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_rowan_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Incest, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Confinement, Torture, and Violence
jovianjournals's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
Claiming to create a retelling of fairy tales, Angela Carter writes stories showing how women can take back some of the power in those fairy tales. Her ideas are great; the execution is horrifying and downright disappointing.
While she may have been going for a "Satire" approach, these short stories go too far and do not seem feminist to me in the least bit. Describing a girl's first period as being started because "a wolf... must have nibbled her cunt while she was sleeping" serves absolutely no purpose, and you cannot claim that the story is about "women taking their agency back" when half the stories are about teenagers or pre-pubescent teenagers willingly having sex with adult men/monsters.
Some reviews have claimed that these books are supposed to be read as the men's sexual desires actually representing the women's inner desires; thus, when the characters give in to the male's advances, they are really giving into their own. Through her stories featuring bestiality, pedophilia, incest, Carter basically asks the question "what if the claim that girls are really asking for it when they are raped were true?"
Furthermore, from a writing perspective I found her stories to be boring and not well written. Many praise her elaborate writing style, but it seems as though she is trying to hide the lack of substance in her stories with flowery writing. Some of the descriptions felt pulled straight out of a fanfiction. The plots of each short story are also severely lacking; even the stories which otherwise do better trying to present her messages fail due to disuse of characters and plot points.
This book should be marketed as erotica. If it were marketed as such, I'd say it's fine. But this is not a masterful genre-defying book of feminist prose; it's a collection of erotic rewrites of fairy tales. Some have a bit more meaning, but for the most part, it's just erotica. If you enjoy that, I'd encourage reading it! She certainly goes in depth describing the sex, and it probably composes at least a third of the book. But if you're looking for what the book markets itself as, I'd look elsewhere - though I do always encourage people to read things for themselves to decide.
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Blood, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Grief, Confinement, Death, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Violence, Toxic relationship, and Suicidal thoughts
breamfish1138's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Death, Blood, Animal death, Misogyny, Body horror, Gore, Confinement, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual assault
It's super gory and messed up and weird. Would not recommend use as actual bedtime stories. And it doesn't TECHNICALLY count as cannibalism but a lot of people do get eaten.river_dithers's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Violence, Sexual content, Blood, and Child death
hannahws's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Body horror, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
amu_m3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.75
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Pedophilia, Body horror, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Ableism, Torture, and Slavery
hashpole's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, Blood, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Child death, and Confinement
katealily's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Toxic relationship