You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
More like a 3.5. The (semi-autobiographical) story "Strange Gods" is perfectly devastating, especially knowing Roxane Gay was sexually assaulted as a young girl. I was surprised by the magical realism and fairy tale aspects of many of the stories--but I've only read Gay's essays before, and didn't know what to expect from her fiction. Worth checking out if you like Gay.
This is a well-written collection and I really wanted to like it but it wasn't for me. While the styles and details differed story to story, they all seemed to revolve around women being abused, being downtrodden. And there was only one or two stories where I felt the protagonist was able to move forward by the end. Truthfully, I would have given up on the book halfway through but I felt like I had to finish it.
Short stories aren’t always my favorite, but unsurprisingly, Roxane Gay’s work is very good. Very dark and traumatic topics that made me genuinely uncomfortable to read at times, but the writing is excellent. My only real complaint is that in my opinion, the best story was first, so all the rest really paled in comparison.
5 stars to Difficult Women by Roxane Gay - a fantastic collection of unforgettable characters and stories.
~
I have only read Not so Bad by Gay and I loved it, so I quickly bought more of her books and added them to my giant TBR. I wanted to end Black History Month with a banger of a book and this one just called to me. I am so happy I listened because this is an amazing collection!
~
Each of these 24 stories deal with different types of women; mothers, daughters, wives, girlfriends, mistresses, sisters and friend and each one of them was so incredibly written. They were all complicated, layered, at times lovable and at times despicable. It's one of the very few times where even when I didn't enjoy a story, I couldn't put it down due to the writing and the characters.
~
I truly loved all but a few stories, but these are the ones that really stood out:
- I Will Follow You
-The Mark of Cain
-Difficult Women (my favourite)
-Florida (I need more of this one!)
-La Negra Blanca
-Open Marriage
-Strange Gods
~
These stories will compel you, break your heart, make you rage and make you think. I cannot recommend this one enough - if you haven't picked it up yet, please do so and revel in the lives of Difficult Women.
~
I have only read Not so Bad by Gay and I loved it, so I quickly bought more of her books and added them to my giant TBR. I wanted to end Black History Month with a banger of a book and this one just called to me. I am so happy I listened because this is an amazing collection!
~
Each of these 24 stories deal with different types of women; mothers, daughters, wives, girlfriends, mistresses, sisters and friend and each one of them was so incredibly written. They were all complicated, layered, at times lovable and at times despicable. It's one of the very few times where even when I didn't enjoy a story, I couldn't put it down due to the writing and the characters.
~
I truly loved all but a few stories, but these are the ones that really stood out:
- I Will Follow You
-The Mark of Cain
-Difficult Women (my favourite)
-Florida (I need more of this one!)
-La Negra Blanca
-Open Marriage
-Strange Gods
~
These stories will compel you, break your heart, make you rage and make you think. I cannot recommend this one enough - if you haven't picked it up yet, please do so and revel in the lives of Difficult Women.
Man, this woman can write. I’m not generally a fan of short stories, but I was drawn to read more by the author after reading Bad Feminist. I loved some stories and liked others. Some were more like short character sketches. I probably should have spaced them out more, as some of the dark themes that were repeated across multiple stories—violence, loss of a child, rape, infidelity—were especially heavy when read one after the other. But Gay’s writing just sucked me in.
An overall wonderful collection of stories, though the phrase "the flat of my stomach" seems to appear in more of them than not. My favorite is "FLORIDA," perhaps not technically a short story by the strictest definition, a series of vignettes of characters living in a gated community. It's a book of strong women, women overcoming abuse, or not quite overcoming it, women living strong hard lives on their own terms.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment