A review by seoltang
Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson

i read this for uni and can't exactly rate it since i'll have to yet take it apart and put it back together. there were things i really liked, and in huge parts this novel is a Frankenstein fanfiction and very humorous, but there are multiple narratives which are intertwined in obvious and non-obvious ways and especially the latter i haven't been able to parse during my first reading. i do have to say that the author is cis and one of the protagonists (Ry) is trans, and while i liked Ry as a character a lot i'm unsure about Ry's portrayal and how some scenes could very well be understood as fetishising. also, and i'm not saying this lightly, the sexual assault scene towards the end seemed unbelievably unnecessary to me – if the author chose to include this to contrast how other characters kept treating Ry's transness as a joke with WhAt iT'S rEalLy lIkE bEiNg TrAnS, then big yikes to be honest. it's a very thin line between "is this author making fun of transphobic assholes or does she share some of these views." as you can see, lots of thoughts to be thoughteth, and i'm sure i will continue to have many many more. what a joy.