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kay_m 's review for:
Before She Sleeps
by Bina Shah
Feminist dystopia? Nope!
This book is billed as extending feminist dystopia to the Muslim world. Alas, although it's dystopian I wouldn't say it's feminist. Even as the women protagonists have escaped a patriarchy of forced polygamy by living clandestinely in an underground bunker, their lives still revolve around men, men's desires and the male gaze. Any potential for queerness is likewise erased by Shah's heteronormative blinders. In the ultimate blow to feminism, the trope of the white male savior emerges to carry the day.
And I'm not just knocking it for the politics. The characters were also wooden, and I didn't come to know or care about them.
Quite disappointing.
This book is billed as extending feminist dystopia to the Muslim world. Alas, although it's dystopian I wouldn't say it's feminist. Even as the women protagonists have escaped a patriarchy of forced polygamy by living clandestinely in an underground bunker, their lives still revolve around men, men's desires and the male gaze. Any potential for queerness is likewise erased by Shah's heteronormative blinders. In the ultimate blow to feminism, the trope of the white male savior emerges to carry the day.
And I'm not just knocking it for the politics. The characters were also wooden, and I didn't come to know or care about them.
Quite disappointing.