88 reviews for:

Girl Flesh

May Leitz

3.68 AVERAGE

passacaglia's review

3.5

dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

stella_organa's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

bionicwalker's review

DID NOT FINISH: 11%

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i began this book and then fell into a depression and couldn't finish it

bite's review

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

mars2k's review

3.0

adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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Too gratuitous and melodramatic for me. The shed scene in particular felt very writhing-on-the-stage-pulling-red-handkerchiefs-from-my-armpit. That said, I know this sort of thing can be cathartic; sometimes you need to indulge in a bit of woe.

The concept is decent. Internet celebrities are forced to reckon with the horrors of meatspace, and the pervasive terror of existing as a woman in a misogynistic world.

And the experience turns Angie into a man-hating lesbian. Good for her.

What happens to Wes makes a lot more sense if you interpret him not as a person but as a personification of heteronormativity. Angie isn’t killing her husband, she’s killing comphet; she’s killing her straight persona to set herself free.

I assume that was what Leitz was going for? That’s how I’ve chosen to read it, at least.

But I don’t like it, and I don’t know why. I can’t quite articulate it. There were lots of little issues that bugged me – pacing issues, backstory exposition interrupting the actual story, etc. – but I can’t pinpoint exactly where or why it falls apart for me.

I can see how Girl Flesh might resonate with other readers. I thought it was okay.

CONTENT WARNINGS:

stalking, kidnapping, drugging, alcoholism, disordered eating, self harm, suicidality, death (including animal death), violence (including gun violence, sexual assault, and torture), blood/gore/injury, vomit, misogyny, transphobia

dxisy13's review

4.75

dark emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

hail_freyr's review

3.5

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

venti's review

3.0

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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saw for the lesbians 

illmakeyoulaugh's review

4.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring sad 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: Yes

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“I can find the energy to say the dreaded phase that has haunted me my entire life.
I love you.”

May Leitz does it again and this time it’s even better. I can really see how much May has grown in her writing between now and her first novel Fluids. Girl Flesh reads a bit more smoothly for my broken brain, I’m somewhat particular when it comes to writing styles and struggle with taking a long time finishing books because of it. If I wasn’t working so much I definitely would’ve finished this MUCH sooner. I found the characters much more relatable for me and likable. Everything is written so smoothly it’s almost like poetry at times. The violence is explained in a way that I can actually imagine what is going on and doesn’t shy away from the gritty details. So excited to read what May writes next. Huge fan and will continue to support for years and years to come!

eddiford's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes