Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

3 reviews

itsmelaurenc's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Incest, Racial slurs, Car accident, Child death, Infertility, Death of parent, Outing, Racism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, War, Death, Deportation, Alcohol, Classism, Cursing, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, and Body shaming

kibiiiariii's review against another edition

emotional funny informative 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Classism, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, War, Abandonment, Car accident, Death, Dysphoria, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Sexism, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Genocide, Grief, Infertility, Islamophobia, and Pregnancy

applesaucecreachur's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

There was a lot wrong with this book. (Though to be fair, I went in thinking that this was non-fiction, an autobiography by an intersex person, and realized with horror only later that it was fiction.) The storytelling style spanned three generations and was therefore unique, and the author clearly has a strong grasp of descriptive prose and timelines. And maybe, maybe, this was a progressive and gender-inclusive book for its time. But my commendations end there. From beginning to end, this book was full of racial stereotypes (particularly anti-Black) and racist accents if listening to the audiobook, one-sided takes on historical events, and incest. Fucking incest. Perhaps the author was not condoning procreation with one's full-blooded biological sibling, but was going into such detail necessary? Regardless of intent, this signaled that aside from being taboo on its own, being intersex is also the result of taboos, a mutation in chromosomes occurring out of inbreeding. 
I'm giving it 2 stars because I liked some of the writing. The writer displays good technique here. I'm taking away 3 because of the contents and everything else about it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Incest

Moderate: Car accident, Deadnaming, Cultural appropriation, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, Dementia, and Sexual content

Minor: Fatphobia