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sepiaparrish's review against another edition
4.0
i love you weird sci fi i love you joan of arc i love you being so so confused about what im reading
kwough's review
4.0
I'm really glad I read this book but I'm not sure I recommend it. It was terrifying in its depiction of our future - if you have a weak stomach for violence against women (and I hope you do) it will be tough to "enjoy" reading this. I thought the gender fluidity of most of the characters was well done and the descriptions of certain characters' connection with the environment was moving. I just wish the book had been a graphic novel so I could better picture the artwork on bodies, and the performance scene at the end. (But again - what is done to women's bodies here....I wouldn't want to see that.) I need a light read next.
readingelli's review
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
It was well written, and thought provoking, but I don’t think I liked it. Not really my cup of tea. Very body horror.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, War, Sexual content, and Body horror
Post apocalypse, discussion of genitalia, reproductive horror, climate horrorjusticeofkalr's review
2.0
This book. I don't really know what to say about it, because for the most part, I don't know what was actually going on in it. Something happened to the earth and it's screwed up and there's some bizarre space station of sterile mutants. I'm not even sure exactly what happened to the earth or what exactly was happening with the space station. The world building was just so incredibly weak that I was left with no clue about anything. As a result the characters' motivations and actions are confusing as well because you have no idea of the world they're living in that's influencing their personalities and decisions. Overall it felt very much like bad "literary" fiction with lots of fancy phrasing and ideas, but little actual substance behind it. I finished it because I was hoping things would eventually clear up. They never did.
smalefowles's review
3.0
Maybe I need to relax a little, but I did not appreciate this book. The pacing was uneven in precisely the wrong ways, and the plot was largely incoherent. I could barely force myself to read it, but I finished it, because.
The worldbuilding was lax, and the built world was so unpleasant. And I don't mean dystopian, because I read a lot of dystopian novels. Every moment up on CIEL was unbearable. I guess I liked Joan's story on earth, mostly because it was a break from Christine.
I get what we're trying to do here, and I guess I respect it, but it really smacked of trying too hard. Give me Samuel Delaney any day of the week.
The worldbuilding was lax, and the built world was so unpleasant. And I don't mean dystopian, because I read a lot of dystopian novels. Every moment up on CIEL was unbearable. I guess I liked Joan's story on earth, mostly because it was a break from Christine.
I get what we're trying to do here, and I guess I respect it, but it really smacked of trying too hard. Give me Samuel Delaney any day of the week.
adrianlarose's review
4.0
Hard to read yet also a page turner, and I tend to think it was hard to read for the right reasons. The gory bits are a bit, maybe, excessive, but I think she knows what she's doing.
whitmc's review
3.0
Really glad this was a book club read so I had a crew to figure this out with. There was a lot going on here and it got very dramatic at the end! Incredibly creative, and intense. I’m glad I read it but I can’t necessarily say I like it. I appreciate it.
laviskrg's review
5.0
Man... This book... I am extremely shocked that a novel I had zero expectations for made its way to my favourite book list. The fact that it has such a small grade on Goodreads is mind-boggling but not really since I see that many reviewers have classified it as "feminist". Not that there would be anything wrong with having a feminist novel succeed, but fuck if I know what exactly is so feminist about this book. Is it the fact that the main protagonists are women who are NOT simply there to be meat for their male counterparts like in 99.9 % of urban fantasy crap out there? Is that all? Oh. Ok.
Fuck the lack of tastes on this site. This is a superbly written, intense, insane, acid-fueled romp, a perfect gender-bender, a book that with so few pages contains so many aspects and so much angst and suffering and pain and love and rage. It is a complete book, it skates on all emotional chords and it does so with perfectly chosen language: one that is sufficiently raw, violent and grotesque for the raw, violent and grotesque world depicted. This is one of the best depictions of an actual apocalypse that I have ever read. It is not as fabulously constructed as The Handmaid's Tale (I mean, nothing is), but it is definitely not a cool apocalypse like it has become the norm in retarded young adult faux pas creations. No, this apocalypse really grates one's bones, and while I do agree that mostly, we, as a species would probably NOT lose our genitalia in one effing lifetime, I do see the metaphor of a sexless, messed up society in our every day life, considering how utterly backwards everyone seems to be about the most simple and beautiful aspect of human life: finding physical and emotional partners. This subject is much too complex to discuss in a review, obviously.
I loved every page of this book, every weird, unending description, the absurd and crazy retelling of Joan of Arc (or of Dirt in this case), every strange manifestation of a power that should be understood for its metaphor more than for its literary nature, every depiction of the skin grafting process. I loved the Trumpian villain and how horrendously believable it all became in the end. I loved the angst surrounding the loss of sexual ability and identity. I freaking melted into this book and read some of the mind-bending passages to my lover even while coughing and losing my voice.
