Reviews

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings

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thatokiebird's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.75

The Women Could Fly is a fantasy book leaning more toward a magical realism/fiction novel published in 2022. We follow Josephine living in a dystopian society where women have no rights, and must be married by a certain age, and above all not be a witch. Because witch burnings are back in this society, and oof the author's imagination of what this society looks like is painful and bleak. It's a timely novel, as women get stripped of hard-won rights in real life, which makes this dystopian world all the more painful.

I read this book for Witchy Bookclub at my local bookstore, and wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. I wasn't particularly drawn to the synopsis, and not typically drawn to dark books in general, but I am glad I read it. The bookclub discussion was interesting, as most people really enjoyed it and related deeply and found the witchy world hidden inside so fascinating. I listened to the audiobook for this, and the narrator did a decent job. I had a hard time following along, the story kind of drags in some parts, and when the Josephine tries to be funny it just took me right out of the book until I remembered she fancies herself as something of a comedian. But the book is so dark! Most characters are trash, especially her parents and most of the side characters, but I did dig Party City's role in Josephine's life.

lia_dabookfiend's review against another edition

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2.0

I really wanted to love this but for some reason it was just so boring for me and I felt like it was dragging on and on.

mabelrooney's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.25

abisnail564's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

I enjoyed this book but wasn’t sure about all the pacing and the ending. But I loved the ideas and felt it did good dystopian without being too on the nose.

stardust_ashes's review against another edition

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3.0

In a world where witches exist, they are repressed. Everybody is scrutinized to prevent them from turning into witches, especially minorities: women, black and queer people are under the constant watch of the government. By thirty, women must be married or they lose their jobs and the authority is transferred to their fathers or other male figures in their life. Josephine is twenty-eight, she never wanted that conservative type of life, so she faces threats from her acquaintances and the government to change her way of living. She is under a specific watch as her mother suddenly disappeared without leaving a trace fourteen years prior, supposedly because she was a witch. She decides to officialise her mother's disappearance as death and in order to inherit she has to follow specific instructions.

The novel is difficult to read because of how much the rhythm is inconsistent. It's particularly annoying how people always talk in riddles and tales because it really breaks the rhythm and it doesn't give much information. I expected this novel to go deeper, in terms of world-building but also as a criticism of both the fictive and our society. While it obviously treats a lot about witches, the clichés curse, and flight abilities, it rather quickly touches on what it does to people emotionally. I felt like there were too many elements put in the book while not going deeper on any of them.
Wish it talked more about the identity spectrum because it went too fast on trans identity. I waited during the entirety of the novel for a switch in the "women = witches, men = not witches" idea, something that would be more modern than that but it never really came.

What I loved the most was Jo's relationships with other people. She is bi, she has crushes and sexual relationships but she doesn't easily fall in love. It's both linked with her relation with the world and who she is because she hardly allows people to become attached to her and I wished it was something more developed. There, it was great how it didn't fall into cliché bi representation.