Reviews

Moths by Jane Hennigan

mimosaeyes's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective sad 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

3.5

Interesting!

This book imagines a matriarchal dystopia where the only surviving men are kept in facilities, their role in post-apocalyptic society being whatever you get if you triangulate between prisoners, patients, and prostitutes. The ways in which they are disempowered and infantilised bear striking parallels to the position of women in our own, patriarchal civilisation. For this reason, unlike <i>The Power</i> for instance, which I detested, I'd argue that this book is rightfully marketed as feminist. You just have to dig a little for the ideas it's bringing up. There's also the specific flavour of psychosis that the moths' toxins induce in half of men (the half that don't die immediately) - always charged with gendered violence and sexist language. As premises go, this is well put together.

Having the protagonist be a woman in her 70s is uncommon in fiction, and I liked that decision here. It makes perfect sense for the story, giving Mary a layered perspective on how things have changed within her lifetime. I also appreciate that the author does not gloss over what happens with queerness in this new world order. Heteronormativity essentially gets left behind with patriarchy, while homosexual couples become the new normal. Additionally, no sooner had I wondered, "But what about trans people, can they get infected?" than my question was answered. I like that these things were considered and thoughtfully addressed in the plot.

I'll have to ponder about the implications of that final moth imagery...

gjenn's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

kara_oak's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

thereckoning's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

4.0

ninevehthecat's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this! I love dystopian novels and I thought this was a pretty good one. Bonus points because I happen to love moths too lol. It was like Handmaids Tale and Brave New World had a little dystopian baby but I think it lacked a bit of finesse to make it truly amazing.

beq3's review against another edition

2.0

This is ok. The writing is a bit flat. It didn't really come to life but the ideas were interesting. I personally found the whole premise a bit hard to believe in also.

liamccormack's review

dark medium-paced

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

3.5

11corvus11's review against another edition

3.0

May write more later, but so behind on reading right now. The short version: This book showed some promise as what seemed like a newer take on some older themes. As it progressed, it disappointed me. One thing was the use of a trans woman who shows up only twice despite being the protagonist's "best friend" and exists as the token for both that purpose and in comparison to cis men. The other was the glaring suffragist fallacy that a world of women is a gentler utopia. At first it seemed like this would be a tool to show how this is a white "feminist" misunderstanding of power relations as we see just how terrible women can still be without men. But, then, just didn't? I don't know. I don't necessarily regret this book, but I think the author could have done a lot more. The writing skill is there stylistically. Just not the narrative arc.

hadbad's review against another edition

dark inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

ella_bella_books's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25