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janaaier's review against another edition
3.0
I was entertained reading some of the [b:Black Widow Society|18461880|Black Widow Society|Angela Makholwa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382861503l/18461880._SY75_.jpg|26116075]'s scenes of different kinds of unhappy relationships. There are snapshots of reality arranged in a fictional landscape that makes the story compelling. The plot itself and the book's ending particularly was underwhelming, for me.
I enjoy the Good For Her genre and female characters written with access to the range of human experiences, including more villainous stories. I find in media within this genre, there is a tendency to spend much of the story focused on justifying the revenge. Consequently, a lot of time is spent ruminating on the trauma. Whereas, in anti-hero revenge stories of men's misdeeds, there is much less time spent wallowing in the horror of the inciting event and more is dedicated to cool passages about becoming a human weapon. Much of [b:Black Widow Society|18461880|Black Widow Society|Angela Makholwa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382861503l/18461880._SY75_.jpg|26116075] is spent ruminating on whether or not the victims of the crimes deserve their fate by intimately describing the misery, trauma, and violence inflicted on women; skipping any subversive fantasy of vengeance. There are also many phrases laden with satirically posed, pseudo ironic misogyny that I don't think were effective.
I am not sure whether this story committed to the anti-hero philosophy of its protagonists. At times, it read as though, the author wanted to remind the reader that murder is wrong and people shouldn't resort to murder to end unhappy relationships. This puts a damper on any vicarious pleasure someone might have reading about abusive men reaching their end. The thinly veiled moralising was not very fun and made the book feel tedious in comparison to my expectations for the concept.
I enjoy the Good For Her genre and female characters written with access to the range of human experiences, including more villainous stories. I find in media within this genre, there is a tendency to spend much of the story focused on justifying the revenge. Consequently, a lot of time is spent ruminating on the trauma. Whereas, in anti-hero revenge stories of men's misdeeds, there is much less time spent wallowing in the horror of the inciting event and more is dedicated to cool passages about becoming a human weapon. Much of [b:Black Widow Society|18461880|Black Widow Society|Angela Makholwa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382861503l/18461880._SY75_.jpg|26116075] is spent ruminating on whether or not the victims of the crimes deserve their fate by intimately describing the misery, trauma, and violence inflicted on women; skipping any subversive fantasy of vengeance. There are also many phrases laden with satirically posed, pseudo ironic misogyny that I don't think were effective.
I am not sure whether this story committed to the anti-hero philosophy of its protagonists. At times, it read as though, the author wanted to remind the reader that murder is wrong and people shouldn't resort to murder to end unhappy relationships. This puts a damper on any vicarious pleasure someone might have reading about abusive men reaching their end. The thinly veiled moralising was not very fun and made the book feel tedious in comparison to my expectations for the concept.
efharker's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kelsn's review
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
stressgirl70's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
coco1922's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ephedawn's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
fleeno's review
2.0
The Black Widows Society is exactly what it sounds like, a society of women in South Africa who have killed their husbands. Some were abusive, some refused to divorce their wives, others just wanted too much money, and instead of doing anything rational, these women have knocked their husbands off. The society has operated in secret for 15 years but now someone knows about them and is threatening to make their deeds public.
This isn't a bad concept (for a novel, not real life) but it's poorly executed. The writing isn't good. The author tells the reader things, rather than showing us. Within the first few chapters we are told about the society and how it runs, only to then be introduced to a recently introduced member of the society. That would be a perfect opportunity to show the reader how she was engaged, how she came to the conclusion her husband had to die, and how the murder was executed. But instead we are just told about it. It is also a really bad business model. They only have one hit man (who is emotionally unstable) and they rely on women suggesting to their friends that murdering their husbands is better than divorce. I'm not saying I would ever start my own Black Widows Society, but if I did it would be much more efficient than this one (and we wouldn't get caught).
There are some widows who are the victims of domestic violence and it is clear they didn't have many safe options, however there are other Widows who basically didn't want their husbands to get their money. This concept would have worked better if the society only dealt with victims of DV, or if it was set 50-60 years ago when women had less options. I was expecting something dark and funny, and while there were a few humorous moments, there weren't enough.
This isn't a bad concept (for a novel, not real life) but it's poorly executed. The writing isn't good. The author tells the reader things, rather than showing us. Within the first few chapters we are told about the society and how it runs, only to then be introduced to a recently introduced member of the society. That would be a perfect opportunity to show the reader how she was engaged, how she came to the conclusion her husband had to die, and how the murder was executed. But instead we are just told about it. It is also a really bad business model. They only have one hit man (who is emotionally unstable) and they rely on women suggesting to their friends that murdering their husbands is better than divorce. I'm not saying I would ever start my own Black Widows Society, but if I did it would be much more efficient than this one (and we wouldn't get caught).
There are some widows who are the victims of domestic violence and it is clear they didn't have many safe options, however there are other Widows who basically didn't want their husbands to get their money. This concept would have worked better if the society only dealt with victims of DV, or if it was set 50-60 years ago when women had less options. I was expecting something dark and funny, and while there were a few humorous moments, there weren't enough.
morybaby's review
mysterious
fast-paced
1.25
“Malawian butler”… it literally added nothing to the plot. It was giving very much xenophobia.
Also Mzwakhe saying his mom is racist??? Like are you okay? I mean his mom was very cruel to Marie. The whole thing was messy.
The way Alex spoke about Nkosazana’s sexuality…
The BEE jabs… so many things were just very upsetting
Now the plot, I was very intrigued by the plot hence I decided to read it but how are you a killing society and you use the same hitman??? We were going somewhere with this plot and then sharp left.
I finished it out of spite.
I liked that the chapters were short and the font of the book was nice
I don’t think I was the intended audience for this book and that’s okay. Love and light to all involved