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A review by janaaier
Black Widow Society by Angela Makholwa
3.0
I was entertained reading some of the [b:Black Widow Society|18461880|Black Widow Society|Angela Makholwa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382861503l/18461880._SY75_.jpg|26116075]'s scenes of different kinds of unhappy relationships. There are snapshots of reality arranged in a fictional landscape that makes the story compelling. The plot itself and the book's ending particularly was underwhelming, for me.
I enjoy the Good For Her genre and female characters written with access to the range of human experiences, including more villainous stories. I find in media within this genre, there is a tendency to spend much of the story focused on justifying the revenge. Consequently, a lot of time is spent ruminating on the trauma. Whereas, in anti-hero revenge stories of men's misdeeds, there is much less time spent wallowing in the horror of the inciting event and more is dedicated to cool passages about becoming a human weapon. Much of [b:Black Widow Society|18461880|Black Widow Society|Angela Makholwa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382861503l/18461880._SY75_.jpg|26116075] is spent ruminating on whether or not the victims of the crimes deserve their fate by intimately describing the misery, trauma, and violence inflicted on women; skipping any subversive fantasy of vengeance. There are also many phrases laden with satirically posed, pseudo ironic misogyny that I don't think were effective.
I am not sure whether this story committed to the anti-hero philosophy of its protagonists. At times, it read as though, the author wanted to remind the reader that murder is wrong and people shouldn't resort to murder to end unhappy relationships. This puts a damper on any vicarious pleasure someone might have reading about abusive men reaching their end. The thinly veiled moralising was not very fun and made the book feel tedious in comparison to my expectations for the concept.
I enjoy the Good For Her genre and female characters written with access to the range of human experiences, including more villainous stories. I find in media within this genre, there is a tendency to spend much of the story focused on justifying the revenge. Consequently, a lot of time is spent ruminating on the trauma. Whereas, in anti-hero revenge stories of men's misdeeds, there is much less time spent wallowing in the horror of the inciting event and more is dedicated to cool passages about becoming a human weapon. Much of [b:Black Widow Society|18461880|Black Widow Society|Angela Makholwa|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1382861503l/18461880._SY75_.jpg|26116075] is spent ruminating on whether or not the victims of the crimes deserve their fate by intimately describing the misery, trauma, and violence inflicted on women; skipping any subversive fantasy of vengeance. There are also many phrases laden with satirically posed, pseudo ironic misogyny that I don't think were effective.
I am not sure whether this story committed to the anti-hero philosophy of its protagonists. At times, it read as though, the author wanted to remind the reader that murder is wrong and people shouldn't resort to murder to end unhappy relationships. This puts a damper on any vicarious pleasure someone might have reading about abusive men reaching their end. The thinly veiled moralising was not very fun and made the book feel tedious in comparison to my expectations for the concept.