Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers

9 reviews

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

2.5

I’ll be very honest— I would never have bothered picking this novel up if it weren’t for the fact that it was selected for a book club I somewhat recently joined. Reading the synopsis, there wasn’t anything that particularly stood out to me, so I had low expectations. This ended up being the right call, as I didn’t feel disappointed or felt that my time was wasted. I didn’t find Small Pleasures especially remarkable in either narrative or characters, but this is definitely more a matter of personal interest than anything. I think some readers may find the mystery and eventual romance compelling, and I will say that it is refreshing to have a struggling protagonist who is somewhat older (forty, if I’m remembering correctly). And, to Chambers’ credit, I did like her prose enough. She took a rather quiet and restrained approach that was slightly reminiscent of Kazuo Ishiguro, and I thought she did a good job maintaining that tone while still being able to capture the intense emotions that Jean (the protagonist) felt.

Before reading, I decided to check the reviews out, and I was surprised to see a relatively large number of reviewers who criticized the ending. This somewhat colored my reading experience, especially because I was keen to find out why so many people disliked it. All I can say is that if an afterword is required to explain the ending, then something needs to be reworked (and I will say the ending was unsatisfying). That being said—and to kind of defend the author—I can kind of see why she made this decision, especially considering that she did some foreshadowing at the very start of the novel. Another critique I have that I didn’t see as many people address was how the author decided to handle a lesbian relationship. I didn’t like that it was used as a plot twist, along with the fact that it was somewhat villainized (to me, at least).

I would say take this review with a grain of salt, considering the circumstances that led to me reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Abortion

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexism, Rape, and Medical content

Minor: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Lesbophobia, and War

littlecatinabox's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Chronic illness

Minor: War

swaino's review

mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

This book gave me mixed emotions. The writing style was flawless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading these perfectly curated sentences and chapters. 

It’s the plot that has given me the mixed feelings. I regret to say that I believed it to be quite predictable, with the origins of the virgin birth being what I had expected from the very beginning. The ending was also quite unnecessary and, if I dare say, almost ruined the book for me (whether that was out of heartbreak for the main character or a somewhat lazy plot, I am not so sure). 

Before the end, I wanted to give this book 4/5 stars, but the ending took me back. Perhaps after a few days of ruminating over this book I may change my mind. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pregnancy, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, and Sexism

skudiklier's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I'm worried I'm too emotionally invested at the moment to be writing this review; I don't know how to write about how this book made me feel without writing about the ending. I'll spoiler warning it at the end here, but just know that all spoilers in it are very vague.

Overall I liked this book. I knew absolutely nothing about it going in--not the premise, not the genre, nothing. I picked it solely based on the cover. Throughout the first half of it I just felt a sort of rising tension, as I waited for the shoe to drop. This book was well-written and while the ending devastated me, I don't think it should have been changed. 

This book makes me want to read more by this author, because I really liked how well it showed tiny social things that feel hard to capture/explain but can make a real impact on how a situation feels or a relationship progresses. Small things that Jean worries over momentarily, that just felt really well-done. 

Honestly the ending just is so sad. I wasn't prepared. I wish I'd paid more attention to the dates so that I could have seen it coming. It makes sense as a story but I'm just too close to these characters right now, I feel too sad for them. It made it so I couldn't give this book five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Dementia, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Antisemitism, Death of parent, Grief, and Sexual content

Minor: Lesbophobia, Cancer, and Incest

train accident

teaselkie's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cancer, Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Abortion, Infertility, and Rape

Minor: Death of parent, Body shaming, Sexism, Alcohol, Child abuse, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Pregnancy

alisonannk's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Abandonment, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Abortion, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Cancer, Grief, Homophobia, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Body shaming, Dementia, Outing, and Toxic relationship

phoevincent's review

emotional reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Chronic illness and Infidelity

Minor: Death, Medical content, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexism

literaryelephant's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.0

Though an easy and compelling read when I needed one, books set in this era that don't challenge or even acknowledge the inherent sexism/homophobia/etc. of the time period don't tend to work for me. My expectations were probably off from the start, as I'd assumed this story would focus on the virgin birth investigation when really that's only a small piece of a larger domestic drama; I'm less interested in reading about marital issues, personally. Even so, I might have had a fine time with this book if I'd been able to sympathize with the MC, but unfortunately I found her questionable treatment of someone else's trauma and lesbian relationship untenable. Additionally, while I like the idea of the controversial ending, it does not feel cohesive with the rest of the story, to the extent that both pieces detract from each other. A gripping read for the right reader perhaps, but I wish this spot on the Women's Prize longlist had gone to another book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Chronic illness, Death, and Infidelity

Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, and Rape

kirstyplumb's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Dementia, Homophobia, Infertility, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia