A review by elleneam
Tentacle by Rita Indiana

5.0

This book is a masterpiece, more of a piece of art than a novel, masterfully weaving characters, times and places into an insightful discussion of society, and in particular why and how people act against their own interests to support the status-quo. Yes the story moves at a fast pace, and your head often swirls to recall who this or that character is but this allows for the explosion of realisation as the connections between characters, times and places suddenly become apparent as you read on. People have criticised this book for including characters who are racist, misogynist and homophobic, but the idea that a book which is a discussion on modern society should ignore these issues instead of addressing them is frankly ridiculous. This book creatively reflects real-life which is why these elements of real life are included and used to examine masculinities we see today. Unlike many books I felt truly satisfied with the ending, the author using her story to make a subtle point about the constraints of hegemony and the way in which we are all shaped by our material circumstances and experiences. This is a fantastic book and my one piece of advice would be to take it slowly in order to truly appreciate this creative wonder.