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alaris's review
dark
sad
slow-paced
0.5
I received an ARC for review and it was slow and painful to read, due to the medical horrors of the subject and because it is not chronologically organized. When I finally finished it, I read through the intro again - which had excited me in the first place, since Hallman said he was aiming to increase the amount known about Anarcha herself and not focusing on Sims... and in the ARC, at least, he failed at that goal. I could not tell if he forgot that plan or if he just did not have enough information about her and over-promised. He did not glorify Sims, he portrays Sims as a fairly terrible and arrogant man, but he did not focus on Anarcha even remotely as much as he'd said he would. I have no interest in reading the released version to see if it's better - or in reading anything more from Hallman.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Chronic illness, Body horror, Confinement, Miscarriage, Slavery, and Medical content
emdowd's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
slow-paced
3.5
I found the pacing difficult and would have liked a tool like a timeline showing Anarcha and Simms movements. Switching focus back and forth made narrative sense, but it necessitated a lot of bouncing back and forth in time which I found disorienting.
It's partly speculative nonfiction (we don't have many details of Anarcha's life), which worked for me but I could see being jarring for some readers. The author did a really admirable and interesting thing, making so much of his research available online for readers to access (or not) as they chose.
It's partly speculative nonfiction (we don't have many details of Anarcha's life), which worked for me but I could see being jarring for some readers. The author did a really admirable and interesting thing, making so much of his research available online for readers to access (or not) as they chose.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical trauma, Child abuse, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Child death, Misogyny, Body horror, Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Death
tipsytarsier's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, and Slavery
fkshg8465's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
5.0
******************SPOILERS ******************
Wow! So much to say about this book. Really feeling conflicted. On the one hand, we’ve got this terribly tragic history of a narcissist doctor chasing fame and glory by blatantly and cruelly experimenting on women without their consent ; mostly because they are slaves, who by the way often found themselves at his mercy because of all the many times they’d been raped), and on the other hand, I have to acknowledge that modern gynecology is what it is because of these medically unethical atrocities. I suppose that’s how it often is - progress at the expense of those without a choice.
I was shocked to learn some of the procedures Dr. Simms was trying to do, like clitorectomy to “solve” women’s maturation, angered that he even suggested slicing women’s tongues to keep them from talking so much, and others. What really made me upset is that he had so little interest in gynecology and then decided to exploit women in order to achieve professional stature.
Eye opening, informative, and emotionally disruptive.
Wow! So much to say about this book. Really feeling conflicted. On the one hand, we’ve got this terribly tragic history of a narcissist doctor chasing fame and glory by blatantly and cruelly experimenting on women without their consent ; mostly because they are slaves, who by the way often found themselves at his mercy because of all the many times they’d been raped), and on the other hand, I have to acknowledge that modern gynecology is what it is because of these medically unethical atrocities. I suppose that’s how it often is - progress at the expense of those without a choice.
I was shocked to learn some of the procedures Dr. Simms was trying to do, like clitorectomy to “solve” women’s maturation, angered that he even suggested slicing women’s tongues to keep them from talking so much, and others. What really made me upset is that he had so little interest in gynecology and then decided to exploit women in order to achieve professional stature.
Eye opening, informative, and emotionally disruptive.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Slavery, and Rape
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