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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
dark
informative
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
jeanette winterson... what in the world was this??? genuinely.
DNF. I usually adore Jeanette Winterson, but I felt very uncomfortable with the way she describes and even understands trans-ness. Comparing a trans person to a "hybrid" and the Frankenstein monster is deeply disturbing, and I'm really, really disappointed in Winterson.
Mä olin tosi innoissani tästä kirjasta noin ekat 10 sivua. Sit törmäsin siihen, että vaikka ois tehny taustatutkimusta transhahmoista, niin sil on välii, millaista taustatutkimusta tekee ja mitä asioita sieltä nostaa. Väkivalta ja fyysiset yksityiskohdat ei oo musta niit välttämättömimpiä nostaa, varsinkaan jos niil ei oo mitään relevanssii hahmon kaarelle tai teemalle tai millekään.
Eri aikatasojen kuljettaminen toimi ja juoni kulki ihan kivasti. Vähän petyin loppuun ja tosiaan oli koko ajan se jännitys, että mitäs transhahmosta seuraavaks kerrotaan. Mut etenkin Mary Shelleyn aikataso oli musta toimiva ja kauniisti kirjoitettu.
Eri aikatasojen kuljettaminen toimi ja juoni kulki ihan kivasti. Vähän petyin loppuun ja tosiaan oli koko ajan se jännitys, että mitäs transhahmosta seuraavaks kerrotaan. Mut etenkin Mary Shelleyn aikataso oli musta toimiva ja kauniisti kirjoitettu.
actual rating: 3.5
This was definitely a very interesting and unique book but I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it. I think it did a lot of interesting stuff with bringing Frankenstein into the modern age and how the author wove gender and sexuality into the story and switched between Mary Shelley and the characters in the modern day was really great, but it was confusing at times as well. I think part of this is that the writing style didn't really mesh well with how I read. I read with word runner and would often not realize we had switched POV [it happens a LOT] and also I don't think she used quotation marks for speech at all which makes it hard to know who is talking some of the time and also whether the character is saying something out loud or just thinking it. Also I wanted to strangle the guy who made the sexbots every time he opened his mouth but I think that was the intended reaction so good job there. But it was definitely an original book and really made me think while I was reading it so I decided to round up.
This was definitely a very interesting and unique book but I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about it. I think it did a lot of interesting stuff with bringing Frankenstein into the modern age and how the author wove gender and sexuality into the story and switched between Mary Shelley and the characters in the modern day was really great, but it was confusing at times as well. I think part of this is that the writing style didn't really mesh well with how I read. I read with word runner and would often not realize we had switched POV [it happens a LOT] and also I don't think she used quotation marks for speech at all which makes it hard to know who is talking some of the time and also whether the character is saying something out loud or just thinking it. Also I wanted to strangle the guy who made the sexbots every time he opened his mouth but I think that was the intended reaction so good job there. But it was definitely an original book and really made me think while I was reading it so I decided to round up.
This was a story that I didn't quite know what to make of it. I have read Jeanette Winterson before and quite liked her unusual style.
This story, however, about Frankenstein reanimated, had too much going on for me and I felt confused and bored at times. There are two stories going on in this novel: one takes place during the early 1800's between Mary Shelley and her husband (and her connection to Lord Byron), and the other in the present day with a scientist/professor, Victor and his love story with a trans-gendered person named Ry (along with an odd side story about Ron, a creator of sexbot dolls). I really didn't know what to make of Mary's story until I was gripped by her children dying. Ry and Victor's story was interesting, but Ron's side story was a bit tasteless and unnecessary at times.
Overall, I enjoyed parts of this story and other parts I could have done without. The ending, although satisfying, did not warrant a higher rating. I recommend this novel to fans of hers or any unusual writing style, but with a word of caution that if you prefer a more linear story, you may be disappointed with this one.
Thank you Grove Atlantic/NetGalley for my copy and honest review.
This story, however, about Frankenstein reanimated, had too much going on for me and I felt confused and bored at times. There are two stories going on in this novel: one takes place during the early 1800's between Mary Shelley and her husband (and her connection to Lord Byron), and the other in the present day with a scientist/professor, Victor and his love story with a trans-gendered person named Ry (along with an odd side story about Ron, a creator of sexbot dolls). I really didn't know what to make of Mary's story until I was gripped by her children dying. Ry and Victor's story was interesting, but Ron's side story was a bit tasteless and unnecessary at times.
Overall, I enjoyed parts of this story and other parts I could have done without. The ending, although satisfying, did not warrant a higher rating. I recommend this novel to fans of hers or any unusual writing style, but with a word of caution that if you prefer a more linear story, you may be disappointed with this one.
Thank you Grove Atlantic/NetGalley for my copy and honest review.
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-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:
Yes
jesus christ this was a mess - and jeanette winterson is one of my favourite writers! written on the body is such an important book to me and doesn’t rely on binary understandings of gender and romance that rocked my entire world in the best way.
surprisingly, the most redeeming part of this book for me was the reimagining of mary shelley and the silly actual frankenstein references. i found the narrative arcs overall were engaging, kind of in the way White Teeth by Zadie Smith is, but much pulpier. too many sex robots.
the real nails in the coffin for this book is how this entire book is so horrifically transphobic and misinformed and weirdly racist and tropey for the like, two sentences there are descriptions of the one person of colour.
i personally think it is so irresponsible to publish work like this that acts like people will just know how the characters are behaving is transphobic garbage - because i hope that winterson didn’t do this intentionally, because many people still hold deeply transphobic beliefs. and in interviews about this book she’s been so messy about trans identity - i’m all for dismantling binaries understandings of gender but she is coming from a place of being like “gender doesn’t matter blah!” which is fine, to a degree, but there are real consequences of social constructs even if they’re not quantifiably real. and she brutalizes her trans character! the lack of kindness and care here is appalling and uneducated.
this is such a deeply irresponsible narrative about trans people under the guise of a queer/lesbian identified writer being edgy and philosophical about AI and whatever.
sweet Ry, who has such a strong start as a character is fetishized by a transphobic and gross partner, and despite this gross dynamic i was hopeful Ry would get through this book otherwise physically safely but that was too much to ask for. their non binary trans identity is butchered. they are constantly misgendered, dead named, and harassed to the point where it’s not making a statement about transphobic harassment, you’re just putting salt in the wound. everyone OBSESSES over Ry’s junk.
