Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - The Women Could Fly

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings

30 reviews

superiour_medium's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

An incredible bite size book in the style of Atwood but far surpassing her works. Giddings’ has demonstrated ability to put her in the ranks of N.K. Jemison & her contemporaries in the realms of urban fantasy/magical realism

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sshabein's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely LOVED this. What a book!

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wordsofclover's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

In a world where any woman can be suspected of being a witch, and must be married by the age of thirty, Josephine is starting to worry even more about her future as a 28-year-old black, bisexual woman. Her mother disappeared when she was a teenager, suspected of witchcraft and this has hung over Josephine as she grew into her own womanhood.

This book definitely has a bit of The Handmaid's Tale feel as we are in a world very similar to our own but an extremely patriarchal society where it seems women don't have a huge amount of free will and are expected to choose a life where a man controls most of what they do.

I liked some of what this book explored in terms of a heteronormative society, patriarchy, motherhood and womanhood and then Josephine's experience as a bisexual and biracial woman.

I think this book just didn't give me a huge amount of strong feelings and I thought that the way magic was explored in this book was at times a bit vague. The book was a bit depressing in terms of the continuation of a very patriarchal society and I don't feel there was much of an uprising or showdown in a way I would have liked but I also understand why the author/character made certain decisions.

I think I just wanted more from this book and didn't get it but it might be more of a me problem.

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lottiegasp's review against another edition

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I didn't find the writing or storytelling engaging. The fantastical element didn't go much further than that there were witches- I didn't feel myself being captivated by the magic.

The political themes of racism and misogyny were heavyhanded so I didn't feel like they were resonating or I was learning much from it.

The main character was self-sabotaging and apathetic about her future which makes sense given her situation but it bummed me out a lot so wasn't the right time for me to appreciate it.

It was moderately well-written and had progressive political themes, but not enough to keep me going. I would recommend readers to Nalo Hopkinson, NK Jemisin, Rebecca Roanhorse, P Djeli Clark, RF Kuang for really amazing authors of colour who examine race, gender and queerness in their writing with fantastical elements.

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jenmcreads's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

this was incredibly bleak, as i expected from the author who wrote Lakewood! the bleakness was a refreshing, interesting kind though: what new, horrifyingly realistic form of oppression & reckoning can Giddings come up with next? that sounds bad but honestly it was incredibly cool to me how magic felt so real and lived while seated next to true life misogynoir. magic pulses through this book, but it didn’t escape or detract from the main theme of how any uniqueness, any difference, any potential power that women, specifically Black ones, even more specifically queer Black ones have is viewed as dangerous and in need of regulation for other peoples “safety” or wellbeing.

There were so many interesting layers to this story, and Jo’s relationship with Tiana made my heart ache and my eyes well in a very specific Black mom to Black daughter way. Mother daughter relationships are my Achilles heel (see: me crying my way through EEAAO and Turning Red), so seeing one in my shade was a bit of an arrow to the chest in the best way.

All that being said, this book ends, not quite hopefully, but upliftingly; everything isn’t sunshine and roses, but there is promise of a better future as created by community. nothing materially changes, but the feeling it gives is a positive one. I really liked this book, and will be buying it in print for my shelf :)

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