As a parting word, I will return to mentioning that calling this "feminist propaganda" only shows the damage that has been done to the immensely important feminist movement due to a handful of imbeciles who scream louder than all the brave, honest, intelligent and amazing female voices out there. People need to stop being stupid because we are seriously heading for some sort of apocalypse very very soon. No, it will not be one where our genitals will expire. But the complete and utter loss of elites and intelligent, logical thinking are quite apocalyptic scenarios, if you ask me. Hell, we already have not one, but many Jean de Men (trump, un, etc), we already have an obsession for immense fire power and we are already fucking up the planet. We are not there yet, but close. Criticize the "literary" values of this book all you want if its style is not up your street, but do not ignore its message and undertones.
Fuck the lack of tastes on this site. This is a superbly written, intense, insane, acid-fueled romp, a perfect gender-bender, a book that with so few pages contains so many aspects and so much angst and suffering and pain and love and rage. It is a complete book, it skates on all emotional chords and it does so with perfectly chosen language: one that is sufficiently raw, violent and grotesque for the raw, violent and grotesque world depicted. This is one of the best depictions of an actual apocalypse that I have ever read. It is not as fabulously constructed as The Handmaid's Tale (I mean, nothing is), but it is definitely not a cool apocalypse like it has become the norm in retarded young adult faux pas creations. No, this apocalypse really grates one's bones, and while I do agree that mostly, we, as a species would probably NOT lose our genitalia in one effing lifetime, I do see the metaphor of a sexless, messed up society in our every day life, considering how utterly backwards everyone seems to be about the most simple and beautiful aspect of human life: finding physical and emotional partners. This subject is much too complex to discuss in a review, obviously.
I loved every page of this book, every weird, unending description, the absurd and crazy retelling of Joan of Arc (or of Dirt in this case), every strange manifestation of a power that should be understood for its metaphor more than for its literary nature, every depiction of the skin grafting process. I loved the Trumpian villain and how horrendously believable it all became in the end. I loved the angst surrounding the loss of sexual ability and identity. I freaking melted into this book and read some of the mind-bending passages to my lover even while coughing and losing my voice.
As a parting word, I will return to mentioning that calling this "feminist propaganda" only shows the damage that has been done to the immensely important feminist movement due to a handful of imbeciles who scream louder than all the brave, honest, intelligent and amazing female voices out there. People need to stop being stupid because we are seriously heading for some sort of apocalypse very very soon. No, it will not be one where our genitals will expire. But the complete and utter loss of elites and intelligent, logical thinking are quite apocalyptic scenarios, if you ask me. Hell, we already have not one, but many Jean de Men (trump, un, etc), we already have an obsession for immense fire power and we are already fucking up the planet. We are not there yet, but close. Criticize the "literary" values of this book all you want if its style is not up your street, but do not ignore its message and undertones.
drlucyc's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-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
3.0
I did enjoy reading this, but I do think Yuknavitch bit off more than she could chew. I really loved the first third of the book (I kinda wish that the whole book had been in this mode); the ideas about gender and sex and desire and semiotics were so good. But the stuff with Joan herself wasn’t as gripping, I found.
I do feel that there were some wonderful moments of wisdom in there but in the end I think the world building didn’t feel like it was coherent. Which is a shame.
I think the book has horribly troubling implications for what Yuknavitch is saying about trans bodies. Like, deeply troubling. I felt it could have gone somewhere very different, and been really profound if it hadn’t returned to a fairly concerning image of a trans (?) villain trying to control female bodies that can reproduce while his cannot. More than gross. It’s soured my feelings about this book which looked at times to say something rather fascinating about desire and embodiment and desire as a form of resistance. The first simulated sex scene with Trinculo and Christine felt like a repudiation of heteronormative, binaristic views of sex, but then we lost that.
I do feel that there were some wonderful moments of wisdom in there but in the end I think the world building didn’t feel like it was coherent. Which is a shame.
I think the book has horribly troubling implications for what Yuknavitch is saying about trans bodies. Like, deeply troubling. I felt it could have gone somewhere very different, and been really profound if it hadn’t returned to a fairly concerning image of a trans (?) villain trying to control female bodies that can reproduce while his cannot. More than gross. It’s soured my feelings about this book which looked at times to say something rather fascinating about desire and embodiment and desire as a form of resistance. The first simulated sex scene with Trinculo and Christine felt like a repudiation of heteronormative, binaristic views of sex, but then we lost that.