Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Tentacle by Rita Indiana

6 reviews

waterbear0821's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

Well. I didn’t really enjoy this. It was too filthy and distressing and literary. It was deeply unpleasant and full of slurs and violence and harm. But the story is brilliant and bizarre and I know it will stick with me and I’ll probably want to read it again. 
Pros: 
-well-executed, unique sci-fi time travel
-twisty and brain-expanding
-captivating description of dystopian future; good world-building
Cons:
-truly how many racial slurs and homophobic slurs and how much violent misogyny must I read?
-so, so many content warnings 
-the author is a musician and the droning, pretentious descriptions of the songs and music characters are playing or listening to throughout the book are cringe and insufferable 
-high on aesthetics, light on plot. I’m curious what this author will write in the future

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Transphobia, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Homophobia, and Cultural appropriation

hfrancesh's review

challenging dark fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Transphobia, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Dysphoria, Colonisation, Murder, and Medical content

Minor: Animal cruelty

full_of_flowers's review

challenging mysterious fast-paced

3.0

If you appreciate The Tempest, Emily St. John Mandel's Sea of Tranquility, or Philip K. Dick's VALIS trilogy, you may enjoy the shifting and strange structures here. Many interesting thoughts on identity, disaster, and the battle between our agenda and those chosen for us, among other themes.

I was uncomfortable with the book's use of slurs; although this gets some context as the book unfolds, it doesn't feel justified or like it's accomplishing anything. Through such language, it exhibits characters' hateful attitudes without challenging them in a meaningful enough way. Additionally, there are moments that delve into very difficult topics, such as sexual violence and the treatment of marginalized communities, without proper acknowledgement or care. I do wonder if some of these issues read somewhat differently in the original Spanish, and may be interested in reading that version at some point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

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

1.25

A set of expansive ideas that tries to squeeze itself into an under-200-page novella, Tentacle feels like three different narratives combined into one -- and not in a particularly good way. The writing style, or at least what of it is clear in translation, is stiff and dry, only sometimes veering into something more interesting. Information is revealed in flat blocks that make it impossible to tell what will be relevant later and what will never be referenced again, with the most key details about the plot and world buried in stream-of-consciousness rambling (and the occasional rape fantasy).

The most interesting elements of that world, like an "instant sex change" injection, are treated effectively as set dressing, never really explored in depth. Instead, the meandering plot follows uninteresting, indistinct characters through events and timelines that are equally difficult to differentiate. Despite parts of their backstories being recounted in detail, I have no sense of who most of the characters are as people... other than their bigoted attitudes.

Such views being expressed by characters is one thing, but they're present in excess and never treated with especial gravity or challenged meaningfully by the narrative, and if anything seem reinforced by it. Black characters are invariably treated with disdain, to say nothing of the constant use of the N-word (by a non-Black author and translator), and the trans protagonist is only appropriately gendered after undergoing full physical transition, with no real conscious examination of his identity and experiences. Perhaps these are purposeful qualities of the setting, but if so it's never communicated well.

Could have probably been very interesting in a different format, but the combination of dense writing and gratuitous racism/homophobia and sexual violence made it far from an enjoyable read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, Racism, Medical content, Misogyny, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Murder, Death, Homophobia, Transphobia, Body horror, Gore, and Gun violence

Minor: Antisemitism, Incest, Pedophilia, Fatphobia, Vomit, Ableism, Abortion, and Child abuse

clara_ward's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Transphobia

Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, and Biphobia

horizonous's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, and Transphobia

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, and Sexual content

Minor: Abortion, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

◦ Sexual content = Prostitution