A review by pattington
Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung by Nina MacLaughlin

Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.

I really was excited for this book at tried to enjoy it. Unfortunately every story is woefully similar and though they’re twisting existing myths, the tales twist all of them in the same way, which just gets so boring. The writing was beyond underwhelming and still trying too hard.  A different review called it “pseudo-deep in the way bad poetry is” and I think that perfectly captures it. Also, the writing relies on existing myths and the visceral assault of the female body over and over again in order to provide anything compelling, which is just lazy. This is trauma porn masquerading as feminist literature. There is an attempt to differentiate between the women being described in each story, but the writing skills necessary to accomplish multiple of such visions were missing, and each vignette came across bland and undeveloped with virtually the same conclusion for each character of ‘I grit my teeth and endure suffering’. 

 For some it may be cathartic, but for me it was exhausting. Maybe it would’ve gotten better if I read all the way through, but the first several stories were just so disappointing. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault