Reviews with content warning for Sexism - My Policeman

(3.25)

Harry styles world domination ig. But fr tho, this book in itself was something I wasn't expecting it to be and I'm excited to see harry play Tom (still wondering how they're gonna make the hair on his stomach blond 💀) (and oh also, there's no smut in here, so why is everyone so excited to see if Louis will body doubling for Patrick during the sex scenes since because of covid sex scenes are being filmed with the actors irl partners, because I don't think there's gonna be any sex scenes if there's no smut) Anyway, enjoy this objective review of the book, keeping aside the fact that Harry's gonna be playing Tom is the only reason I picked it up:

After reading this book all I can think about is three lives wasted, all because of homophobia, and about how angry I am at the law making it literally illegal to be gay, and how many lives have been ruined because of this. I am happy that our society is improving, but I am very well aware of the abundance of homophobia there is out there, and I just hope we can remove all of this evil from out society as soon as possible. A good book in general, but it was an average book for me, it just wasn't particularly for me but that doesn't mean you won't love it either, you might. This book did evoke a lot of feelings in me, especially how helpless I felt and how helpless queer people must have felt back then, it just makes me so angry and so sad everytime I think about it. I just hope our society keeps improving till there is no more of this evil left. I truly feel sorry for Marion, Patrick and Tom, all three of them had a disappointing life, I wish they could've simply been themselves, and after reading this I consider myself luckier than ever to be living in this age where you can be whoever you want to be, at the very least in the eyes of law. Very proud to say that the Indian law has even legalised gay marrige, and I hope every country does so, as it is our very, very basic right to be able to love whoever we want to love. An impactful book, will definitely never forget it.

Content Warnings

reader_in_the_meadow's review against another edition

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medium-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

1.5

The novel My Policeman was written by Bethan Roberts and was first published in 2012. It tells the story of the three individuals Thomas/Tom, Marion and Patrick that develop a polyamorous realtionship.

The plot on it's own had a great premise, but didn't deliver in my opinion. By making the whole story just really revolve around only these three human beings it got boring at one point. But I have to say that I would be pleased if this novel would be rewritten by the author so that these flaws could be fixed.

The characters were not my kind of dish. People who know me know that I really need well worked out characters in books. That means that they have to be diverse, have depth and not behave the same way all the time, unlike the characters in this book. I'm not saying they were bad, I'm just saying, that I personally didn't like them.
Also, I really really disliked the reapresentation of gay/achillean men in this book. The character of Patrick was in my opinion build wholly on the prejudice that gay men are sex driven and can only think about that. And that is not a good way of representing our minority.

The writing was okay. It wasn't all bad and it could buold a really beautiful atmosphere at some points by describing not too detailed but just detailed enough. But then there were moments, when that atmosphere was just suddenly tore to shreds.
Again, people who know me, know that I don't like first person POV very much, and it definitely didn't help about my opinion on this book.

So, was there anything that I liked? Not really. And I don't want you, dear reader of my review, to just read my review, because there are people out there who like this book. And maybe you are one of them.
So, yeah, I didn't like this book, but just like with all books, that is just one opinion.

Content Warnings

jenniferburman's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

hmatt's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I'm not sure I was sold on this story throughout part I, but it came together beautifully and tragically as the perspectives changed back and forth.

Despite how synopses may read, this is absolutely not a book about the title policeman (Tom). While he is the main subject, the story tells us very little about him except for how his wife and lover perceived of him throughout time. It really tells us more about the relationship between his wife and his lover. A reader who neglects to acknowledge the unreliability of these two narrators loses the point of the story entirely, in my opinion. I found it brilliant because they are each so selfishly obsessed with their own idea of this man who doesn't have a voice of his own throughout the narrative.

'What about my silence, Marion? Did you ever think about that? You have no idea...' His voice cracked. He loosened his grip on me and turned his face away.

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