A review by ebonwilde
The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna

Did not finish book.

it's so odd to base a story in violent real-life misogyny and rape, and then write a "but both sides!!" argument into it. i genuinely don't think i've ever felt so dehumanized reading a book. how does one proceed to write about systemic rape, sex slavery, forced marriage, vaginal mutilation, a whole plethora of crimes against women and then conclude that it's because women used to be mean to men in the past? there was exactly one sane character in the book—she disliked males because she spent a millennia being tortured by them, and here goes our dickmatized loser main character pretending that she's the one who is insane. the amount of gender traitorism going on here, you would think it was satire of incel ideology, but no, everyone in this book is completely serious.

what makes this so disappointing is that the first book was so well written, both in general and in regards to women's rights, and then this happened out of nowhere. it's bizarre.