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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Short story anthologies are difficult to review for obvious reasons. Individually, there were pieces that I felt resonated deeply with me such as Break All the Way Down, How, The Sacrifice of Darkness, and Strange Gods. But that leaves 21 other stories that, although I could appreciate, weren't my cup of tea. This was my first time diving into the fictional works of Gay, and there are certain themes that are evident in all of her works, Bad Feminist and Hunger included.
“You are the joy in my life. I am a mess but I will be the joy in yours … When you touch me, you feel through me, through the ugliness beneath my skin, you make me feel, you hold me together, you push my skin back into its proper place." - Strange Gods
I admire how diverse and unique each piece is, and how the characters grapple with womanhood and race and circumstance, and I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that not every story had a clear meaning because not every story has to. I also liked the fact that some stories had a touch of magical realism to them, which switched things up nicely. And I do thoroughly enjoy Gay's writing style: it's simple, to the point, and poetic when it needs to be.
However, there were certain themes that repeated way too often, and the relatability aspect of some of the characters were lost on me completely . There was an overall dark tone to the whole collection; some pieces like La Negra Blanca, Break All the Way Down, and We Are All So Happy felt heavy and hopeless. If you're looking for uplighting stories, this is not the collection for you.
Overall, these are stories about broken women, who have faced unspeakable horrors and must shoulder the weight of their pain. Some of them don't have happy endings. But I appreciate that these stories are often not told, and that Gay remains unapologetic in her writing.
“You are the joy in my life. I am a mess but I will be the joy in yours … When you touch me, you feel through me, through the ugliness beneath my skin, you make me feel, you hold me together, you push my skin back into its proper place." - Strange Gods
I admire how diverse and unique each piece is, and how the characters grapple with womanhood and race and circumstance, and I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that not every story had a clear meaning because not every story has to. I also liked the fact that some stories had a touch of magical realism to them, which switched things up nicely. And I do thoroughly enjoy Gay's writing style: it's simple, to the point, and poetic when it needs to be.
However, there were certain themes that repeated way too often
Spoiler
EVERYONE and their mother is cheating on each otherSpoiler
seriously, just stop cheating on each otherOverall, these are stories about broken women, who have faced unspeakable horrors and must shoulder the weight of their pain. Some of them don't have happy endings. But I appreciate that these stories are often not told, and that Gay remains unapologetic in her writing.
Some stories were great. Some were meh. What’s with all the twins??
Mother. Fucking. Stunning.
Every moment I spent not reading this book, I was thinking about getting back to it, about falling further into the perfect little worlds that Roxane Gay created -- perfect in their imperfection, their messiness, their honesty. I'm constantly in awe of Roxane Gay's brilliance, of how she makes you feel so much while never overstepping or hammering you over the head or bloating the story with purple prose. I really cannot overstate how important a writer Roxane is. Every human alive should be reading her work. That's all I will say. READ THIS BOOK.
There's not a weak story in this collection, but my top ones were:
"I Will Follow You"
"The Mark of Cain"
"Difficult Women"
"La Negra Blanca"
"Break All the Way Down"
"The Sacrifice of Darkness"
"Strange Gods"
Every moment I spent not reading this book, I was thinking about getting back to it, about falling further into the perfect little worlds that Roxane Gay created -- perfect in their imperfection, their messiness, their honesty. I'm constantly in awe of Roxane Gay's brilliance, of how she makes you feel so much while never overstepping or hammering you over the head or bloating the story with purple prose. I really cannot overstate how important a writer Roxane is. Every human alive should be reading her work. That's all I will say. READ THIS BOOK.
There's not a weak story in this collection, but my top ones were:
"I Will Follow You"
"The Mark of Cain"
"Difficult Women"
"La Negra Blanca"
"Break All the Way Down"
"The Sacrifice of Darkness"
"Strange Gods"
4.5 stars for one of my favorite writers. A wonderful collection of short stories. Women are and need to be many things. We see strength, sorrow, hurt, resilience, sacrifice, resentment, joy, among much else in this book.
These stories are well-written, and I loved some of them, but as a collection they're rather dark. There are women in many settings and a variety of situations, but their self-destructive responses to those problems are disappointingly similar.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Don’t read this all at once or even two stories in a row. Let them marinate. They’re dark, but they’re real.
Roxane Gay is an amazing writer with a perspective that deserves a read. I gave 4 stars rather than 5 because of the difficult content of many of the stories. Each short story requires time to digest, and I wish I had read this with a friend or book club!
Roxane Gay is such a rockstar, she can do no wrong in my eyes. This is a great collection. The standouts for me are I Will Follow You, Baby Arm, How, Break All the Way Down, and Strange Gods. (Strange Gods is heartbreaking, and it helps if you've read Bad Feminist. Actually that makes it more heartbreaking, but easier to understand.) But my favorite favorite FAVORITE is I Am a Knife. I'm going to reread that one a few times before I bring this back to the library.
Powerful tales of women and their complicated lives, but repetitive. I wish there had been more variety in what constitutes a "difficult woman". Good display of diversity in the characters, though.
Interesting interpretations of IPV.
Writing was great (I would expect nothing less from Gay). My favorite stories were I Will Follow You, La Negra Blanca, the title story, and Requiem For a Glass Heart.
Interesting interpretations of IPV.
Writing was great (I would expect nothing less from Gay). My favorite stories were I Will Follow You, La Negra Blanca, the title story, and Requiem For a Glass Heart.