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tildahlia's review
3.0
I'm a massive fan of Dr Gay - I basically only go on Twitter to keep up with her feed. But this book didn't quite do it for me - it wasn't the confronting content (although there is plenty of that) but more that the themes felt very similar across the stories and there were some grating implausible twists in some stories. She is a fantastic writer though, and I look forward to working through her collection.
milksoup's review
dark
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.0
a collection of stories about women hurt and humiliated by men and women who, more often than not, want to be hurt and humiliated by men. chock-full of violent straight sex - even when the character in focus of the story is in love with another woman, you will read descriptions of her having straight sex. repetitive elements of a twin bond, the cold north, lumberjacks, hunting. the blurb on the back of the polish edition calls it feminist, i dont see anything remotely related to feminism here. reading this felt like reading torture porn - but for women.
if you want to read about women being hurt over and over by men, usually sexually and often willingly, this is a book for you. why anyone would want that thought, i cant imagine
if you want to read about women being hurt over and over by men, usually sexually and often willingly, this is a book for you. why anyone would want that thought, i cant imagine
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual harassment, Grief, Emotional abuse, War, Vomit, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Kidnapping, Car accident, Blood, Physical abuse, Death, Rape, Misogyny, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, Lesbophobia, Alcohol, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Sexual assault, and Sexism
space_gaudet's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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
4.0
thema97's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
3.0
lbarsk's review
5.0
I'm not usually a HUGE fan of short stories by BY GOD Roxane Gay has knocked it out of the park here. Biting and brutal and honest. It felt fitting to be reading this during NYC's last gasp of cold weather before spring. Do yourselves a favor and read this collection of tightly written, expertly crafted tales.
katieinca's review
4.0
Difficult Stories, also. I really got into the ones later in the book that were a little more alternate history/fairy tale-ish. The ones that are very realistic may resonate more with readers who have more trauma in their pasts, possibly to the point of being very very difficult to read.
truelizrose's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
fana_lpz's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.75
taylersimon22's review
3.0
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay is like really weird, but in a good way. I like weird.
Like the one story about the baby arm. Or the other story about the lady who got an abusive boyfriend after she and her still-husband lost their son. Or the one about the glass woman, but like an actual woman made of glass.
Her metaphors are really interesting. Her ideas break so many molds. This is the first time I’ve read an fiction by her. I think she’s pretty good and I would love to read a full-length fiction novel by her.
I’ve never been too into short stories like that; they were literally too short and left me unsatisfied. I read a few in the past. I couldn’t even get into this book like that at first. But these stories were just so weird that I couldn’t help but to like them.
I will admit that some of them that left me disappointed. Like the ones that just sound like boring white women doing predictable boring white women things. Aren’t there enough stories about them? I thought Roxane Gay was better than that.
But maybe she is. Maybe she is extending her creative writer’s muscles to pull from a perspective she doesn’t know anything about. I know most of these stories are racially ambiguous, but they seem to fall within the default of white, and that, to me, is disappointing.
These stories aren’t completely the same. Like I said, they are weird. I just think it would add extra layers if they were characters of color. Just a lil bit of flavor other than vanilla. I mean, there are 150 varieties of vanilla, but we always seem to get basic.
Like the one story about the baby arm. Or the other story about the lady who got an abusive boyfriend after she and her still-husband lost their son. Or the one about the glass woman, but like an actual woman made of glass.
Her metaphors are really interesting. Her ideas break so many molds. This is the first time I’ve read an fiction by her. I think she’s pretty good and I would love to read a full-length fiction novel by her.
I’ve never been too into short stories like that; they were literally too short and left me unsatisfied. I read a few in the past. I couldn’t even get into this book like that at first. But these stories were just so weird that I couldn’t help but to like them.
I will admit that some of them that left me disappointed. Like the ones that just sound like boring white women doing predictable boring white women things. Aren’t there enough stories about them? I thought Roxane Gay was better than that.
But maybe she is. Maybe she is extending her creative writer’s muscles to pull from a perspective she doesn’t know anything about. I know most of these stories are racially ambiguous, but they seem to fall within the default of white, and that, to me, is disappointing.
These stories aren’t completely the same. Like I said, they are weird. I just think it would add extra layers if they were characters of color. Just a lil bit of flavor other than vanilla. I mean, there are 150 varieties of vanilla, but we always seem to get basic.