Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings

26 reviews

jenmcreads's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Torture, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Grief

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Homophobia, Police brutality, Forced institutionalization, Racism, and Sexism

Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Lesbophobia, Transphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Bullying, and Biphobia

cryfest's review

dark emotional hopeful relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Torture, Grief, Lesbophobia, and Misogyny

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Homophobia, and Murder

meecespieces's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Sexism, Confinement, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Blood and Alcohol

alexandryareads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Sexism, Grief, and Blood

Moderate: Biphobia, Police brutality, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, and Racism

Minor: Deportation, Animal cruelty, and Suicidal thoughts

antimony's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

fourteen years ago, josephine’s mother disappeared. she inspired her own episode of unsolved mysteries, caused untold grief for her family, and was suspected time and time again as being a witch. in this world, women are closely monitored, because any behavior that’s even a bit strange could be a sign of witchcraft. but there is one last opportunity for jo to connect to her mother, through a strange clause in her will, and jo sets her regular life aside to follow it.

i did a horrible job describing this book im so sorry. i really liked the beginning and i really liked the end. the world was cool as well. but the middle dragged SOOO much. maybe it’s just because i read this as an ebook and maybe i feel negatively towards it because it took me a while to read. if i’d read it faster, in a physical copy, it probably would be 4 stars. c’est la vie. i do think it has good things to say but the middle part dragged so much and i didn’t care at all for that middle 50%. sad!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Torture, Misogyny, Death of parent, Racism, Violence, and Mental illness

Moderate: Police brutality and Homophobia

mlovesbooks's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense 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

4.75

How long has it been since someone spoke your name with tenderness?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexism

Minor: Rape

jenmcvay's review against another edition

dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Racism

anxiousnachos's review against another edition

dark

3.0

Lakewood was one of my favourite horror books of 2021 and I had such high hopes for Megan Giddings follow up, The Women Could Fly. Instead, I found this merely okay. It lacked the atmosphere and tension of Lakewood, and I felt like I’ve seen so many iterations of this story - witches + gender dystopia, it is a genre that has so many books and is always going to be hard to push through and stand out and I’m just not sure this did.

What I did love was the relationship between Preston and Josephine. I thought it explored the power dynamics between them very well, the idea if love could ever develop in such a situation. I also thought the exploration of how race impacted on how witches were treated in the system was woven in well. 

But sadly, not as much of fan as I was of Lakewood!

Content warnings: torture, racism, homophobia, suicidal ideation, depression, parental abandonment, forced marriage, sexism, misogyny 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Racism, Homophobia, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, and Mental illness

editoryalizing's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Death of parent, Biphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Transphobia and Xenophobia