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A review by theshenners
Calling My Name by Liara Tamani
4.0
a poetic coming of age story that portrays emotions in a viscerally engaging way. Taja's adolescent confusion, curiosity, and conflicted feelings about sex and her religion are captured very well.
that all said, there were some really cringe-worthy microaggressions here and there that put me off
TWs: body/fat-shaming, ableism, transmisia, slut-shaming/misogyny, racism
-the most prevalent microaggressions were body/fat-shaming, and it was kind of hypocritical coming from someone who was insecure about her own appearance and felt like everyone was probably judging her for it. the narrative tried to address oppressive ideologies of attractiveness and value through a teacher who challenged them to look at what ads and society tells us to value and messages that you feel lesser. but that was undermined when the narrative proceeded to describe a girl as manlike and gross for having leg hair on the next page with zero self-critical reflection.
-the r-slur is used multiple times in this one paragraph and it made me super uncomfortable even though it was not directed at about person but rather the protagonist's inner anxiety going on a self hating rant.
-then there was the use of "Chinese eyes" to describe a character. only once but that was a real WTF to me -_-
-the slut-shaming and gendered double standards surrounding sex are addressed in text, though.
that all said, there were some really cringe-worthy microaggressions here and there that put me off
TWs: body/fat-shaming, ableism, transmisia, slut-shaming/misogyny, racism
-the most prevalent microaggressions were body/fat-shaming, and it was kind of hypocritical coming from someone who was insecure about her own appearance and felt like everyone was probably judging her for it. the narrative tried to address oppressive ideologies of attractiveness and value through a teacher who challenged them to look at what ads and society tells us to value and messages that you feel lesser. but that was undermined when the narrative proceeded to describe a girl as manlike and gross for having leg hair on the next page with zero self-critical reflection.
-the r-slur is used multiple times in this one paragraph and it made me super uncomfortable even though it was not directed at about person but rather the protagonist's inner anxiety going on a self hating rant.
-then there was the use of "Chinese eyes" to describe a character. only once but that was a real WTF to me -_-
-the slut-shaming and gendered double standards surrounding sex are addressed in text, though.