Ry is also violently GRATUITOUSLY randomly s**ually assaulted to the point where i was literally sick to my stomach, because it was handled so disgustingly poorly. i hate saying this word because it’s been coopted at inappropriate times but i was actually deeply triggered and messed up because it came out of nowhere, and anyone who’s been through that, doesn’t need to go through it again!!!! with no warning!!!! like who is this book for?
i’m in the camp that writers and artists are supposed to expand our world, not just replicate and magnify the fucked up realities we already experience.
i’m not interested in writers being executors of morals or a sterile, perfectly politically correct work - i’m interested in respect and empathy for your subjects and creating a rich inner world and relationships. and these issues are real and we need stories about abuse and violence. trans people do experience more violence and harassment. but there’s a way to write it respectfully and feels authentic!
i believe it is vital to come from well informed place if you’re writing about a community you are not a part of, and it feels like this is so unimportant. these narratives affect public discourse - after Ry is violently assaulted they say something like, “this wasn’t the first time and this wouldn’t be the last”. it literally made me burst into tears - nobody needs to read or feel that. and we don’t need to be putting those kinds of sentiments out into the world. we already think them, we know. if you’re writing a book about the future, imagine something new. please.
i have no time or patience for this gross lack of care for trans characters, and absolutely no real attempt to understand of what it means to move through the world while trans.
it just sucks that a writer who i thought was writing for me, a queer femmeish person who has some gender weirdness, is not. at all. this feels like trauma porn to encite empathy in cis readers by inflicting never ending harm in a really unthoughtful way - we need to talk about all this bullshit, but you have to do it right.
surprisingly, the most redeeming part of this book for me was the reimagining of mary shelley and the silly actual frankenstein references. i found the narrative arcs overall were engaging, kind of in the way White Teeth by Zadie Smith is, but much pulpier. too many sex robots.
the real nails in the coffin for this book is how this entire book is so horrifically transphobic and misinformed and weirdly racist and tropey for the like, two sentences there are descriptions of the one person of colour.
i personally think it is so irresponsible to publish work like this that acts like people will just know how the characters are behaving is transphobic garbage - because i hope that winterson didn’t do this intentionally, because many people still hold deeply transphobic beliefs. and in interviews about this book she’s been so messy about trans identity - i’m all for dismantling binaries understandings of gender but she is coming from a place of being like “gender doesn’t matter blah!” which is fine, to a degree, but there are real consequences of social constructs even if they’re not quantifiably real. and she brutalizes her trans character! the lack of kindness and care here is appalling and uneducated.
this is such a deeply irresponsible narrative about trans people under the guise of a queer/lesbian identified writer being edgy and philosophical about AI and whatever.
sweet Ry, who has such a strong start as a character is fetishized by a transphobic and gross partner, and despite this gross dynamic i was hopeful Ry would get through this book otherwise physically safely but that was too much to ask for. their non binary trans identity is butchered. they are constantly misgendered, dead named, and harassed to the point where it’s not making a statement about transphobic harassment, you’re just putting salt in the wound. everyone OBSESSES over Ry’s junk.
Ry is also violently GRATUITOUSLY randomly s**ually assaulted to the point where i was literally sick to my stomach, because it was handled so disgustingly poorly. i hate saying this word because it’s been coopted at inappropriate times but i was actually deeply triggered and messed up because it came out of nowhere, and anyone who’s been through that, doesn’t need to go through it again!!!! with no warning!!!! like who is this book for?
i’m in the camp that writers and artists are supposed to expand our world, not just replicate and magnify the fucked up realities we already experience.
i’m not interested in writers being executors of morals or a sterile, perfectly politically correct work - i’m interested in respect and empathy for your subjects and creating a rich inner world and relationships. and these issues are real and we need stories about abuse and violence. trans people do experience more violence and harassment. but there’s a way to write it respectfully and feels authentic!
i believe it is vital to come from well informed place if you’re writing about a community you are not a part of, and it feels like this is so unimportant. these narratives affect public discourse - after Ry is violently assaulted they say something like, “this wasn’t the first time and this wouldn’t be the last”. it literally made me burst into tears - nobody needs to read or feel that. and we don’t need to be putting those kinds of sentiments out into the world. we already think them, we know. if you’re writing a book about the future, imagine something new. please.
i have no time or patience for this gross lack of care for trans characters, and absolutely no real attempt to understand of what it means to move through the world while trans.
it just sucks that a writer who i thought was writing for me, a queer femmeish person who has some gender weirdness, is not. at all. this feels like trauma porn to encite empathy in cis readers by inflicting never ending harm in a really unthoughtful way - we need to talk about all this bullshit, but you have to do it right.
This book is FANTASTIC. Unlike anything i’ve read so far; a book for this exact moment in time, so so smart, and incredibly funny too.