Reviews

Un personnage qui se contredit de page en page, des répétitions à n'en plus finir, pas mal de platitudes...
C'est dommage parce que je partais avec de bons à prioris sur ce livre. Mais le personnage devient pénible et son discours incohérent. Le livre aurait sûrement profité d'être plus court pour lui éviter de tourner en rond.

etlahaine's review

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dark mysterious 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

2.5

kiraswan's review

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Repulsive, graphic and perverted book, horrific depictions of sex with a minor, a minor who is struggling with finding out they are intersex and being taken advantage of by the spiritual leader of their cult.

Content Warnings

littlebookterror's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

Well, this was something, alright.
I don't know why I found some of the narrative choices in this book to be okay (like how Farah is unable to recognize she is being groomed) yet struggled so much with others (her fatphobic comments seemed so out of place considering how she grew up) - the book does not offer any opinions aside from Farah's.
I also don't know how I feel about the words and language Farah uses to describe her body, its changes, and her feelings about both of those things. On the hand, it's rare that Farah did not undergo any medical intervention in her childhood and part of that is because she grew up in a cult. It afforded freedom in that sense - it also meant that since she did not know of her intersex conditions, she had no influence into how her body would develop; something that might have been noticed earlier if she had a more common lifestyle. But while I could sympathize with her worries, the fear of not being attractive, feeling uncomfortable in one's skin; I also am aware that we have a cis author projecting a lot onto this intersex person which sometimes makes me wonder if Bayamack-Tam did any research or is falling back on old stereotypes? I don't know, I've got complicated feelings about this book. About most of its scenes.
It's certainly radical, sometimes misguided but also felt honest and hopeful at times.

(Also reading this a month after I finished Lolita, the books pair nicely together while offering two very different perspectives: the POV of a pedophile who knows he's in the wrong and a young child growing up and being sexually coerced.)

< spoiler>It's wild that we went through this entire process of realizing Arcady's manipulations but somehow end with Farah wanting to start her own commune/cult?! Girl, how?!

linaslzr's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

The final 30-40% of the book made it all worth it to me. I guess I understand needing to build the story and characters but idk I felt it could've started later. I really loved the main characters inner dialogue/monologues and introspection. I overall enjoyed the writing and the story itself.

berrypatch's review

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emotional informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.5

golderest's review

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

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