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A review by alexiaalaurenn
Any Man by Amber Tamblyn
5.0
this book was really good! but i will not be reading it again.
TW: SA (but like… duh read the synopsis). if you want to read this book, def double check additional TW’s because there are def more.
i found this book from brandon barnes (?) on tiktok, and he said it was a book that would make you stare at the wall for a while afterward… and he was right! i really enjoyed the different mediums this book used to tell the story (the internet, tweets, journal entries, letters), and the authors use of her poetry background pairs really nicely with aspects of this book. the way donald thinks after his assault is haunting, and it was impactful to see him come out of that with a positive perspective in life.
i usually can’t read books that are about rape or sexual assault, but i think since it’s happening to men instead of women i was able to disassociate from it a bit. it was still incredibly graphic and fucked up, especially what happens to jamal. holy shit.
i thought the whole “what if rape happened to men and they were treated like women!!!” trope was a little much, but this book is also important in the fact that yeah, men do get raped! and how are they supposed to deal with that? i feel like it’s definitely an issue i understand from a women’s perspective, and this made me think about it from another lens… albeit super uncomfortably.
i also thought it was weird that it was supernatural, but also after thinking about it i get that it’s like, maude could be anyone and is doing it just because he’s there. but like… why did she have to be a ghost? i guess that part was lost on me.
overall, amazing novel that i will never read again <3
TW: SA (but like… duh read the synopsis). if you want to read this book, def double check additional TW’s because there are def more.
i found this book from brandon barnes (?) on tiktok, and he said it was a book that would make you stare at the wall for a while afterward… and he was right! i really enjoyed the different mediums this book used to tell the story (the internet, tweets, journal entries, letters), and the authors use of her poetry background pairs really nicely with aspects of this book. the way donald thinks after his assault is haunting, and it was impactful to see him come out of that with a positive perspective in life.
i usually can’t read books that are about rape or sexual assault, but i think since it’s happening to men instead of women i was able to disassociate from it a bit. it was still incredibly graphic and fucked up, especially what happens to jamal. holy shit.
i thought the whole “what if rape happened to men and they were treated like women!!!” trope was a little much, but this book is also important in the fact that yeah, men do get raped! and how are they supposed to deal with that? i feel like it’s definitely an issue i understand from a women’s perspective, and this made me think about it from another lens… albeit super uncomfortably.
i also thought it was weird that it was supernatural, but also after thinking about it i get that it’s like, maude could be anyone and is doing it just because he’s there. but like… why did she have to be a ghost? i guess that part was lost on me.
overall, amazing novel that i will never read again <3