Scan barcode
river_dithers's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was a really dark read, but satisfied my craving for feminist short stories. Like Angela Carter, Daisy Johnson carved out a space for female expression and worked dark fantasies into feminine experiences. It's a really great book, and many of the stories left me wishing they were their own texts. But I think that is the point - to make us think further about each of these women, to wish only good, male-conquering futures for them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Gore, Body horror, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, and Pregnancy
ed_moore's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Daisy Johnson’s ‘Fen’ is a collection of short stories exploring the experience of the younger generations local to the Cambridgeshire fens. The stories were often quite serious in topic, ranging from anorexia to cannibalism but also incorporating elements of magical realism. As expected, the first half of the stories were much stronger in my opinion than the second, a clear structuring choice, but none had any major flaws other than being less interesting than the initial few. I did however appreciate the connections in the stories through setting, the pub ‘The Fox and Hound’ being the most notable recurring location. Johnson’s style makes her stories easy reads, though they were also very emotionally heavy so I would proceed with caution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism and Eating disorder
More...