Reviews with content warning for Sexism - La Bastarda

Sinceramente, no esperaba que me gustase tanto, pero lo hizo. Es exactamente lo que necesitaba leer: algo corto, ameno y que a la vez enganchase y me mantuviese entretenida. La verdad es que puede llegar a ser una lectura fría y dura de leer, pero demuestra y da voz a una realidad latente.

A pesar de que tomé el libro por una de mis clases universitarias, no me arrepiento en lo más mínimo de haberlo leído. Ojalá todas las lecturas obligatorias fuesen así de interesantes.

Content Warnings

bitterseason's review against another edition

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challenging reflective fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

ohlhauc's review

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hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

This is not a book to be read at face value. To truly understand its power and impact, it's important to have some understanding of social conventions around gender and sexuality, as well as the colonial history with Spain, of Equatorial Guinea.

Without having this context, it would be easy for Western readers to dismiss this story because of its writing. It is very sparse, there are some plot holes, and there is much character development in the standard sense of the term, meaning, this development isn't put directly on the page. It's left in between the lines and requires the reader to actively engage with the text and fill in the gaps. If you hate that, you'll hate this book. If you love that or don't mind it, this book could be for you.

It is very much an allegory looking at what it takes to live freely, and to escape traditional conventions in a culture, especially when it comes to queerness, femininity and masculinity. It's very fast-paced and a lot of plot happens in the short span of the book, but each moment builds up the character's increasing self-awareness and eventual liberation. It's an important addition to queer fiction, especially queer fiction from communities that have levels of oppression against gender non-conforming people and those who aren't heterosexual.

It has a childlike quality to the writing but still holds on to a sexy, rebellious energy. I would have liked to see a few more scenes between the characters to better understand the depth of their relationships, but I did enjoy this. If the above doesn't scare you, please check it out.

Content Warnings

katie_greenwinginmymouth's review

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a really interesting if fairly tough read. La Bastarda is the first novel by a woman from Equitorial Guinea to be translated into English. It’s really short so easily read in one sitting, but it tackles some pretty difficult and traumatic issues.

The story is set in a rural part of the country, society is very patriarchal and homophobia, sexism and prejudice against sex work are rife (content warning for all of these things and storylines involving sexual abuse). 16 year old Okomo is desperate to find out who her father is, she has no contact with him and her family refuse to tell her who he is. She has an Uncle who she is close to who is gay and an outcast from the family and village life. She gets her Uncle to help her find her father and along the way she falls in with the girls her grandmother calls ‘indecent’ (i.e. also gay) and discovers her own identity as a lesbian.

It was interesting that this small community of queer friends use the forest as a place of sanctuary rather than fleeing to the big city as often seems to happen in coming out narratives. They live lightly on the earth and don’t eat meat. There were some passing references to environmental issues and exploitation of resources by colonists that contrasted with their way of living - tellingly though it is Okomo’s uncle who gets blamed for bringing a curse on the village that has destroyed crops.

Obviously with it being a short book everything happens pretty quickly so there isn’t a huge amount of exploration of the characters’ inner feelings or how they got to that point - Okomo’s realisation of her sexual identity can feel pretty sudden for instance - but this gave the story a kind of fable like quality that I quite liked. I definitely found it hard to read because there was a lot of offensive homophobic language used so that’s definitely something to bear in mind. Obono herself is a prominent LGBTQ+ human rights activist in Equitorial Guinea and I got the feeling that the book was quite polemical. I think it’s currently banned in Equitorial Guinea. It’s a brave and challenging book and I’m glad to have read it.

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