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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Really wanted to like this more than I did. I loved the Mary Shelley portions of the novel (her relationships with Shelley and Byron, her writing of Frankenstein, her grief, her meeting with Ada Lovelace), but the modern-day stuff was a mess. It had nothing new to say about AI, transhumanism, robotics, etc. It felt like Winterson was trying to write a sci-fi romp but it wasn’t as funny as it could have been. So many jokes are at the expense of Ry, the trans protagonist, that it felt flat and offensive. There is so much transphobia and misgendering from other characters towards Ry, including by the person who claims to be in love them, not to mention a really unnecessary moment of sexual violence that I’m just left wondering: why? What is this book ultimately about? It doesn’t seem to be about anything in the end except a writer’s experiment (lol
medium-paced
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
i felt deeply uncomfortable to while reading this and i’ve yet to decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing. the writing style reminded me a lot of ali smith’s writing in her seasonal books.
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So freaking good! Perhaps the best of 2019, though I have a couple of more I want to read before I cement that claim. Either way, it's Winterson at her finest. Written on the Body is still her absolute best, but this is pretty amazing. She takes intertextuality to a whole new level, weaving it with a thoughtful discussion of the mind/body split (or unification). And she does it all with her typical humor. My only complaint is I wish I'd read it sooner.
DNF. Winterson has some cool ideas but I think she majorly misses the mark here, (mis)using trans identity as a cool trendy metaphor for what she wants to say about transhumanism. If I have to read one more fetishistic description of a trans man's genitals while his lover insists "I'm not gay! I'm not gay!" over and over again I'm gonna claw my own eyes out.