Reviews

He, She and It by Marge Piercy

possibilityleft's review

Too dense and hard to follow

hoperu's review against another edition

3.0

This really did take me almost all year to read. I thought it was good, if a bit longer than it needed to be. I kept losing momentum in the golem sections.

beluamarina's review against another edition

adventurous emotional reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I really loved this book. I can understand people finding imperfections and others having a different taste, but to me every little thing made sense and the whole story and characters' development really touched me. I was hooked on

Shira and Yod's

relationship and its progression. It made me think stuff about morality, love, freedom, feminism. But maybe most importantly, it kept me interested, made me laugh, made me cry, made me wonder. 

megapolisomancy's review against another edition

1.0

"You really took revenge on me. You really did."

ththalassocracy's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-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

3.5

justfoxie's review

3.0

I wanted to love this book, given its apparent similarities to Woman on the Edge of Time, but I’m the end it fell short of my expectations. I found the golem parallel story to be clunky both in its telling and as a metaphor. I would have much preferred Nili’s story be the parallel to Yod.

Still it’s the same amazing world building, creative conception of social democracy and well rounded, interesting characters.

Read as part of Housman’s Feminist Science Fiction Book Club

2shainz's review against another edition

5.0

Toward the end of the novel, I found myself thinking about how strange it was that a couple of the male characters were woefully under-developed, and then it hit me: the story revolved almost entirely around women. And it was WONDERFUL.

I'd never heard the story of the golem of Prague, and as a woman raised culturally Jewish (personally non-religious), it was a delightful lesson in folklore.

Certainly the story was imperfect, and at points I felt like the text could have been more closely edited, but all in all, this was one of the most engrossing stories I've read this year. Highly recommended.

oddeyed's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

frogzai's review against another edition

2.0

This was too cringe to forgive the entire month it took to read it. I'm giving it an extra star for Yod's cuteness though, and because I could feel the effort the author put into writing it. I respect the hustle I really do. The writing itself was great; but the dialogue, characters, world, and pretty much everything else about the story was not my flavor

ellierichards90's review against another edition

4.0

"He She and It" raised some interesting philosophical ideas, but there was also plenty of action to keep things entertaining.

I personally found the sci fi element to the book really interesting, but even if you aren't a sci fi fan, there is still plenty to enjoy here and the story doesn't get too bogged down in the science. Ultimately, "He She and It" is more about human relationships than technology, and featured some great character development.

Overall, the story was well thought out and well written.