering she may have been the writing of some of Shakespeare’s works. In fact, Shakespeare may not have written any of his own work.
  • Due to the bias against female playwrights, Melina's best friend, Andre, submits the play to a festival under a false male name to increase its chances of being recognized and selected for production.
  • The book alternates between Melina’s situation in the present day and Emilia’s life in the 1500s.

MY THOUGHTS
  • Jodi Picoult is an excellent writer, and she is an automatic read for me. This book is different than her other books, and honestly, it wasn’t my favorite of hers that I’ve read.
  • Picoult did a ton of research, and I enjoyed reading the Author’s Note at the end.
  • I liked learning about the Shakespeare’s authorship question & how hard it has been for women playwrights. 
  • I am also a big Broadway theatre fan, so it made me consider how often certain playwrights are selected.
  • I enjoyed the overall plot, the premise, and the different POVs. But, I thought the story dragged. I think this could have told in significantly less pages & better execution.
  • This is also a personal preference, but I like it when books are organized in shorter chapters. It flows better IMO. Here, the sections are SO long. It is daunting. I wish they were broken up differently.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️🥝. 3.5 stars. Historical fiction. Very solid premise, plot, & topic, but IMO it dragged & the execution could have been a lot better. Nevertheless, Picoult is an amazing writer!

Thanks to Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine Books, and Netgalley for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on August 20, 2024.
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