Reviews - Normal Women | The StoryGraph

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392 reviews for:

Normal Women

Ainslie Hogarth

3.16 AVERAGE

shaanll's review against another edition

3.75

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.

jennelsey's review against another edition

4.5

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

rowshhknee's review against another edition

1.0

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.

teenagedeathsongs's review

4.0

funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

milliefin's review against another edition

3.75

dark funny mysterious slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

hannxlouisee's review against another edition

4.0

I adored motherthing so I’m not surprised at all that I enjoyed this too! Admittedly, this book took me a while to get through, but this was mostly because I resonated with so much of it (even as someone who isn’t a mother) & my head was constantly filled with a million thoughts - this may have to eventually be the first book i ever annotate! I love Ainslie’s ability to show a woman who is slowly starting to lose it and make you truly feel their feminine rage. I love that it viewed sex work in a (generally) positive lens, to the extent in which it shows how it can benefit parts of society. I did not know what to expect from the ending but I think it felt kind of perfect, I was terrified it would stigmatise sex work but this wasn’t the case.