Reviews - Middlesex | The StoryGraph

5.3k reviews for:

Middlesex

Jeffrey Eugenides

4.14 AVERAGE

francescajukes_'s review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

lapsedmarxist's review against another edition

3.0

felt like the book tried to stretch our assumptions and challenge our conceptions about sexuality and gender; both social and biological. however, the novel does fall short in accomplishing this. one thing that struck me as problematic was how non-committal and even apolitical the novel is. it is so concerned with cals private life that it doesn’t really give enough attention to the larger social and communal questions that are at play within its own story. this is very much a pity cos this isn’t just a story about cal and his own childhood and his discovery of himself. but rather a story about the broader characters that compose it. a story about the systematic racism and xenophobia in america against migrants. moreover, i found that it didn’t really shine a light on the humane and deeper reasons as to why the riots in detroit came to be. on the reason why these people decided to choose violence as a way of claiming a better life. it was almost as if the novel wanted to point toward a certain historical event. toward the possibility of making a political point about this event/riot in american history without being brave enough to commit and actually make the point. a truly disappointing treatment of the event.

murrrpanda's review against another edition

4.0

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

mer46mak's review against another edition

5.0

inspiring mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

amolloy980's review against another edition

3.0

challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

miekookeim's review against another edition

5.0

Absolutely stunning writing and a phenomenal story. I loved getting to know so many characters and the intricacies of their inner lives and relationships. One of my new favorite books.

exsquirrelfriend's review against another edition

3.0

3.5

I very much enjoyed Eugenides writing! I do think this could have been edited down a little. The book chronicles Cal's coming to be all the way back to the grandparents. And in reading it, you will understand why, but the story felt more about them than Cal. I learned about so many other lives that there wasn't a whole lot of room for Cal in the end, even though he was the most interesting character.

I would still recommend this, but just recognize that it isn't a very deep dive into the life of someone who is intersex so much as a detailed family timeline leading to an intersex individual.