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3.16 AVERAGE
3.16 AVERAGE
dark
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Dani is married to Clark and they've just welcomed their first baby into the world. A world, Dani has realised, full of danger. When Clark speaks about a terminally ill colleague, Dani spirals - what would happen to her and their daughter if Clark ever got sick? What were they even doing, bringing a daughter into a world where she'll have to work twice as hard for half as much recognition as a man?
Dani goes through the motions with her friend group, fellow mothers who seem to have it all together - but appearances can be deceptive, as she knows all too well. Her father was renowned locally as "The Garbage King", and she struggles with the legacy of being his daughter. When she finds a group of women who appear to be using some kind of sex therapy to "fix" men, Dani is intrigued - this could be a backup plan if anything happens to Clark, and a way to change the society her daughter will grow up in.
Dani goes through the motions with her friend group, fellow mothers who seem to have it all together - but appearances can be deceptive, as she knows all too well. Her father was renowned locally as "The Garbage King", and she struggles with the legacy of being his daughter. When she finds a group of women who appear to be using some kind of sex therapy to "fix" men, Dani is intrigued - this could be a backup plan if anything happens to Clark, and a way to change the society her daughter will grow up in.
"We've been living in a world where the most powerful group has systematically had the basic humanity, empathy, the crucial feminine, stamped out of them since birth."
I liked this a lot. I could identify with a lot of what Dani felt as a stay-at-home-parent - especially the loneliness, worry, and desire to find herself as a woman again after giving birth.
With themes of motherhood, identity, feminism, female labour, weaponised incompetence, breaking cycles, capitalism, female friendships, sex work, and a healthy dose of dark humour, this was an addictive read.
I do think the mystery element was overstated, and that the focus should have remained on female labour, but I liked this one a lot.
I requested and received an ARC from Atlantic Books on Netgalley
lighthearted
medium-paced
good and entertaining prose but plot and characters bored me
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The ending and the message didn’t land for me at all but I enjoyed reading this anyway. A bit too neoliberal and girlbossy but funny and decently written. I’m choosing to interpret this as satire.
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:
Complicated
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Overall, I found Normal Women an engaging read that was mostly well-written. I enjoyed the tension of Renata’s disappearance, but found the resolution and ending really unsatisfying, almost unrealistic.
The protagonist was likeable, but perhaps we were in her head too much and I wasn’t convinced sex work/ The Temple was the solution for her identity crisis or the cure for her resentment towards her husband. I wasn’t expecting the tame ending where they all lived happily after.
The protagonist was likeable, but perhaps we were in her head too much and I wasn’t convinced sex work/ The Temple was the solution for her identity crisis or the cure for her resentment towards her husband. I wasn’t expecting the tame ending where they all lived happily after.
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Woof. This book was difficult to get through. It started off strong with some insightful analysis of motherhood, pregnancy, and what it really takes to care for a baby. Strike one came when there was a random exposition dump in the middle -- what really was the point of Dani having a twin she consumed in the womb? We also really didn't spend that much time inside the Temple for Dani to be so completely convinced it was the right path for her. Then by the time Renata disappeared, the narrative became so paranoid and repetitive that it was exhausting to read. I have developed a Pavlovian eye twitch to the words/phrases "affogato," "the Princess of Trash," "it's always the husband," "a very, very bad man," "the crucial feminine" and "a creature with pain."
In the end, I'm not sure Hogarth had much of a point. Are we supposed to be siding with the Temple, convinced that the "primitive task of womankind" is to provide men pleasure and connect with their vulnerability? I think there are several reasons sex work shouldn't be criminalized -- some of which the book engages with -- but why is the transformation of men at the center of the Temple's philosophy? Also if we're supposed to side with the Temple, why is the place drugging the main character without her consent and engaging in other manipulative behavior? Plus on the level of character development, no one learns anything. Dani stays the same, and even though she recognizes that the newly revamped Temple will engage in the same gentrification that she's so critical of Clark for, but it's okay now because she's the face of it. Hogarth tries to humanize sex workers and validate the reasons people seek the work, but she just ends up wading in murky waters by making Dani a character who is so hard to root for (by the end) and the Temple so creepy.
In the end, I'm not sure Hogarth had much of a point. Are we supposed to be siding with the Temple, convinced that the "primitive task of womankind" is to provide men pleasure and connect with their vulnerability? I think there are several reasons sex work shouldn't be criminalized -- some of which the book engages with -- but why is the transformation of men at the center of the Temple's philosophy? Also if we're supposed to side with the Temple, why is the place