Scan barcode
A review by holly_reads
Tangleweed and Brine by Deirdre Sullivan
1.0
I had never really planned on writing a review before but this book was very frustrating and upsetting that I felt it was important to speak out on the issues it contains so that I may hopefully prevent future readers from disappointment and discomfort with the harmful content in this book.
I went into this book excited for some feminist retellings of my favourite fairtytales. I had also heard there was a queer character which is always something I want in a book. But unfortunately, this book was quite a let down.
The stories tend to have some repetitive themes and often seemed very similar to one another. From harmful tropes to heteronormativity, there is a whole heap of issues in this book:
- I heard there was a lead queer character in one of the stories and was pretty excited about it, but unfortunately, I could not have been more disappointed after reading. Because of course, it just had to include the Bury Your Gays trope. Seriously, not a single main character dies in any of the stories except for the queer character.
- It was very heteronormative, heavily centered on cis straight woman and frequently related womanhood to pregnancy.
- A girl having pale skin and golden hair is described as being the perfect thing
- One of the few plus-sized characters was described as a freak and as having an inhuman appearance.
While the book does focus on the societal pressures of forcing women into marriage which is, of course, important, as many women are affected by it. It would have been nice to see women in some non-conforming storylines also.
I was extremely disappointed with this book and would definitely not recommend it to anyone.
I went into this book excited for some feminist retellings of my favourite fairtytales. I had also heard there was a queer character which is always something I want in a book. But unfortunately, this book was quite a let down.
The stories tend to have some repetitive themes and often seemed very similar to one another. From harmful tropes to heteronormativity, there is a whole heap of issues in this book:
- I heard there was a lead queer character in one of the stories and was pretty excited about it, but unfortunately, I could not have been more disappointed after reading. Because of course, it just had to include the Bury Your Gays trope. Seriously, not a single main character dies in any of the stories except for the queer character.
- It was very heteronormative, heavily centered on cis straight woman and frequently related womanhood to pregnancy.
- A girl having pale skin and golden hair is described as being the perfect thing
- One of the few plus-sized characters was described as a freak and as having an inhuman appearance.
While the book does focus on the societal pressures of forcing women into marriage which is, of course, important, as many women are affected by it. It would have been nice to see women in some non-conforming storylines also.
I was extremely disappointed with this book and would definitely not recommend it to anyone.