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outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
January 2017, & the author arrives at an abortion clinic in Queens, New York with her boyfriend. He opts to wait in the waiting room but when the appointment is over, he is nowhere to be seen. Arriving home, all his possessions are gone, & then he sends a harsh text abruptly ending their relationship. In the aftermath of this cruel betrayal, the author discovers that she is not the first (or last) that this man has used & discarded - there's a trail of women left bewildered, angry, & down thousands of dollars. In these darkest times, it is friendships with fellow women that help the author to heal & move forward with her life.
Such a personal memoir is difficult to give a rating, as how do you review someone's experiences & feelings? It's obviously written from the heart & the author's pain is evident. It can become a little ranty & meandering at times but given her experiences I understand it. On a wider scale, the author looks at how society is set up to facilitate this kind of behaviour: from friends who are inclined to ignore or condone the behaviour of this type of man, to the double standard that women are socialised into keep giving badly behaved men another chance but when they are hurt & deceived, they are told they should have known better.
I think all women who date men should read this book. There are many (of course not all), far too many men who don't view women as people - the best comparison I've seen (can't remember where I read it unfortunately) is that they view us as NPCs (non-player characters) - there to just facilitate their lives without any inner life or needs of our own. Alongside narcissists & those being 'red-pilled', dating is no longer pleasant for many women. Not that women get away scot free, they can also be misogynistic (aka 'I'm not like other girls') & judgmental towards other women.
The author brings up some really interesting points that I've been thinking about since I finished reading this book yesterday. The main thing I personally took away from this book is that we need to stop viewing ourselves & other women through the male gaze. Such an important point that need reiterating. Overall, honest memoir about a difficult experience, but it can meander a little & become a little repetitive. 4 stars.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Orion Publishing Group/Weidenfeld & Nicolson, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
Such a personal memoir is difficult to give a rating, as how do you review someone's experiences & feelings? It's obviously written from the heart & the author's pain is evident. It can become a little ranty & meandering at times but given her experiences I understand it. On a wider scale, the author looks at how society is set up to facilitate this kind of behaviour: from friends who are inclined to ignore or condone the behaviour of this type of man, to the double standard that women are socialised into keep giving badly behaved men another chance but when they are hurt & deceived, they are told they should have known better.
I think all women who date men should read this book. There are many (of course not all), far too many men who don't view women as people - the best comparison I've seen (can't remember where I read it unfortunately) is that they view us as NPCs (non-player characters) - there to just facilitate their lives without any inner life or needs of our own. Alongside narcissists & those being 'red-pilled', dating is no longer pleasant for many women. Not that women get away scot free, they can also be misogynistic (aka 'I'm not like other girls') & judgmental towards other women.
The author brings up some really interesting points that I've been thinking about since I finished reading this book yesterday. The main thing I personally took away from this book is that we need to stop viewing ourselves & other women through the male gaze. Such an important point that need reiterating. Overall, honest memoir about a difficult experience, but it can meander a little & become a little repetitive. 4 stars.
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Orion Publishing Group/Weidenfeld & Nicolson, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
booksandpasta's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
mbookishbanter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Thank you to HarperCollins for this ARC and the opportunity to provide an unbiased review.
Unrated due to it being a memoir.
I really enjoyed the first part of this book butfound that the end started to feel very repetitive and like we were circling the same point which felt tedious. If it had ended perhaps 50-100 pages sooner it would have been a 4.5 - 5 star read. I also felt like, as a single straight woman who is dating, I started to feel hopeless about men. I think there are still good men out there, while still acknowledging that women suffer through and tolerate a lot of awful things.. All in all I did relate to the stories that were being told, and think it’s an important discussion to have.
The writing was beautiful and lyrical and some lines really stuck with me.
Unrated due to it being a memoir.
I really enjoyed the first part of this book but
The writing was beautiful and lyrical and some lines really stuck with me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
michellereadatrix's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
I received a Netgalley ARC of The Chain. These are my honest thoughts.
If you're a fan of women finding solidarity in the shared stories of misogyny, this is your book. The primary villain is an ex of the author, who did her, and every other woman he ever met, extremely wrong in ways it's hard to understand if you have empathy and a conscience.
But the story isn't only about this unnamed man, although the thread of the harm he did is woven through the story. It's also a story of other men, of a system and a society that will not hold these men accountable, and of how women navigate this world alone and together.
Chimene Suleyman is open, and vulnerable, and raw about her experience and the aftermath. Thje damage this man left in his wake. She speaks of loss due to her abortion. She speaks of almost all-encompassing depression, and she speaks of the chain created by women who share their stories coming together.
If you're a fan of women finding solidarity in the shared stories of misogyny, this is your book. The primary villain is an ex of the author, who did her, and every other woman he ever met, extremely wrong in ways it's hard to understand if you have empathy and a conscience.
But the story isn't only about this unnamed man, although the thread of the harm he did is woven through the story. It's also a story of other men, of a system and a society that will not hold these men accountable, and of how women navigate this world alone and together.
Chimene Suleyman is open, and vulnerable, and raw about her experience and the aftermath. Thje damage this man left in his wake. She speaks of loss due to her abortion. She speaks of almost all-encompassing depression, and she speaks of the chain created by women who share their stories coming together.
This was almost a perfect book for me other than timelines got a little muddled on occasion.
paulaaav's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25