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embee007's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I am a little girl. I am a monster.
This is an uncomfortable & unsettling read in multiple ways. The rules keep changing, the oppression & misogyny are stifling. You're constantly questioning if you misread something (you didn't), misunderstood something (again, no), or if things are really happening (time will tell...). You may pause to reflect on it, or let it settle, you may even reread a sentence or two, or a few pages. But then you're (hopefully) shrugging & moving on, right back into the murk. Push thru the uncomfortable & unsettling feelings - this book is absolutely worth it.
"The women always have to fall because of a man."
Is this book similar to A Handmaid's Tale? Yes, but that's putting it extremely simply. Becoming scientifically reborn/placed into a new body after each death means an unending Handmaid's Tale (nightmare).
“What is the point of immortality if you can’t fucking remember your past?”
I almost wish this were two separate books? Or a series of short stories. The concepts introduced were so ginormous, so dense, & so heavy. Before we get all the answers to our original (albiet small) questions, & we're moved on problems & questions that are so big in comparison that there's really no logical scale - we're comparing grains of sand to a planet. & then when we have planet-sized issues on hand, we're supposed to go back to caring about a singular human, & those grains of sand too? I want more expansion on so much, to give us smaller information bites to chew on & digest & appreciate, but I love how it was done regardless, & this book will haunt me for some time to come.
"It’s funny when something irrefutably terrible happens, and people say, “How can such a thing happen?” But evil flows where it flows. Through gaps and loopholes and human beings. Indifferent to legislation and policies."
The dialogue is phenomenal - I have so many quotes saved. This was by far my favorite part. I felt like I didn't understand where the plot was going for a short while, but it all came together.
"Why must we always die in order to be seen?"
I don't know who, if anyone, I can reccomend this to. Check the Content Warnings!!! I cannot stress that enough. I had been looking forward to this book for months & I finally got it from the library this month, but it was not the best timing for me - I pushed thru regardless. I do not recommend this tactic for everyone.
"Everything is easily rigged once you understand the system."
Representation: disabled amputee MC, MC with fertility issues, nonbinary or agender MC, mostly Black (Botswana) characters. Motswana MC (own voices)
“This is a very networked hell.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Gore, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, and Infertility
Moderate: Incest, Medical content, Racism, Ableism, Confinement, Panic attacks/disorders, Body shaming, and Pedophilia
shay43geek's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Blood, Bullying, Body shaming, Death, Body horror, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Infertility, Misogyny, Gun violence, Infidelity, Murder, Gaslighting, Gore, and Physical abuse
Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, and Sexual violence
laurareads87's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Womb City is author Tlotlo Tsamaase’s debut novel; having previously read xer short fiction in a few anthologies (Africa Risen and The Year’s Best African Speculative Fiction) I was very happy to read xer first longer work.
It is certainly a genre-bender – what starts as a dystopian sci-fi with themes of surveillance and biotech takes a turn toward fast-paced horror, with the end of the book feeling like an entirely different text than the beginning. It is also ambitious – there are a lot of themes here, and strong commentary on bodily autonomy, the relationship between memory and identity, and the ways that those harmed by patriarchy also serve to maintain it. I liked a lot about this. What didn’t quite work for me was how jarring the shift in tone is, and some of the pacing; toward the end, the pace was so fast that it definitely felt like a few too many ideas were squished in for the page count. Some parts felt a bit too information-heavy – the world-building is fascinating and complex, but in some places explained too clearly to the reader, resulting in ‘info-dump’ that often wasn’t necessary and disrupted the dialogue. All that said, though, I found the plot exciting and couldn’t put it down.
Content warnings: pretty much all of them – body horror, gore, blood, violence, injury detail, death, murder, gun violence, rape, sexual assault, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, drug abuse, death of a parent, suicide, misogyny, sexism, homophobia, medical content, medical trauma, human trafficking.
Thank you to Erewhon Books, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Death, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Rape, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexism, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Trafficking
shirecrow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Women should not always have to die. Girls should not be born into death.
Womb City is a horror, ghost story exploring motherhood, memory, grief and what it means to be human. But what is most prominent me is that it's full of soul.
We follow our main character Nelah. She is complicated and angry and hurt but mostly she's yearning for love and connection. I adored her. She was twisted in a way that comes from immense pain. She was so human. Seeing her struggle with her body, her feelings and her need to be a mother was not only a strong plot point but also a beautiful and haunting reflection of women in real life.
The supporting characters were all fleshed out. Really, every single one of them felt like a complete character with flaws, background and personality.
I won't say too much, as this is still coming out in 2024, but what I can say is that you will learn to love and hate these characters. They're the backbone of this whole thing and they're strengthening the story and point that Tsamaase is wanting to portray.
Speaking of point; Womb City is a brilliant analysis of motherhood, the oppression of women and their bodily autonomy. It speaks on the usage of AI in something that should only be decided by nature: life and death. This aspect was very interesting to me considering AI is (currently and sadly) on the rise in so many different parts of society. Art and literature being it's most terrifying victims, what if humanity went beyond it and started using it in governmental issues. This book will give you a glimpse of that.
Gender, gender roles, sexuality and self expression is also explored. The later two not in such a big way as gender and the main plot mentioned above but still an undeniably important part of the story.
I enjoyed the Botswana backdrop and all the different African inclusions like slang and other locations.
Oh, btw this has some cyberpunk elements, body-hopping and it's more action and adrenaline packed than you'd expect. Totally not cool and awsome and an absolute brilliant bland of politics, love and action, noooope not at all (LIE DETECTED, IT'S ALL OF THESE THINGS AND IT'S SO DAMN GOOD).
I have to admit that at the beginning I was struggling to get into it. At around 90 pages I was wondering how the author was going to fill another 300. But my god, did it pick up. At around 110 pages I was so captivated I could not stop reading for the rest of the day. Tsamaase's writing style pulls you in by the neck and won't let go. The style definitely defines the story and keeps you going even when your body would rather go to sleep. Xe just has way of writing that makes you so absorbed in the story that you can't wait to figure out what's next.
And what's next? So many things get revealed that I was absolutely blindsided by. I gasped and looked around like I was in a movie theater. IT WAS THIS GOOD.
I adored this book. I adore Tsamaase and will definitely read everything else xe has written or decides to write in the future.
I am truly, utterly honored to have read this as an ARC and i'd be beyond delighted to have this in my bookshelf someday.
Do yourself a favor and pre-order this. Put it at the top of your 2024 tbr.
Thank you to Erewhon Books, Tlotlo Tsamaase and Netgalley for giving me a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Infidelity, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Death of parent, Drug use, Death, Dysphoria, Car accident, Gore, Drug abuse, and Medical trauma
Minor: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Dementia, Miscarriage, and Misogyny
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