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A review by dailyjulianne
The Madness Blooms (unpublished) by Mackenzi Lee
So, I read it.
It is beautifully written and compelling, so there's that.
Otherwise, this was....not good.
I'm cis, so I won't go into lots of nitty gritty about places where even I could see that the trans rep was sloppy, but I will link to trans reviewers. Here's the first full analysis I've seen.
I went in thinking that this book would've saved itself a lot of trouble - and just been a lot less harmful - if it had simply been a cis f/f pairing. But, about 200 pages in, it became clear that that wouldn't be an option.
As other reviewers have pointed out, a gay man is hung for being gay. It's described in pretty gruesome detail that you don't usually see because hangings are, inherently, gruesome. That's why a lot of shows and movies and even other books don't go into detail about it. Not only that, but the entire chapter leading up to this full page-length description was about Pim asking around about where this character was and nobody giving him answers, so it became pretty clear to me as a reader that something wasn't right here. The chapter is spent knowing before Pim what's coming next. The next chapter or two after also keep revisiting the character's death and talking about people making happy memories under the tree where he was killed. And there's a whole scene where Pim is intentionally provoked by people saying it's GOOD that he's dead because they couldn't sleep knowing he was alive and in jail.
60 pages later, Pim is assaulted by the only other gay man seen on page. The man knows Pim is in a relationship with a girl and even comments on it just moments before, then tries to kiss him and feel him up, all while crying about his dead lover and being alone. And in the process of assault Pim, he pulls off Pim's bindings and learns Pim's secret. The man who assaults Pim was treated as someone Pim could maybe not be friends with, but he could trust, both being in similar positions status/wealth wise. And then this happens.
Finally, there's the public outing. It is violent, it does involve physically removing Pim's shirt, there is a knife involved. It's also incited by Pim's brother. Pim is already having an argument with someone, when Pim's brother comes out and calls Pim his sister. It's horrific.
In the end, Pim gains freedom due to the kindness of one man who's been kind to him through almost the whole novel. But he still doesn't get the happy ending with the woman he loves. And I think that was part of the big let down - in a story with so much queer pain and suffering, I wanted that happy ending for Pim. The woman - Elsje - isn't always perfect in her understanding of Pim and who he is, but she does make it clear by the end that she loves Pim and wants Pim to live however makes him happy and she would marry him. But....instead they just. Get to see each other one last time and then it's implied they'll never see each other again.
There were a lot of other moments that bothered me. Pim saying he's not a man, he's just this, and Pim going on a tirade about being a monster who's going to hell - both in the last 50 pages or so of the book. These are moments that could've really been explored and delved into with a trans author who knew what Pim was experiencing. But a lot of those types of moments when undeveloped.
As mentioned, there's a lot of stuff I likely would miss, which is why I'm going to keep linking to trans reviewers. But even if Pim hadn't been written as a trans man and the story was f/f, I still wouldn't recommend it. There's too much queer pain and suffering left on the table.
It is beautifully written and compelling, so there's that.
Otherwise, this was....not good.
I'm cis, so I won't go into lots of nitty gritty about places where even I could see that the trans rep was sloppy, but I will link to trans reviewers. Here's the first full analysis I've seen.
I went in thinking that this book would've saved itself a lot of trouble - and just been a lot less harmful - if it had simply been a cis f/f pairing. But, about 200 pages in, it became clear that that wouldn't be an option.
As other reviewers have pointed out, a gay man is hung for being gay. It's described in pretty gruesome detail that you don't usually see because hangings are, inherently, gruesome. That's why a lot of shows and movies and even other books don't go into detail about it. Not only that, but the entire chapter leading up to this full page-length description was about Pim asking around about where this character was and nobody giving him answers, so it became pretty clear to me as a reader that something wasn't right here. The chapter is spent knowing before Pim what's coming next. The next chapter or two after also keep revisiting the character's death and talking about people making happy memories under the tree where he was killed. And there's a whole scene where Pim is intentionally provoked by people saying it's GOOD that he's dead because they couldn't sleep knowing he was alive and in jail.
60 pages later, Pim is assaulted by the only other gay man seen on page. The man knows Pim is in a relationship with a girl and even comments on it just moments before, then tries to kiss him and feel him up, all while crying about his dead lover and being alone. And in the process of assault Pim, he pulls off Pim's bindings and learns Pim's secret. The man who assaults Pim was treated as someone Pim could maybe not be friends with, but he could trust, both being in similar positions status/wealth wise. And then this happens.
Finally, there's the public outing. It is violent, it does involve physically removing Pim's shirt, there is a knife involved. It's also incited by Pim's brother. Pim is already having an argument with someone, when Pim's brother comes out and calls Pim his sister. It's horrific.
In the end, Pim gains freedom due to the kindness of one man who's been kind to him through almost the whole novel. But he still doesn't get the happy ending with the woman he loves. And I think that was part of the big let down - in a story with so much queer pain and suffering, I wanted that happy ending for Pim. The woman - Elsje - isn't always perfect in her understanding of Pim and who he is, but she does make it clear by the end that she loves Pim and wants Pim to live however makes him happy and she would marry him. But....instead they just. Get to see each other one last time and then it's implied they'll never see each other again.
There were a lot of other moments that bothered me. Pim saying he's not a man, he's just this, and Pim going on a tirade about being a monster who's going to hell - both in the last 50 pages or so of the book. These are moments that could've really been explored and delved into with a trans author who knew what Pim was experiencing. But a lot of those types of moments when undeveloped.
As mentioned, there's a lot of stuff I likely would miss, which is why I'm going to keep linking to trans reviewers. But even if Pim hadn't been written as a trans man and the story was f/f, I still wouldn't recommend it. There's too much queer pain and suffering left on the table.