Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Stardust

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Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

11 reviews

jadef00's review against another edition

1.0

adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I went into this book trying to keep my expectations low, as I knew that with how much I love the 2007 film adaptation (it's one of my favourite films of all time, actually), it would be a hard bar to top. Well....I was right. Off the bat, Charles Vess' illustrations are stunningly weird (an aesthetic that oddly works for Stardust) and complement the writing style immensely. That, sadly, is where the positives end. This is a story that I know and love and, since this is the source material that the film was based on, surely it should only expand on this amazing world and characters, therefore, making me love it even more? That's what I naively thought, despite trying to keep a low expectation. The writing on this was...just not for me. For starters,

Neil Gaiman's choice to liberally and continiously describe the look and feel of the majority of the female characters breasts gave me major ick. This misogyny wasn't surprising to me as he is a middle-aged white man married to a controversial conservative figure, however, the recent sexual assault allegations really only solidified that this man is trash. Characters that felt vibrant and fleshed out in the 2007 film adaptation came across as dull and flat on paper. Plot points, location changes and new characters were thrown in willy nilly with no regard for how this would enhance the main plot of the book. In fact, it seemed that Gaiman didn't actually even care about the main plot of the book as this insidous plot featuring an ancient coven of witches hell bent on hunting down our star, Yvaine, so that they may consume her heart for the long gone youth they so desire. The bones of these characters are great, but Gaiman's treatment of them is so appalling that this formidible and malificent entity that has been tailing ever so slightly behind Yvaine and Tristran for the entirety of their time in Faerie just....gives up and compliments Yvaine on her kind heart when she finally confronts her. Another dumbfounding aspect is Gaiman's liberal use of racial slurs and racism against the non-white characters in the book. We get that it's a book set in the 1840s-60s, but even in a world where talking trees and cat eared faerie girls exist you can't suspend reality for one moment so that your BIPOC readers, who perhaps opened this book expecting escapism and magic, don't have to hear racial slurs every 10 pages?

Not worth the read, watch the film!

Content Warnings

louiepotterbook's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Would be so much better if it wasn’t written by this author

Content Warnings

krystyne88's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

So far nothing has even come close to Coraline. But I still did enjoy Stardust. I was thoroughly entertained. The writing was bit misogynistic at times and certain things have not aged well. Like I hate when male authors go into great lengths sexualizing female characters and then just describe eye colour of male characters.

Also the ending felt incomplete.

Like why did the witch just accept defeat in the end? She was so badass like a few chapters ago. It felt out of character for her.

Content Warnings

mirandyli's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

A cute fantasy novel that was a fun quick read.

Content Warnings

ericispublius's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Adventure, Love, and sex are packed into just a couple hundred pages! Who said a little cheese was bad for the meal? A fun and a little cheesy fairy tale that scratches an itch I didn't really know that I had.

Content Warnings

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Review:

Stardust is the second Neil Gaiman book I have read; I read Smoke and Mirrors a while ago, and I thought it was all right. I picked up Stardust after hearing it compared to The Phantom Tollbooth, which I love. After reading it, I feel the same way about Stardust as I do Smoke and Mirrors—it’s decent. Where many fantasy writers would turn the straightforward quest/fairytale narrative of Stardust and turn it into an epic high fantasy series with several books, complex character development, overly long side quests, and audacious worldbuilding, Gaiman sticks to the important facts and events. Stardust is only 250 pages long, which is a double-edged sword. Its short length combined with Gaiman’s limpid, witty, and occasionally profound prose makes it very readable and entertaining. There are several imaginative and fun moments. It reads somewhat like a children’s fairytale, and probably could be a middle-grade book if it didn’t contain some gratuitous (albeit not graphic) sex scenes and some descriptive violence. However, the characters lack depth, and the plot events occur because Gaiman wants them to, not because they make sense. In general, Stardust feels like it’s missing something important. Additionally, a lot of the narrative is pretty problematic if you stop to think about it, which you might not because the story demands very little thought.

The Run-Down:

You will probably like Stardust if . . .

· You want a quick, entertaining read to get you out of a slump

· You like traditional fairy tales

You might not like Stardust if . . .

· You want to read a story with any sort of depth

· You are sensitive to casual misogyny and racism in storytelling

Content Warnings