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agnesbebon's review
4.0
Very well written, very interesting. I love a story about a decades long friendship, I love a story about women resisting and learning and growing and being politically active. I did find that the few chapters where the POV switched didn’t flow as well but overall a very engaging and powerful book.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Islamophobia
kimveach's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Miscarriage
clairebartholomew549's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Classism
story_singer_101's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
There are several common tropes that I’ve seen in stories revolving around feminism that I find horribly annoying and often offensive:
1) A character’s entire personality and arc is reduced to “I am woman, hear me roar.” Women deserve more interesting and nuanced stories than just that one plot! Do men get all the other plots and we are only allowed to have ones that are about us overcoming the limitations placed on us because of our gender? Isn’t that just making the sexism worse by reducing all women to a single story?
2) Women are portrayed as being victims of a world consisting in its entirety of either brutish and predatory men who view the women as objects and never take responsibility for their actions or clueless and naive men who don’t realize how oppressive they’re being all the time and wont listen when told otherwise (one of the tv shows I’m watching right now has a ridiculous number of men that fit into this second category, so I’m extra salty about it right now 😆).
3) Women are provided with only one option for what it means to be a strong woman—normally some kind of career-minded girlboss—and any woman who chooses to be a stay at home wife or mother is viewed as brainwashed and oppressed. Doesn’t supporting women’s rights and choices mean that women have the right to choose to be a stay at home mom just as much as they have the right to choose to pursue a competitive career? Isn’t telling women they have no choice put to pursue a career just as sexist as saying women have no choice but to be a wife and mother?
This book avoids all three tropes. It depicts both men and women as multi-dimensional characters with complex motivations and inherent human dignity. Women are portrayed as men’s equals in their capacity for greatness and their capacity to make horrible, life-altering mistakes. They’re portrayed as regular, normal people. People who deserve to be treated with the respect and care that comes from all people being equal before God. People who deserve justice for the ways those rights and that inherent dignity and equality have been stripped from them by their fellow human beings. People who have hopes and dreams and who are petty, courageous, and loving just like anyone else.
That’s a feminism I can wholeheartedly support.
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Religious bigotry, and War
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic
louiepotterbook's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and War