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A review by vyhurz
Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
3.0
I won an ARC of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Opinions are my own.
I never rate things half stars or quarter stars, but I'm going to make an exception for this book: It's a 3.5 stars from me. The first third or half of the book I really struggled with and almost DNF'd it because I felt like I was just watching women get beat up. Then, in some stories, it seemed as though the reader was meant to sympathize with the abusers. I was getting rather frustrated. But I kept going, and eventually the stories came around to the emotion and meaning of relationships. These relationships were mostly romantic ones between men and women. I don't think there were any homosexual relationships in the book, and that does annoy me because there was story after story after story that focused on a male/female romantic relationship. Enough seemed like enough. As you can tell, I have some issues with the book. However, the writing is wonderful and moving and powerful. It pulls you in and makes you really understand what these characters are feeling. My favorite in the collection is "North Country." I also wanted to mention the fact that there are a few fantastical stories in this collection, but I think they fit because, on the whole, this collection seems to be about relationships, either good or bad ones. That's why I'm also annoyed with the title of the book. Yes, we have some "strong" women in here that may make life "difficult" for men, but that doesn't seem to be the focus here. I'm left wondering why this title was chosen, and part of me believes it's because Gay is known to be a feminist and a feminist-y title would sell well.
These are just my quick thoughts after just completing the book. I more comprehensive review will be coming on my YouTube channel (youtube.com/allisontheresa) and on my blog (allisontheresa7.wordpress.com).
I never rate things half stars or quarter stars, but I'm going to make an exception for this book: It's a 3.5 stars from me. The first third or half of the book I really struggled with and almost DNF'd it because I felt like I was just watching women get beat up. Then, in some stories, it seemed as though the reader was meant to sympathize with the abusers. I was getting rather frustrated. But I kept going, and eventually the stories came around to the emotion and meaning of relationships. These relationships were mostly romantic ones between men and women. I don't think there were any homosexual relationships in the book, and that does annoy me because there was story after story after story that focused on a male/female romantic relationship. Enough seemed like enough. As you can tell, I have some issues with the book. However, the writing is wonderful and moving and powerful. It pulls you in and makes you really understand what these characters are feeling. My favorite in the collection is "North Country." I also wanted to mention the fact that there are a few fantastical stories in this collection, but I think they fit because, on the whole, this collection seems to be about relationships, either good or bad ones. That's why I'm also annoyed with the title of the book. Yes, we have some "strong" women in here that may make life "difficult" for men, but that doesn't seem to be the focus here. I'm left wondering why this title was chosen, and part of me believes it's because Gay is known to be a feminist and a feminist-y title would sell well.
These are just my quick thoughts after just completing the book. I more comprehensive review will be coming on my YouTube channel (youtube.com/allisontheresa) and on my blog (allisontheresa7.wordpress.com).