feliciaj's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
An early story by Alix E. Harrow that explores many of the themes that make her tales so compelling to me. She writes about identity formation within the limitations of her characters' worlds, which are often racist and misogynistic. In The Animal Women, Candis, a Kentucky girl with a debilitating stutter, finds her voice during a summer of race riots after Martin Luther King Jr. is shot.
Candis meets a group of strange women living in the woods near her rural home, a group of mixed races and seemingly belonging nowhere or to no one. The women teach her how to live a more authentic path, a path not without struggle or suffering, but better than the alternative. As the summer wanes, Candis must confront the demons lurking in her own life.
Harrow's writing was a bit rough around the edges compared to her more polished recent stories, but her voice was still compelling and assured.
Candis meets a group of strange women living in the woods near her rural home, a group of mixed races and seemingly belonging nowhere or to no one. The women teach her how to live a more authentic path, a path not without struggle or suffering, but better than the alternative. As the summer wanes, Candis must confront the demons lurking in her own life.
Harrow's writing was a bit rough around the edges compared to her more polished recent stories, but her voice was still compelling and assured.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence
Moderate: Racism and Misogyny
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