Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson

8 reviews

cleot's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Medical content, Gore, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Homophobia, Body horror, Outing, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Suicide, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Genocide

the transphobia by a sex partner was particularly upsetting to me as a trans person, as was the graphic on-page sexual assault of trans man resulting from bathroom harassment

boyinajar's review

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

echoing some previeious concerns, it did feel a little off color to a transmasc reader  of theis novel but the surrealist experience of finishing the book was evocative enough that I give it some points

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Misogyny, and Transphobia

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Miscarriage, Sexism, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Gore, Body horror, Transphobia, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

wendel's review against another edition

challenging dark funny inspiring mysterious 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? N/A

4.0

Imaginative, thought provoking and poetic with a dark sense of humour in a compact and quick read. From how Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley supposedly created Frankenstein to gender, relationships with robots, artificial intelligence and transhumanism; Frankissstein will make you wonder.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Transphobia, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

mobygrapes's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Transphobia

Moderate: Medical trauma, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Child death, and Medical content

kaia's review

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Transphobia, Homophobia, Sexual content, Cursing, and Deadnaming

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Pedophilia

katiej's review

funny medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Transphobia, Medical trauma, and Religious bigotry

mryshells's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

1.0

Huge TW for transphobia towards characters in the book but also in the clearly problematic views the author must hold that come through in the writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Deadnaming, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Ableism, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Outing, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexism

caroline_reads's review

reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed the aspect of the story that fictionalised Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Polidori and Byron's time in Geneva and onwards.  

Generally, however, I thought that the novel was generally unfocused with no clear plot or purpose. There was an unnecessary scene in which

the trans protagonist was sexually assaulted by a background character. This incident happened randomly with little build up and there was no later mention to this event in the novel. The protagonist handwaved the incident as something that has happened to him many times before and it was fine. In summary, I don't see what this scene did to further our understanding of his character and I'm tired of reading fiction in which trans or genderqueer characters are abused/face violence as though this is acceptable and an essential element of being a queer person.

. I almost gave up on the book at this point - the scene occuring 2/3s of the way through. Lazy writing at best.

Winterson indicates in her final note that the purpose of this novel is to explore how reality is unclear. Lofty ambitions, but she has not explored such an idea in a way that is compelling or adds to our understanding of human reality.

The best line of the novel comes near the end: "grief means living with someone who is no longer there."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Deadnaming, and Transphobia

Moderate: Miscarriage and Religious bigotry