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isabootleg's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
2.5
The stories of the 3 women were each so devastating in their own way. I’m saddest for Maggie out of all of them. Definitely still liked Animal better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Sexual assault
ameliatmoss's review against another edition
3.0
The entire time I was reading this I was debating if I liked it. At first I hated her style of writing, but as I got into the book I realized she was writing that way to try to make the reader truly feel what these women felt and I ended up thinking she did a good job of that. It lost points for me in that it showcased three white women and their desire. Yes, they were all socioeconomically different, but I felt like it was a missed opportunity. It's also pretty obvious the author is way more into Maggie's story sooooooo, part of me was like, just write that book?
Totally a toss up. I have no clue if I would full on recommend it, but if you do start to read it I recommend reading it all. I wanted to stop because I wasn't enjoying it in the first few chapters, but ultimately glad I finished it. There should be many many more books written about honest female desire so this was a good start.
Totally a toss up. I have no clue if I would full on recommend it, but if you do start to read it I recommend reading it all. I wanted to stop because I wasn't enjoying it in the first few chapters, but ultimately glad I finished it. There should be many many more books written about honest female desire so this was a good start.
punkinmuffin's review against another edition
3.0
So much of what I liked about Three Women is bound up in recognising aspects of my own life in those depicted. Lisa Taddeo articulated some things that in almost 50 years of living, I've never found words for. A terrible unifying thread across the three women's stories was the myriad betrayals of trust, big and small, all of them endured. And yet there is great joy in their stories. The incandescent joy of being given the gift of pleasure. The painful joy of loving. The big problem I have with this book is its lack of diversity. The women are all cis, white, able-bodied and (mostly) straight. There are some queer elements with one woman engaging in sex with other women as well as men, but those occasions felt performative. That woman presents outwardly as straight, she doesn't really inhabit a bi identity. So it was all very hetero-normative for me. Overall, I think it's an important contemporary portrait of female desire, but readers should bear in mind that three women cannot ever be truly representative of half of the planet.
gretatimaite's review against another edition
2.0
This is a hard one to review, not to mention the rating. I've read so many good reviews on Instagram (or is it Bookstagram) that I was thinking that it's either a gem or a hype because the subject - female desire(s) - sounds hot and interesting. And it is hot; not sure about the other.
I don't want to devalue the experiences of the women or say that they aren't worthy of any attention or critical examination. But I feel slightly deceived. I read three examples of how women don't actually own their desires but shape them in relation to men's (maybe, very maybe with the exception of Lina). It's not a bad thing and I guess desire needs an object for it to arise. Yet, my problem isn't desires per sei but how they were framed and didn't receive any critical analysis. I mean, if it's enough for a non-fiction book to talk about desires without addressing their complexity and problematics then there's a problem unless there's someone who actually believes women have no sexuality? In this case, the mere fact that they do might really really really be world-shattering.
Also, I could mention the lack of intersectionality in this book but I deem it OK to have white women as research subjects as long as they aren't framed as the gold standard. It kinda was even if Lisa Taddeo tried to say there are many different experiences of desire. If so then I'd have liked some discussion of this or people who think (thought?) women are asexual will start believing that women's desires can be satisfied only within abusive relationships. Also, I do understand that Lisa Taddeo might have wanted to normalize 'unaccepted' desires but please analyze it or at least try to contextualize it rather than narrating in a fiction-like manner that's spiced up with erotic scenes.
- I'll just give a quick example that I think would have improved the book: in one of the interviews, Taddeo says that she had a larger sample but only these three women provided enough information for narration. Why not talk about the reasons women might be reluctant to talk about their desires and sexuality? In what ways, if any, were they different from these three women? How does it contribute to the social expectation(s) that a woman should be submissive, not prioritizing her own sexual pleasure?
Also, a quote that struck me as so funny I even screenshotted it (read the ebook):
'Some women want careers as much as or more than they want love but all Lina has ever wanted is to be fully in love and forever partnered, like a penguin.'
- Is it just me to whom this sounds absurd? Like a penguin? I could forgive if it's how Lina exemplified it but if it's the author's simile then she should check her facts because, well, not all penguins are forever partnered (I'm a bit extra on this one and I could overlook the facts for the sake of simile but don't want to)
○ Also, it shows the general complication of this book as it's not clear where the real experiences and expressions are and where fiction enters the scene
I don't want to devalue the experiences of the women or say that they aren't worthy of any attention or critical examination. But I feel slightly deceived. I read three examples of how women don't actually own their desires but shape them in relation to men's (maybe, very maybe with the exception of Lina). It's not a bad thing and I guess desire needs an object for it to arise. Yet, my problem isn't desires per sei but how they were framed and didn't receive any critical analysis. I mean, if it's enough for a non-fiction book to talk about desires without addressing their complexity and problematics then there's a problem unless there's someone who actually believes women have no sexuality? In this case, the mere fact that they do might really really really be world-shattering.
