Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor

5 reviews

cfabb's review against another edition

Honestly- I know it’s meant to be a critique on gender, but there was absolutely noooo nuance or really meaning discussions. Paul is so predatory and uses his ability to ‘be a girl’ not in a way to explore his gender, but a way to exploit the female sex and to exploit others. He’s incredibly predatory and calls the people he’s trying to sleep with ‘his prey’ - there was even a scene very early on where Paul fully SA’s someone and then it’s never mentioned again. Paul is also extremely fatphobic and also just uses his friends as a way to have sex with people by misleading them. I really tried but honestly this book was difficult to read and listen to.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Misogyny, and Fatphobia

seventhswan's review

adventurous reflective fast-paced

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

3.25

I can easily get behind a book where not a lot happens plotwise - some of my favourite books are this way. This is certainly a book more focused on the internal lives of its characters than dramatic events, but unfortunately I didn’t really warm to Paul, and got bored over the course of the story as he didn’t seem to develop or change (besides the obvious physical changes) at all. 

That said, the various settings in the book really came to life and shone. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the various places and the queer communities there, as well as the minor characters that popped in and out of Paul’s life. 

I’ve accepted by now that magical realism just isn’t for me and I tried not to let my personal preference affect my review when I knew there would be magical elements going in. But… what did Paul’s shapeshifting really add to the story that couldn’t have been achieved by just making him a genderfluid or non-binary character? 

Overall I didn’t dislike this book, it was a well-paced read stacked with queer culture and I don’t regret reading it - I just thought I would enjoy it more than I ended up doing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Sexual content

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Death and Racism

sarah984's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

This was an interesting portrait of a tumultuous time, but the pov character (and most of the other characters honestly) was almost unbearable to read about, and the ending felt like it kind of petered out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Terminal illness, Vomit, Transphobia, and Grief

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Child abuse, Homophobia, Addiction, Lesbophobia, Animal cruelty, Classism, and Infidelity

packedjam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

i think this book was very good at what it set out to do. unfortunately for me, what it set out to do drove me up the wall

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol and Sexual content

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Cursing, Homophobia, Vomit, Grief, Lesbophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Transphobia

iheartm4m's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.25

This book has a lot of potential but Lawlor takes gender identity and sexuality to a literal and physical form that feels necessary for some of the plot but not all. the book pointed to understanding the world through different lenses (girl, woman, man, beta, alpha, lesbian, bisexual) and how a person that has flowed through the gender/sexuality spectrum can and will expirience these situations portrayed in the book throughout their younger years. 
This can be eye opening for those who are are cis/het/certain in their sexuality/gender, but for those who have always fell through the cracks when it comes to identity, this book is a bit obvious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Homophobia, Grief, Cursing, Sexual content, Death, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Dysphoria, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Racism

Moderate: Classism, Xenophobia, Chronic illness, Deadnaming, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Gaslighting, and Biphobia

Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Drug use, Hate crime, Lesbophobia, Addiction, Blood, Eating disorder, and Infidelity