A review by mmccombs
Wake, Siren: Ovid Resung by Nina MacLaughlin

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

2.0

I’m really disappointed in this one, it had all of the makings of a book I’d love. Some stories were great, but mostly it was repetitive and overwrought. All of the voices were basically the same, so it never felt like we were hearing from a cast of characters. I saw a reviewer describe this as “100 rape vignettes” and I think that’s accurate. And it was just so graphic, which I think makes it look “deep” or “meaningful” or “important” but just renders it traumatic for no real reason at all. I don’t think this was feminist and it is a cis, white perspective on gendered violence through and through. There’s a kernel of something here but I mostly just think it should have been at least half as long and much more selective in what stories to tell.
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