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marissab's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing
Minor: Deadnaming, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking
swarmofbees's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexism, and Transphobia
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Please don't read this, cis people you shouldn't think trans people are like this and fellow trans people, this is incredibly triggeringmeganisreading's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
I hated this book. None of it is as interesting, poetic or progressive as it desperately tries to be, and instead we get a disturbing insight into the opinions and values of a writer who burns her own books after being offended at being described as a ‘women’s writer’, yet can barely veil her own transphobia and internalised misogyny!
Now - I am not Trans myself so I do not speak for the community - however from having the basic decency to research, listen to the community and have an ounce of common sense I know that having a character who is a Trans man who gets constantly referred to by their dead name, fetishise by a manipulative and abusive boyfriend who calls them an ‘enigma’ while enforcing that ‘I’m not gay’, has slurs and hurtful phrases and misgendering thrown at them constantly, is assaulted, and basically told constantly that they shouldn’t exist - YET NO ONE GET CALLED OUT FOR THIS is not something helpful or at all empowering or even vaguely sympathetic to the trans community. Instead it perpetuates the idea that this abuse is something that should just be put up with - and not toxic situations and people you have the right to remove yourself from! The writers lack of research into what gender identity means to the Trans community has meant that instead of looking like a forward thinker in the ‘gender is just a construct’ department - she is instead hurtful and damaging, completely taking any nuance out of these theories and arguments - instead using her trans character as a metaphor rather than treating them as a person who should be respected with even very minimal human decency.
The most telling sign this book is way of the ‘progressive’ mark it tried so desperately, desperately hard to hit is that the character who speaks for the longest amount of time is the misogynistic Ron Lord - who as satiric as he may seem to start, looses its humour when he speaks more than anyone else in the modern day strand of the story. Not that anyone else (expect Ry) has anything less toxic to say. Her female characters are also painfully lacking and the one black character is also built on stereotypes as well as being toxic as hell.
In terms of the plot and writing - the modern storyline is ridiculous and uninspiring, and although the story of Mary Shelly has some interesting moments, it to is littered with misogyny (I could write an essay talking only about how bad her use of aggressive sexual language is used to humiliate and pit women again each other when it comes to Mary’s stepsister Claire) but more than anything is just painfully badly written! This train-of-consciousness style of writing with the attempt at poetic prose is pulled of SHOCKINGLY badly. Instead of poetic it just seems terribly stagnant and lacking in humanity or empathy.
All in all I think it’s pretty obvious my opinion on this book. I would actively discourage anyone from reading it and the fact it was long-listed for anything I think is horrendous.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Deadnaming, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Transphobia
Moderate: Racism
morebedsidebooks's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Deadnaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Transphobia
Moderate: Pedophilia