Reviews with content warning for Biphobia - The Women Could Fly

Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings

9 reviews

ajay913's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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ashlyluvsyellow's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

It was an okay read. Once a certain event happened in the book I mostly skimmed until the last few chapters.

Would recommend those who like thoughtful fiction or fantasy.

It was an alternate reality where witches are real that drew me in, I didn't much like the other elements of the book.

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lpdx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious 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? No

3.75

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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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alexandryareads's review against another edition

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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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editoryalizing's review against another edition

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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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bookdragon217's review

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? No

3.5

"From what she had seen in America, everything was simultaneously right and wrong. Like witches. We still thought of them as something taboo, criminal, bad, but there was a weird space where because of capitalism, they were still everywhere because they made money. It seemed to her that capitalism allowed anything to exist as long as someone could exploit it for money and power. And those things seemed to make room only for loneliness when it came to most people."

I really wanted to love The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings but it left me feeling underwhelmed. The book had strong writing and the world building in the first half was flawless. The social commentary was thought-provoking but was never explored deeply enough to add layers to the plot. It remained quiet when it should have been louder considering the level of horror being experienced by women and queer people in this dystopian world. The second half of the book felt rushed and almost like it switched genres leaving the climax and ending to feel anti-climactic.

I will say that the themes it touched on are what kept me going: mother-daughter relationships, abandonment, being biracial, intolerance, codified oppression of women and queerness, witchcraft and nature, patriarchy and misogyny, marriage and religion and gendered expectations. I do wish this was a series because this was definitely a good starting point for this world and would leave room for further exploration and character development. The bones of this story was quality and I would definitely read more from this author based on the writing style alone. Giddings did have a lot to say in this one. I do wish this one was longer so it could have packed a bigger punch because it had great potential. I would recommend this one for the gorgeous writing. Thanks to @amistadbooks for the gifted copy.

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.75

The Women Could Fly is un unsettling novel set in a dystopian world where magic is real - so naturally, it’s treated as fearsome & unholy and used to oppress & control women, especially queer women of color.

We follow Jo, an almost-28-year-old woman who is questioning her place in the world and her ability to live freely. Her age is pretty crucial; women are mandated to marry by the time they are 30 or submit to constant monitoring by the Bureau of Witchcraft. But how can you fall in love with this pressure of freedom? How can you be sure that your relationship is real? How is it possible to care for someone who ultimately has full power over you - and not let that care turn into toxicity or resentment?

Jo doesn’t want to give up her life, but the odds are stacked against her: her mother is absent, she’s bisexual, she’s Black, and she expresses her opinions (with wit!).

Jo’s mother disappeared fourteen years ago. She’s struggling with the grief of that loss, an uncomfortably distanced relationship with her (white) father, and anger with her mother both for leaving her alone and for subjecting her to the whims of the government. When women - especially women of color - disappear, that’s flagged as possible witchcraft. And after her mother’s disappearance, Jo (as a young Black woman) is now constantly treated with suspicion due to her proximity to a “likely witch”.

But now, Jo is agonizingly ready to move forward. When she decides to declare her mother as legally dead, she uncovers a will with a promising amount of money – she just has to take an unusual trip with some even more unusual stipulations in order to claim her inheritance.

In this world, any sort of female autonomy is an act of defiance. Jo is seeking agency that the world believes is inherently dangerous (and that she simply doesn’t deserve). The oppressors in this book speak with rage-inducing racist, homophobic, sexist, etc. rhetoric that will unfortunately feel deeply familiar. It’s the same nonsense that those in power always utilize to stay in control. So while the speculative elements of the story are heightened and imaginative, it feels VERY real. (An interesting aspect of the novel is that Jo’s mother believes that witches aren’t real; that magic is simply a useful tool to oppress anyone who threatens the current way of life.)

The story is slow-paced, and Giddings’ worldbuilding feels a bit purposefully vague. You’ll read a lot of contradictions (maybe intentional and maybe not); it “makes sense” because it is inherently nonsensical, but don’t expect to have a clear picture of this culture. The sequence of events is also very choppy at times. The Women Could Fly interrogates a lot of topics, and encourages you - the reader - to engage thoughtfully with the questions it poses.

Let me be very clear - this book may not be for you. I adored Giddings’ first book, Lakewood, and if you did as well you’ll have a better idea of what to expect here. The content is incredibly rich, but it is slow and confusing. If you’re someone who enjoys reading in book clubs or discussing media with others (especially involving social commentary) this would be a perfect choice.

People fear what they don’t understand. They are especially afraid when something new may threaten their power; they have a desperate need for control. The Women Could Fly explores this conflict in a new & interesting way.

Ultimately, I found this book captivating & challenging & upsettingly prescient.

CW: racism, misogyny, sexism, homophobia/biphobia, abandonment, forced institutionalization, grief, suicidal thoughts, police brutality, death of a parent, vomit, animal blood/gore, animal death

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mjscooke's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I received a digital reading copy of this from Pan Macmillan via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Set in a dystopian world where single women are monitored for signs of witchcraft, The Women Could Fly is a simple novel of grief & self discovery steeped in magical realism. Fourteen years after her mother's disappearance Josephine is still dealing with her grief and grappling with the unfair world she lives in and struggling with how her country & society controls its citizens. More social commentary than gripping story, it is worth the read for sarcasm and defiance of the protagonist and if you enjoy a meandering prose of thoughts.

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