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intrastellars 's review for:
Difficult Women
by Roxane Gay
Short story anthologies are difficult to review for obvious reasons. Individually, there were pieces that I felt resonated deeply with me such as Break All the Way Down, How, The Sacrifice of Darkness, and Strange Gods. But that leaves 21 other stories that, although I could appreciate, weren't my cup of tea. This was my first time diving into the fictional works of Gay, and there are certain themes that are evident in all of her works, Bad Feminist and Hunger included.
“You are the joy in my life. I am a mess but I will be the joy in yours … When you touch me, you feel through me, through the ugliness beneath my skin, you make me feel, you hold me together, you push my skin back into its proper place." - Strange Gods
I admire how diverse and unique each piece is, and how the characters grapple with womanhood and race and circumstance, and I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that not every story had a clear meaning because not every story has to. I also liked the fact that some stories had a touch of magical realism to them, which switched things up nicely. And I do thoroughly enjoy Gay's writing style: it's simple, to the point, and poetic when it needs to be.
However, there were certain themes that repeated way too often, and the relatability aspect of some of the characters were lost on me completely . There was an overall dark tone to the whole collection; some pieces like La Negra Blanca, Break All the Way Down, and We Are All So Happy felt heavy and hopeless. If you're looking for uplighting stories, this is not the collection for you.
Overall, these are stories about broken women, who have faced unspeakable horrors and must shoulder the weight of their pain. Some of them don't have happy endings. But I appreciate that these stories are often not told, and that Gay remains unapologetic in her writing.
“You are the joy in my life. I am a mess but I will be the joy in yours … When you touch me, you feel through me, through the ugliness beneath my skin, you make me feel, you hold me together, you push my skin back into its proper place." - Strange Gods
I admire how diverse and unique each piece is, and how the characters grapple with womanhood and race and circumstance, and I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that not every story had a clear meaning because not every story has to. I also liked the fact that some stories had a touch of magical realism to them, which switched things up nicely. And I do thoroughly enjoy Gay's writing style: it's simple, to the point, and poetic when it needs to be.
However, there were certain themes that repeated way too often
Spoiler
EVERYONE and their mother is cheating on each otherSpoiler
seriously, just stop cheating on each otherOverall, these are stories about broken women, who have faced unspeakable horrors and must shoulder the weight of their pain. Some of them don't have happy endings. But I appreciate that these stories are often not told, and that Gay remains unapologetic in her writing.