Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan

1 review

james1star's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I won’t describe any of the plot but Savage Her Reply is essentially a retelling of the Irish myth of The Children of Lir told from the perspective of the story’s antagonist Aife. I’m ashamed to say I know nothing of Irish mythology or legends but with a little research, understand this tale was first shared in post-Christianity Ireland with messages sharing this. Whilst the book is evidently a feminist retelling with a woman being our mc, much analysis of the other female characters and role of gender/sex in society - which is all incredible btw -, an argument can be made that Sullivan takes the story and infuses pre-Christian Irish ‘religious’ traditions and messages and in doing so reclaims the story in multiple ways. Following on from not having read anything Irish myth-related, I would very much like to explore more of these tales and stories. 

I’ve read quite a fare few Irish contemporaries, one historical and now a mythical retelling and once again Sullivan has followed the trend fitting her work in with that of the general literary genre. Her characters are rather nuanced, their analyses and this notion of the human (or god in some cases) condition is explored to some extent here. Furthermore, the writing is very lovely to read (well listen to to) being hard to explain… it’s rich and vidid whilst also having a delicate quality to it. Whilst there are many lyrical and rather beautiful passages there are equal amounts of brutality and darkness within this book with the author not being afraid to shy away from the harshness of the story and what Aife did, but also why she did it. What I loved most was that there is no victim blaming or retelling for the sake of it, Sullivan just wanted to show events through Aife’s POV with her understanding that her actions were wicked ones, they were directed at innocents with short-lived desired consequences but she felt guilt for centuries afterwards. Throughout the book I did understand Aife’s character well and her reasonings, I wouldn’t say I agree with her but on the whole she was a victim of male mistreatment of women in the time she lived (and still does to my knowledge??) - she kind of gave me Circe vibes to an extent. 

The final quarter of the book did partly lose my interest I would say. I still enjoyed the writing and I guess the overall story arc but definitely not as much as the start or middle. I wish more emphasis was given to Aife and the children/swans time during the nine hundred years in the three locations and maybe exploring more of their personalities kind of. I’m not too sure but overall it was an enjoyable read. 

I listened to the audiobook narrated by fellow Irishwoman Aoife McMahon and she did an amazing job. Her voice was beautifully clear and having an accent to match the characters you’re representing I think really adds to realising a story. I know in the physical copy there are supposed to be illustrations but I wasn’t able to see this, I would like to pick up a copy to give this a possible reread in the future so will be on the look out for a preowned copy. 
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