A review by katievasquez
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

5.0

Difficult Women is a beautiful collection of stories by Roxane Gay, this was the first time I had read her work I’m glad this was my introduction to her writing. Often times as the reader we do not feel a close connection to characters within short stories so to find someone who made me care and cry deeply for the characters in these stories is truly a gift. A lot of people have criticized this collection as being “grim” because of the subject matter some of the stories deal with, making abused women seem “difficult” while they are not the ones causing or invoking the abuse. I do not see these women as being difficult, I find the situations they are in as being difficult and in their own minds perhaps they see themselves as the problem. I love how the theme of the past and decisions made by characters or people related to the characters effect the present for these women. My top three favorite stories were Requiem for a Glass Heart, Break All the Way Down, and my absolute favorite The Sacrifice of Darkness. The last one is just beautiful, everything about this story grabbed me, the characters and the mythology. If this one story were ever turned into a full novel, it would be something truly exceptional. Overall I found this collection to be beautifully written and with developed characters, which isn’t always easy to do with short stories. Difficult Women is one of my top books of 2017 so far and I don’t think it will be topped!