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A review by heynonnynonnie
Stay and Fight by Madeline ffitch
challenging
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Had to sit on this for a while after finishing. Initially, I couldn't figure out where the story was going, and I toyed with the idea of DNF-ing, but I pushed on and ended up engrossed. I didn't particularly care for the ending, but also am not sure how else it could have ended or what I would have changed. I think I mostly felt that the ending was a little abrupt and that I would have liked to have stayed with the characters for a little while longer.
I struggled with figuring out how to review this book. I ended up listening to some interviews that Madeline Ffitch did and reading through other reviews on Goodreads and in opinion pieces. I didn't feel like the book was hilarious or even the "delightfully raucous" that I've seen tossed around in some reviews. If this book were a person, I'd call it a "son of a gun" and "old bastard" before buying it a round at the bar. It's gritty, cynical, real, but also filled with a bit of wonder that gleams through the cracks if you manage to catch it just right. Filled and built on the brave imperfections that are associated with the found family trope dialed to the max between three women who learn who they are, how to stand up for that, and eventually, for each other.
I felt that the novel was a decent exploration on the intersectionality of gender, sexual identity, racism, classism, and environmentalism because it forces the reader to pause their initial judgments of the unconventional. Because of this, I'm not sure that I can judge this book on a good/bad binary system like I try to do, so instead I think I'll dive into just one theme that I thought about constantly.
I think the concept that I toyed with the most while reading was the meaning of freedom and the functionality of idealism. There's an underlying tension between absolute freedom of choice and the constraints of life's givens. The book is concerned with freedom and what it means to be free, but also the ethics of that freedom. The more that each woman attempts to justify their individual concerns and goals, the more that they are unable to accept each other and deny the others freedom in order to validate their attempt to give their life meaning. Freedom isn't just a plot of private property in which you kick out the world. It isn't just living up to a subjective and but ultimately external goal. And it isn't an ideal world free of conflict. I think the book's focus is freedom as a process, rather than an outcome, and that the pursuit of one's own freedom is also conditional on the freedom of others. Which necessitates a system that recognizes and evaluates conflicts - to stay and fight through competing interests and choices rather than to run away, to oppress the freedom of others, or to shut down. Ultimately, all four of the POV characters come to terms with freedom as a process from different angles.
I struggled with figuring out how to review this book. I ended up listening to some interviews that Madeline Ffitch did and reading through other reviews on Goodreads and in opinion pieces. I didn't feel like the book was hilarious or even the "delightfully raucous" that I've seen tossed around in some reviews. If this book were a person, I'd call it a "son of a gun" and "old bastard" before buying it a round at the bar. It's gritty, cynical, real, but also filled with a bit of wonder that gleams through the cracks if you manage to catch it just right. Filled and built on the brave imperfections that are associated with the found family trope dialed to the max between three women who learn who they are, how to stand up for that, and eventually, for each other.
I felt that the novel was a decent exploration on the intersectionality of gender, sexual identity, racism, classism, and environmentalism because it forces the reader to pause their initial judgments of the unconventional. Because of this, I'm not sure that I can judge this book on a good/bad binary system like I try to do, so instead I think I'll dive into just one theme that I thought about constantly.
I think the concept that I toyed with the most while reading was the meaning of freedom and the functionality of idealism. There's an underlying tension between absolute freedom of choice and the constraints of life's givens. The book is concerned with freedom and what it means to be free, but also the ethics of that freedom. The more that each woman attempts to justify their individual concerns and goals, the more that they are unable to accept each other and deny the others freedom in order to validate their attempt to give their life meaning. Freedom isn't just a plot of private property in which you kick out the world. It isn't just living up to a subjective and but ultimately external goal. And it isn't an ideal world free of conflict. I think the book's focus is freedom as a process, rather than an outcome, and that the pursuit of one's own freedom is also conditional on the freedom of others. Which necessitates a system that recognizes and evaluates conflicts - to stay and fight through competing interests and choices rather than to run away, to oppress the freedom of others, or to shut down. Ultimately, all four of the POV characters come to terms with freedom as a process from different angles.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Classism
Minor: Racism and Lesbophobia