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A review by littlebookterror
Arcadia by Emmanuelle Bayamack-Tam
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Well, this was something, alright.
I don't know why I found some of the narrative choices in this book to be okay (like how Farah is unable to recognize she is being groomed) yet struggled so much with others (her fatphobic comments seemed so out of place considering how she grew up) - the book does not offer any opinions aside from Farah's.
I also don't know how I feel about the words and language Farah uses to describe her body, its changes, and her feelings about both of those things. On the hand, it's rare that Farah did not undergo any medical intervention in her childhood and part of that is because she grew up in a cult. It afforded freedom in that sense - it also meant that since she did not know of her intersex conditions, she had no influence into how her body would develop; something that might have been noticed earlier if she had a more common lifestyle. But while I could sympathize with her worries, the fear of not being attractive, feeling uncomfortable in one's skin; I also am aware that we have a cis author projecting a lot onto this intersex person which sometimes makes me wonder if Bayamack-Tam did any research or is falling back on old stereotypes? I don't know, I've got complicated feelings about this book. About most of its scenes.
It's certainly radical, sometimes misguided but also felt honest and hopeful at times.
(Also reading this a month after I finished Lolita, the books pair nicely together while offering two very different perspectives: the POV of a pedophile who knows he's in the wrong and a young child growing up and being sexually coerced.)
< spoiler>It's wild that we went through this entire process of realizing Arcady's manipulations but somehow end with Farah wanting to start her own commune/cult?! Girl, how?!
I don't know why I found some of the narrative choices in this book to be okay (like how Farah is unable to recognize she is being groomed) yet struggled so much with others (her fatphobic comments seemed so out of place considering how she grew up) - the book does not offer any opinions aside from Farah's.
I also don't know how I feel about the words and language Farah uses to describe her body, its changes, and her feelings about both of those things. On the hand, it's rare that Farah did not undergo any medical intervention in her childhood and part of that is because she grew up in a cult. It afforded freedom in that sense - it also meant that since she did not know of her intersex conditions, she had no influence into how her body would develop; something that might have been noticed earlier if she had a more common lifestyle. But while I could sympathize with her worries, the fear of not being attractive, feeling uncomfortable in one's skin; I also am aware that we have a cis author projecting a lot onto this intersex person which sometimes makes me wonder if Bayamack-Tam did any research or is falling back on old stereotypes? I don't know, I've got complicated feelings about this book. About most of its scenes.
It's certainly radical, sometimes misguided but also felt honest and hopeful at times.
(Also reading this a month after I finished Lolita, the books pair nicely together while offering two very different perspectives: the POV of a pedophile who knows he's in the wrong and a young child growing up and being sexually coerced.)
< spoiler>It's wild that we went through this entire process of realizing Arcady's manipulations but somehow end with Farah wanting to start her own commune/cult?! Girl, how?!