Scan barcode
A review by xavia
Women Are the Fiercest Creatures by Andrea Dunlop
3.0
I had a very hard time putting down this book. I read this book on the heels of watching the Barbie movie, and honestly, these two go hand in hand.
The book follows three women who are typecast into very typical roles. Anna is "the starter wife", the one who gave up her career and her ambitions and devoted herself to her children and her "superstar husband". Sam is "the mistress", the one who knowingly slept with a married man, got pregnant, and now, 12 years later, is ready to go public with the scandal. And Jessica is "the younger model", the newer, prettier, doe eyed girl that the husband marries shortly after leaving Anna. On the surface, it looks like your typical "woman against woman" soap opera fest.
But this book makes it VERY clear that Jake, the philandering husband. To the world, Jake is a feminist. He built a social media platform, Strangers, for women, run by women, and inspired by women. More than half his user base is female, and most of his unpaid moderators are as well. And yet, while he tells the world that family is the most important thing in the world to him, the book starts with him just two years out from divorcing his devoted wife, already remarried with a kid on the way.
My interpretation of Jake is that he finds people, usually women who can be easily charmed and erased, and uses them until they are no longer of use to him. We see this with Sai, who was obviously in love with him, and protected him for years, before being forced out of the company he cofounded. We see that Anna is the "perfect wife", the one that looks good to the outside world with her Cinderella story and her law degree, and privately, her entrepreneurial mind that Jake could take advantage of without giving her any credit because it was all 'pillow talk'. And finally, Sam. The woman who wrote his algorithm originally, and whom he conveniently tracks down just as he's planning to relaunch Strangers. There's not a doubt in my mind that he intentionally sought her out for her programming acumen and once he got what he needed from her, he ghosted her. Even before Anna blocked her email and phone number, he had already ghosted Sam a second time.
Which leaves us with Jessica, who I think is the most tragic character in this book. I don't think Jake got anything from her except for arm candy, and it's clear he didn't want, need, or respect her. He ignores her for basically the entire book, instead pursuing Anna, even though he left her. He ignores her clearly deteriorating mental state, and pays her about as much attention as he does his sons, which is not at all. At least the other children, Dylan, Ben, and Lola, all had loving mothers. Jessica was just barely tolerated, even by her mother in law. Even in the end we don't really hear much about her at all.
Overall, there is a lot going on in this book. It's complicated and messy and so hard to put down. If I had a complaint, it's that the book just.... ends. It doesn't feel like a satisfying resolution. We don't get to see the fall out of the missing child. We don't get to see the women meet and reconcile (or not). We don't get to see what happens when the article comes out, or Jake's down fall. Additionally, there were little snippets of plotlines that don't go anywhere. Like Ryder calling Lola an anchor baby, or more importantly the mother understanding that that behavior is not "boys being boys". We don't get to see if Sam decided to franchise, or how Artemis got off it's feet. And the thing with the mirror accounts? It feels like the book made a big deal about that, like it would be important, but it's completely forgotten.
So, while I liked this book a lot, and I think the story is really interesting and compelling, there is a lot that I feel was forgotten and left undone.
The book follows three women who are typecast into very typical roles. Anna is "the starter wife", the one who gave up her career and her ambitions and devoted herself to her children and her "superstar husband". Sam is "the mistress", the one who knowingly slept with a married man, got pregnant, and now, 12 years later, is ready to go public with the scandal. And Jessica is "the younger model", the newer, prettier, doe eyed girl that the husband marries shortly after leaving Anna. On the surface, it looks like your typical "woman against woman" soap opera fest.
But this book makes it VERY clear that Jake, the philandering husband. To the world, Jake is a feminist. He built a social media platform, Strangers, for women, run by women, and inspired by women. More than half his user base is female, and most of his unpaid moderators are as well. And yet, while he tells the world that family is the most important thing in the world to him, the book starts with him just two years out from divorcing his devoted wife, already remarried with a kid on the way.
My interpretation of Jake is that he finds people, usually women who can be easily charmed and erased, and uses them until they are no longer of use to him. We see this with Sai, who was obviously in love with him, and protected him for years, before being forced out of the company he cofounded. We see that Anna is the "perfect wife", the one that looks good to the outside world with her Cinderella story and her law degree, and privately, her entrepreneurial mind that Jake could take advantage of without giving her any credit because it was all 'pillow talk'. And finally, Sam. The woman who wrote his algorithm originally, and whom he conveniently tracks down just as he's planning to relaunch Strangers. There's not a doubt in my mind that he intentionally sought her out for her programming acumen and once he got what he needed from her, he ghosted her. Even before Anna blocked her email and phone number, he had already ghosted Sam a second time.
Which leaves us with Jessica, who I think is the most tragic character in this book. I don't think Jake got anything from her except for arm candy, and it's clear he didn't want, need, or respect her. He ignores her for basically the entire book, instead pursuing Anna, even though he left her. He ignores her clearly deteriorating mental state, and pays her about as much attention as he does his sons, which is not at all. At least the other children, Dylan, Ben, and Lola, all had loving mothers. Jessica was just barely tolerated, even by her mother in law. Even in the end we don't really hear much about her at all.
Overall, there is a lot going on in this book. It's complicated and messy and so hard to put down. If I had a complaint, it's that the book just.... ends. It doesn't feel like a satisfying resolution. We don't get to see the fall out of the missing child. We don't get to see the women meet and reconcile (or not). We don't get to see what happens when the article comes out, or Jake's down fall. Additionally, there were little snippets of plotlines that don't go anywhere. Like Ryder calling Lola an anchor baby, or more importantly the mother understanding that that behavior is not "boys being boys". We don't get to see if Sam decided to franchise, or how Artemis got off it's feet. And the thing with the mirror accounts? It feels like the book made a big deal about that, like it would be important, but it's completely forgotten.
So, while I liked this book a lot, and I think the story is really interesting and compelling, there is a lot that I feel was forgotten and left undone.