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bluejayreads's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: War
Moderate: Misogyny, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexism
Minor: Addiction, Pregnancy, and Child abuse
erikagibson126's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, War, Gore, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, and Sexism
Moderate: Blood, Pregnancy, Cannibalism, Addiction, Alcohol, and Outing
woweewhoa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and War
Moderate: Violence, Death, Addiction, Fatphobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Pregnancy
marvelous_mint's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: War
Minor: Cursing, Death, Blood, Misogyny, Medical content, and Physical abuse
ampharos906's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual content, Violence, Child abuse, War, Death, Medical content, Outing, and Physical abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Sexual assault, and Suicide
rachaelbunny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Violence, War, Sexism, Misogyny, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Deadnaming, Outing, Cursing, Bullying, Death, Racism, Addiction, and Confinement
Minor: Pregnancy, Torture, Sexual assault, and Fire/Fire injury
innastholiel's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
Graphic: War, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
crufts's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Polly Perks grew up working as a barmaid in the family tavern, where she heard the song Sweet Polly Oliver sung drunkenly many a time. So when her enlisted brother Paul goes missing, Polly disguises herself as a soldier boy, "Oliver", and joins the Borogravian army in order to find him.
But before long, this motivation is swept aside by the challenges of war. The forces of enemy countries Zlobenia and Ankh-Morpork are on the march, and the Borogravian army has already been decimated. Polly's squadron might be one of the few remaining. Can she keep up her disguise long enough to save her brother - and her country?
This summary doesn't do justice to the brilliance of this novel, which is a hilarious satire of sexism. It also pokes fun at intolerant religion via the conservative, sexist, censorship-happy religion of Borogravia, where more and more things are designated as "Abominations" each week. This was contrasted with the more enlightened culture of Ankh-Morpork, where they have such mysterious concepts of "free speech", female officers, and "newspapers" that aren't printed by the government.
There's also character development in spades. When we first meet Lieutenant Blouse, he's a street-dumb dandy who's hardly able to handle his own sword; by the time we bid him farewell, he's
Something else I loved about the book was how many twists it had. I'd expected it to follow the same basic plot as Mulan: "A woman disguises herself as a male soldier for some purpose. Through her hard work she gains the respect of her male colleagues, and keeps it even after her true gender is revealed."
However, Monstrous Regiment subverted this so thoroughly that it was hilarious. Firstly, there's a particular running joke (a series of reveals) which sent me into a fit of laughter when I realized what was going on, and which completely throws out the whole Mulan plot. Secondly, there's a scene near the end of the book (
Another thing I liked about the book was the endlessly intriguing character of Sgt. Jackrum:
Such an interesting character to read. He reminds me of Professor Quirrell as depicted in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - extremely intelligent, cynical, seems to be on your side, but it feels like his entire personality is a facade that he switches on or off as necessary (and indeed it is). For more about Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, see my review here.
You can read this book as a standalone, but there are also treats for serial Discworld readers. Sam Vimes makes a few appearances (having become
Was there anything bad about the book? Well, the plot did seem a little aimless at times, with the squadron just wandering through the wilderness and encountering various "random" challenges, but it didn't bother me too much.
Now, a comment on the book's themes. Wikipedia categorizes this book's topic as "transgender" (as well as the expected topics of "war", "crossdressing", etc).
This is simply not correct. The number of trans characters in the story is zero, so don't get your hopes up. Actually, it is continually assumed that everyone is cis and there is no such thing as being trans, in the sense that whatever is under a person's clothes reveals the truth.
For example, Polly makes a comment that she checks every day to see if she's still a woman under her clothes. And
Of course, there's nothing wrong with this - the characters have no reason to think any differently. But ultimately, you shouldn't get your hopes up: there are no trans characters and this is not a trans novel in any sense.
Overall, Monstrous Regiment is a very funny and insightful novel, and definitely worth a read.
Graphic: Outing and Sexism
Moderate: Violence, Death, Religious bigotry, War, and Addiction
Minor: Pregnancy
Outing: Several officers are unwillingly "outed" asSexism: This is the premise of the book.
War, violence: This is the premise of the book. Not super graphic.
Addiction: A character is addicted to coffee. Mostly played for laughs.
strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I was sucked in from the first line, “Polly cut off hey hair in front of the mirror, feeling slightly guilty about not feeling very guilty about doing so.” I remained attentive until the last. It truly was a great book.
Graphic: Grief, Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Blood, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
Moderate: Colonisation, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Classism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Torture, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
hazelmort's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Minor: War and Death