Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz

9 reviews

hamstringy's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

This is really another book for the pile of books that should have been something I enjoyed. I was left soooo disappointed and really annoyed at the end of the book. Parts of the book are incredibly cool to me, like the science of time travel, the concept of political struggle over a timeline instead of just over linear moments.

I also did really enjoy one scene where the MC gouges a man's eyeballs out and calls his eye sockets "another hole to penetrate";

I think that was both really baller and genuinely an example of an idea I wish Newitz had committed to more.

Let's sort my criticisms into petty and conceptual:

Petty Nitpicks: 

• Women in the 1890s wearing "lacy bras"
• A character predicting she'd graduate from UCLA in the 90s with $50k in debt (which there is no way to do in 4-5 years)
• People using modern slang while time traveling while having people of the times understand them (okay sure, we're ignoring historical linguistics, that is a valid choice), but they catch enemy time travelers because they use modern slang??

Actual Beef: 

• I find this book to be quite bioessentialist--a lot of it is focused on an expanded Comstock act and the legality of abortion, which does most obviously affect people with uteruses (often women). This is fine, but the narrative keeps harping on the fact that the Sisters of Harriet are for women and nonbinary people. What about trans men? Are they not central to the underlying themes of autonomy, particularly with people obsessed with "female" fertility? What does the Comstock act do to affect nonbinary people and trans women? Why are all but one of the main characters women if there is gender diversity? It takes a lot of wind out of this book's sails, and, honestly, part of me wished the author just chose to make the Sisters of Harriet focused on abortion for women, because that's all they seemed equipped to handle. 
• I find the constant pacifism of the Sisters to be incredibly annoying. I think this is in large part because I'm not a staunch interpersonal pacifist myself, but it also doesn't really make sense in-book: what is one man versus the global health of all women? No one ever seems to express a very "sanctity of all life" sentiment, so it feels really disappointing a choice to shy away from the conflict between violence and autonomy. 
• I wish the Comstockers weren't made out to be these cartoonish villains. People who are anti-abortion can seem that way, but I think it's a generally more interesting and more compelling struggle if the Comstockers have complexity and nuance--this is hinted at in the very first scene, where a Comstocker is anti-college because of its establishment roots, but their politics quickly devolve into calling all women sluts and wanting them dead. 
• A riot grrl band never exists because the main character and her friend succeed and legalize abortion in the 21st century, but the riot grrl movement (and in particular this Latina-fronted band) was never just focused on abortion. Did men suddenly stop raping, harrassing, and objectifying musicians?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Transphobia, Cursing, Abortion, and Rape

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Deadnaming, Murder, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Death, Misogyny, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Drug use, and Pregnancy

Minor: Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic friendship

emilliampere's review

adventurous hopeful informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Abortion, and Misogyny

Minor: Sexual assault, Rape, Suicide, Blood, Transphobia, Cultural appropriation, Deadnaming, Vomit, Slavery, and Sexual content

rafaelsampaio's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Misogyny, Abortion, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, Slavery, Violence, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Transphobia

Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse

Minor: Deadnaming, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Racism

lain_darko's review

adventurous hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Gaslighting, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Abortion, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Racism, Antisemitism, Suicide, Blood, and Deadnaming

Minor: Alcohol and Vomit

elishasbookreview's review

This book is hard-hitting for the current times we're in. I think the summary I read on my library's page was way over simplified. I was expecting something different I guess. This is toxic feministic in a way that's hard to handle for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Abortion, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Death

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Deadnaming, and Gaslighting

fraxisle's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Abortion, Sexism, Child abuse, Violence, Mental illness, Rape, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Slavery, Transphobia, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Racism, Addiction, Drug use, Antisemitism, Xenophobia, Blood, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, Pregnancy, Child death, Genocide, War, Colonisation, and Deadnaming

adbutschli88's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Vomit, Pedophilia, Murder, Mental illness, Incest, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Child abuse, and Abortion

kindaokbean's review

adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Violence

Moderate: Deadnaming, Death, Hate crime, Medical content, and Suicide

Minor: Vomit

lunarlibra's review

adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

There were a lot of things I really liked about this book. The sci part of this sci-fi was really fun for me, even with no background in geology! I love the storytelling method of using different perspectives and jumping around in time, and it's extra cool when they're time travelling as well. I appreciated that the cast of characters were racially and gender diverse (there are a couple trans characters, including one nonbinary person).
There is a really strong overtone of "violence is never the answer" for a lot of the book that almost made me put it down, but the rest of the story made me glad I didn't!
I still enjoyed the story, which has major themes of reproductive justice and the importance of collective action. I would recommend it to some people!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, and Violence

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Antisemitism, Blood, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry

specific warnings for

Childhood Sexual Assault, rape, murder, transmisogyny hate crime, reproductive violence, medical abuse, antisemitic slurs, racism and antiBlackness, mentions and brief depiction of reproductive slavery, sexual predators, traumatic abortion experience