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Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Pregnancy
Minor: Animal death, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Slavery, Transphobia, Islamophobia, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Miscarriage, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol
Minor: Body shaming, Drug use
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Dysphoria
Also massive respect for finding an immaculate way of connecting so many stories and characters ( you’ll get the relationships after a while)!
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Grief, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Colonisation
Moderate: Deadnaming
The one thing I didn't like flat out was the way trans topics were handled in the book. I thought it was great to read about Morgan's understanding of themselves and their loving long-term relationship. However, the other characters in the book repeated anti-trans talking points almost completely unchallenged. Given the growing anti-trans sentiment in Britain in particular, plus the fact that so few cis people claim to know anyone who is trans or be informed on trans issues, I felt that this was not a responsible way to frame these conversations.
Graphic: Biphobia, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Grief, Pregnancy
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Medical content, Death of parent
Minor: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Antisemitism, Mass/school shootings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence
Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief
Minor: Antisemitism
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity
Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicide, Transphobia
Unfortunately, I disliked some of the first characters I was introduced to, especially Yazz. I almost DNF'd after the first chapter from Yazz. Before I did, I looked up reviews from other readers and I found a lot of people were equally as undecided as me during the first third of the book. These readers were mostly all glad that they had persevered and finished it and so I decided to continue on. It was really interesting to find that so many people had mixed feelings about such a critically acclaimed book!
It was a conscious effort for me to slow down against the flow of words and to absorb the voices properly as I read. The effort didn't particularly lighten as I went on either. The writing style did, however, make the narration more conversational and dynamic. I felt I was a part of the conversation, like I was in the room with these characters and I really did enjoy that. I'm not convinced that the benefits of the free form style outweighed the negatives having now finished the book.
I found that some of the characters were also unreliable narrators, Dominique particularly. I usually avoid unlikeable characters and unreliable narrators and I don't remember ever having read a book containing both before. I was a little wary of some voices and therefore not fully immersed every time they popped up.
Like those reviewers who persuaded me to continue reading, I was eventually glad that I persevered. I found stories that I enjoyed, loveable characters and convincing voices used confidently. My favourite was Bummi but I also loved Hattie and Shirley. These were strong, proud, resilient women. They were aware of the mistakes they had made in life and were courageous enough to admit them. They had interesting and emotional intersectional stories to tell.
What prevented me from DNF-ing straight away was Evaristo's intersectional insights and current ideas and experiences. Thankfully, more and more of this appeared with every chapter as I read on. Evaristo challenges norms, invites debate and explores concepts of racism, feminism, education, sexual assault, gender, motherhood, immigration, LGBTQIA+ issues, domestic abuse, platonic love, forbidden love...and so many other things. Unlike with most books, each of Evaristo's characters experiences a different cocktail of the above at different stages of life as we all actually do.
You don't always need to be loud, shocking or dramatic to be powerful and this book is proof of that. Girl, Woman, Other is dignified, empowering, challenging and, it turns out, much less frustrating than I first thought.
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Blood, Grief
Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Deadnaming, Drug use, Self harm, Slavery