Also, I could mention the lack of intersectionality in this book but I deem it OK to have white women as research subjects as long as they aren't framed as the gold standard. It kinda was even if Lisa Taddeo tried to say there are many different experiences of desire. If so then I'd have liked some discussion of this or people who think (thought?) women are asexual will start believing that women's desires can be satisfied only within abusive relationships. Also, I do understand that Lisa Taddeo might have wanted to normalize 'unaccepted' desires but please analyze it or at least try to contextualize it rather than narrating in a fiction-like manner that's spiced up with erotic scenes.
- I'll just give a quick example that I think would have improved the book: in one of the interviews, Taddeo says that she had a larger sample but only these three women provided enough information for narration. Why not talk about the reasons women might be reluctant to talk about their desires and sexuality? In what ways, if any, were they different from these three women? How does it contribute to the social expectation(s) that a woman should be submissive, not prioritizing her own sexual pleasure?
Also, a quote that struck me as so funny I even screenshotted it (read the ebook):
'Some women want careers as much as or more than they want love but all Lina has ever wanted is to be fully in love and forever partnered, like a penguin.'
- Is it just me to whom this sounds absurd? Like a penguin? I could forgive if it's how Lina exemplified it but if it's the author's simile then she should check her facts because, well, not all penguins are forever partnered (I'm a bit extra on this one and I could overlook the facts for the sake of simile but don't want to)
○ Also, it shows the general complication of this book as it's not clear where the real experiences and expressions are and where fiction enters the scene
katykelly's review against another edition
4.0
Female sexuality - dark, provocative, leaves questions unanswered.
Three stories. Each could have been fiction, but each was actually told to a journalist and is a true account. The audio version gives each a different voice, each looking at different types of marriage and adult relationships, different balances of power within them, and how women use and are used for their sexuality, bodies and freedoms.
Each story could have its own book and whole set of discussions and notes. The 17-year-old who has an affair with an older (married) teacher. The unsatisfied married woman who has a passionate affair. The happily married wife whose husband watches her perform intimate acts on other people.
The stories are narrated by the women in the first person, Taddeo gives us very detailed, contextualised and immediate accounts making each feel very personal and sympathetic. There are moments of horror and a lot to empathise with.
I had questions as I listened, there were questions I felt Taddeo didn't answer, didn't cover with her subjects. Things I would have asked and covered in the book. Frustrating, as each story was covered in such detail. And I wanted to know more about the 'afters' as well.
The book did a great job of showing the vast variety of sexual experience women have, how easy it can be to 'allow' things to happen, explore areas we don't talk about or hide. Importantly, it brings them to the fore, whatever your opinion on them.
Loved the idea that this stemmed from real interviews with real women, I would love to see this become a trending genre, maybe with some companion pieces on the psychology of relationships (in this example), or endnotes to give scientific/sociological context.
One I won't forget easily. Excellent for the audio format with wonderful narrators and a narrative style that lends itself to being read aloud and consumed aurally.
Three stories. Each could have been fiction, but each was actually told to a journalist and is a true account. The audio version gives each a different voice, each looking at different types of marriage and adult relationships, different balances of power within them, and how women use and are used for their sexuality, bodies and freedoms.
Each story could have its own book and whole set of discussions and notes. The 17-year-old who has an affair with an older (married) teacher. The unsatisfied married woman who has a passionate affair. The happily married wife whose husband watches her perform intimate acts on other people.
The stories are narrated by the women in the first person, Taddeo gives us very detailed, contextualised and immediate accounts making each feel very personal and sympathetic. There are moments of horror and a lot to empathise with.
I had questions as I listened, there were questions I felt Taddeo didn't answer, didn't cover with her subjects. Things I would have asked and covered in the book. Frustrating, as each story was covered in such detail. And I wanted to know more about the 'afters' as well.
The book did a great job of showing the vast variety of sexual experience women have, how easy it can be to 'allow' things to happen, explore areas we don't talk about or hide. Importantly, it brings them to the fore, whatever your opinion on them.
Loved the idea that this stemmed from real interviews with real women, I would love to see this become a trending genre, maybe with some companion pieces on the psychology of relationships (in this example), or endnotes to give scientific/sociological context.
One I won't forget easily. Excellent for the audio format with wonderful narrators and a narrative style that lends itself to being read aloud and consumed aurally.