A review by synth
My Lady Lipstick by Karin Kallmaker

1.0

This was very racist (with the cop-out of the MC being "beige-skinned" with no knowledge of her origins, the cop-out of the LI acting entirely white when she should have Punjabi culture from the stepfather who raised her) and white saviory (with the LI liberating indigenous artifacts from thieving colonialist wealthy white people). I did appreciate the effort to comment on women whistleblowers, and GamerGate, even if it was reductionist and superficial. I did not appreciate the "thin blonde femme women" commentary that feels like a cop-out for its superficiality and for doing everything it decries. Overall, it tried on a number of aspects, but mostly everything is too superficial to succeed. The MC's anxiety was the most well developed aspect.