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vicious's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Transphobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
malloryfitz's review
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, and Blood
Moderate: Death of parent, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Slavery
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Transphobia, Abortion, Deadnaming, Drug use, and Sexual assault
zober's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
(audiobook)
I really liked this for the first 95%. It's not exactly a Snow White retelling, but it's strongly Snow White adjacent. The plot and characters were engrossing; I particularly liked Boy's narrator.
But then out of left field Oyeyemi creates a super transphobic plotline. In the last half hour of the audiobook, a character is revealed to be trans. Trans/queer rep, woohoo! you might be thinking. Alas. It's explained that they* are only trans because they experienced a traumatic event that lead to a psychotic break. Ah, yes, of course! Great. So then, with copious misgendering, some of the main characters go off to "fix" - essentially try to de-transition - this person. The end. I'm not kidding, that's how the book ends. What the f*** did I just read?! It was great and nuanced and thought-provoking, until that utter garbage. I would be more willing to give the author a pass if this were published many decades ago, but nope. 2014.
*I'm using "they" pronouns so as to not give hints about which character this is, not to disrespect the trans character's pronouns. The other characters do that enough without my help.
I really liked this for the first 95%. It's not exactly a Snow White retelling, but it's strongly Snow White adjacent. The plot and characters were engrossing; I particularly liked Boy's narrator.
But then out of left field Oyeyemi creates a super transphobic plotline. In the last half hour of the audiobook, a character is revealed to be trans. Trans/queer rep, woohoo! you might be thinking. Alas. It's explained that they* are only trans because they experienced a traumatic event that lead to a psychotic break. Ah, yes, of course! Great. So then, with copious misgendering, some of the main characters go off to "fix" - essentially try to de-transition - this person. The end. I'm not kidding, that's how the book ends. What the f*** did I just read?! It was great and nuanced and thought-provoking, until that utter garbage. I would be more willing to give the author a pass if this were published many decades ago, but nope. 2014.
*I'm using "they" pronouns so as to not give hints about which character this is, not to disrespect the trans character's pronouns. The other characters do that enough without my help.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Transphobia
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