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wendleness's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
I should have loved this book. And I did love some of the stories. Dolly, about a woman who was cloned to re-live the life of the girl she was cloned from, and Burning Girl, about a literal girl on fire, were stand-out stories for me. They both explored the characters’ lives, freedoms, and autonomy (or lack thereof). Their sense of self and of hiding part of themselves for the benefit of others.
The concepts of these two stories in particular spoke to me, but they also stood apart from the rest for another reason. The women in these stories and their plots weren’t defined by or dependent on the men in them.
Almost (almost) every other story in the book included women whose lives and choices were dependant on and affected by men. A woman who consumes men, a woman whose lineage descended from an act of sexual violence, women literally knitting themselves husbands, a woman whose touch becomes electric following the death of one man and returns to normal after she saves the life of another man.
These stories weren’t bad, but I am quite tired of women’s stories, women’s lives, and women’s purpose being defined by the men in them.
A slightly longer review can be read at my book blog: Marvel at Words.
The concepts of these two stories in particular spoke to me, but they also stood apart from the rest for another reason. The women in these stories and their plots weren’t defined by or dependent on the men in them.
Almost (almost) every other story in the book included women whose lives and choices were dependant on and affected by men. A woman who consumes men, a woman whose lineage descended from an act of sexual violence, women literally knitting themselves husbands, a woman whose touch becomes electric following the death of one man and returns to normal after she saves the life of another man.
These stories weren’t bad, but I am quite tired of women’s stories, women’s lives, and women’s purpose being defined by the men in them.
A slightly longer review can be read at my book blog: Marvel at Words.
chills_multiply's review
5.0
I loved this collection, the stand out for me was definitely Wrapped, a story of a female archaeologist in 1919. As an archaeologist myself I may be biased but I found the narrative interesting and really compelling.
eyelit's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
bachrime's review
4.0
Such a lovely collection of feminist short stories! I liked almost all of them, and I can’t wait to read more by some the authors. My favourites were: Girls are always hungry when all the men are bite-size, Burning girl, Wrapped, How to knit a husband, and Andromeda.
amandar9fa2f's review
4.0
An anthology of weird fiction on the theme of women-centred issues.
Contributors include some of the best British female writers in the genre today, including Kirsty Logan, Rosie Garland and Aliya Whiteley.
The short stories range in tone from the fairytale/folklore style of Logan's Girls are Always Hungry When All the Men are Bite-Sized, the quirky-cosy humour of How to Knit a Husband by Cheryl Powell; the mythological Andromeda (Sam Mills), and the quietly unsettling The Losses by C A Steed.
Standouts for me:
This is not Forgiveness (Lorraine Wilson) - the fallout from recent African history
Dolly (Jane Alexander) - questioning the ethics of cloning
Wrapped (Aliya Whiteley) - my absolute favouritewhich looks at how women - in this case an Egyptologist, but you could read scientists, academics, artists, writers...have so often been written out of history .
Oh! And I love the cover too, by Mancunian tattooist, illustrator and author, Hannah Mosley.
Contributors include some of the best British female writers in the genre today, including Kirsty Logan, Rosie Garland and Aliya Whiteley.
The short stories range in tone from the fairytale/folklore style of Logan's Girls are Always Hungry When All the Men are Bite-Sized, the quirky-cosy humour of How to Knit a Husband by Cheryl Powell; the mythological Andromeda (Sam Mills), and the quietly unsettling The Losses by C A Steed.
Standouts for me:
This is not Forgiveness (Lorraine Wilson) - the fallout from recent African history
Dolly (Jane Alexander) - questioning the ethics of cloning
Wrapped (Aliya Whiteley) - my absolute favourite
Oh! And I love the cover too, by Mancunian tattooist, illustrator and author, Hannah Mosley.
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